Modi offers Xi India's help in battling corona

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed solidarity with China in the wake of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak that has left over 800 people dead (813 as of Sunday evening) and over 37,000 infected in that country. In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Modi offered India’s assistance in tackling the 2019-nCoV outbreak. He also thanked Mr Xi for facilitating the evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from China’s Hubei province.

“PM has expressed solidarity with Chinese President and the people of China over the outbreak of n-coronavirus in China. In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, PM offered India’s assistance to face the challenge. PM offered condolences at the unfortunate loss of lives due to the outbreak. PM also conveyed appreciation for the facilitation provided by the Government of China for evacuation of Indian citizens from Hubei province,” a source said.

However, no details of the “assistance” offered was available as of now. Sources said the Indian embassy in Beijing will follow up with the Chinese foreign office and work out things if China desires any help.

Meanwhile, in India universal screening for all flights from Singapore and Thailand, besides Hong Kong and China, is ongoing at the earmarked aerobridges. The screening of passengers is going on at 21 airports, international seaports and land border crossings. The Union health ministry has said that so far 1,818 flights and 1,97,192 passengers have been screened at 21 airports. In

Kerala, 1,510 samples have been tested, of which three that tested positive are undergoing treatment in the state.

“We are extending all possible support to the states/UTs in order to combat the situation arising due to novel coronavirus. As on date, 9,452 persons are presently under community surveillance in 32 states/UTs. The containment and prevention activities are being taken up on utmost priority. All the states are continually strengthening their rapid response teams to counter any eventuality,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The number of confirmed infections in China’s coronavirus outbreak has reached 37,198, with more than 2,600 new cases reported, the National Health Commission of China said Sunday. In its daily update, the commission said there had been 89 new deaths from the virus — with 81 in the hardest-hit Hubei province, and the rest in other regions — bringing the national toll to 811. According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide 34,886 infection have been confirmed, out of which 3,419 are new. Of these, 288 infections and one death have been reported from 24 countries (excluding China). News reports have claimed China is testing anti-HIV drugs on n-CoV infection persons as a possible treatment for the virus.

WHO announced it would convene a global research and innovation forum to mobilise global action in response to the 2019-nCoV. The forum, to be held February 11-12 in Geneva, will bring together scientists and public health agencies, ministries of health and research funders pursuing 2019-nCoV critical animal health and public health research, and the development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, among other innovations.

Experts will build on existing SARS and MERS coronavirus research and identify knowledge gaps and research priorities to accelerate scientific information and medical products most needed to minimise the impact of the 2019-nCoV outbreak, WHO said.