By Mariama Jallow
The Chargé d’ Affaires ad interim {in the meantime or temporarily} of The Gambia Embassy in Beijing, China, Ms. Fatou Kinneh Jobe, has informed that the country’s in Beijing is closely monitoring the situation following the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China.
“In Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the disease, there are 20 Gambian students living there, but no Gambian citizen is infected in China,” she confirmed this to Mansa Banko Online.
She reported that 5,974 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, and 132 deaths had been reported on the Chinese mainland, as of Tuesday midnight.
The Gambian diplomat in the People’s Republic of China, went on to announce that, The Gambian Embassy in Beijing is in close contact with the Gambian student Union in China and the Gambian Association in Guangzhou. And, that all Gambian citizens in the East Asian nation are advised to monitor the situation and take preventive measures.
Madam Jobe continued that, His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China has encouraged unity against the coronavirus, and during his meeting with the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the President emphasized that people’s lives and health remain the top priority of his government. That, disease prevention and control is the most important task at present.
The subordinate Gambian diplomat who substitutes for the absent Gambian ambassador in China, further informed the nation, that about 2,300 medical workers from across the Chinese mainland had arrived in Hubei province on Tuesday to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of the pneumonia disease caused by a novel coronavirus, and “The Gambia is confident in China’s ability to overcome this crisis”.
On behalf of the Government of The Gambia, Chargé d’Affaires Jobe extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families, due to the contagion.
Jobe also saluted the People’s Republic of China for its timely response to the novel Coronavirus outbreak, and conveyed their appreciation to the Chinese authorities for their tremendous efforts to curb the spread of the disease.
The Gambia, Jobe avowed, stands in solidarity with China against the Coronavirus, and she also reaffirmed The Gambia’s commitment to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries-{the small West African nation-The Gambia and World’s second largest economy-cum-most populous country-China}.
