More Pakistani students set to return from Wuhan on June 5

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The government has put all arrangements in place to bring back more Pakistani students from China on board national flag carrier. 

The PIA Special flight PK-8872 to leave Wuhan to Islamabad on June 5 to bring back home 300 students, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced. 

These students have remained stranded for five months in Wuhan, the epicenter of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

This is going to be the second batch of Pakistani students from Wuhan returning home. Earlier on May 18 the first batch of Pakistani students were repatriated by PIA’s special flight that departed from Tianhe Airport Wuhan on board 274 returning Pakistani students from Wuhan in Hubei province to Islamabad.

Pakistani students arrive from Wuhan

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A special PIA flight onboard 250 Pakistani students from Wuhan, China, has arrived Islamabad on May 18. 

A large number of relatives of these students were present at the airport to welcome their near and dear ones.  

According to an official deputed at the airport, all the students will be required undergo medical checkup. Those found negative will be allowed to leave while hotel arrangements have been for others.

Pakistani students fly home from Wuhan

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

There were waves of jubilation and celebration among the parents and relatives of the Pakistani students when they saw a twitter message from Ambassador Naghmana Hashim stating that a batch of Pakistani students had left Wuhan for Pakistan on May 18.

On board the national flag carrier PIA special flight arranged by the government, as many as 274 students left for Islamabad. 

“For our family, we feel today is our Eid,” the old mother of one of the students remarked while having tears in her eyes. 

She thanked the officials of the Pakistan embassy in Beijing as well as the foreign office and all those who took keen interest in enabling these students to return Pakistan before Eid. 

When contacted, an old mother with big smile on her face, said that he is very thankful to Almighty Allah as her son is returning home with good and sound health. 

“These students stood by China and braved the peak of COVID-19,” Ambassador Naghaman Hashmi stated while referring to Wuhan, the epicenter of the Coronavirus. 

On behalf of the Pakistan government, she wholeheartedly expressed her gratitude to the Chinese authorities by saying: “Thanks to China for looking after them (students) like their own”.

Wuhan’s landmark victory over COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Wuhan, the epicenter of COVID-19 in China’s Hubei province has achieved a landmark victory as no new confirmed infections or suspected cases for last 20 days as of April 23 were reported. 

Also all severe coronavirus patients in Wuhan have fully recovered. Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, informed that as the last COVID-19 patient with severe symptoms was cured on April 24 and all cases in severe and critical condition in Wuhan had been cleared.

“The number of current confirmed cases in Hubei province, the region hardest hit by the epidemic in China, dropped under 50 for the first time on April 23. No new confirmed infections or suspected cases have been reported in the province for 20 consecutive days,” the Chinese official declared. 

The Chinese mainland reported six confirmed cases as of April 23, the lowest daily increase since the epidemic began, according to the National Health Commission.

500 million Yuan vouchers to be disbursed in Wuhan

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Starting from April 19, the residents of the Chinese city of Wuhan, hit hardest by the novel coronavirus, will get vouchers to help boost their consumption. 

The local administration announced on April 17 that it will hand out vouchers worth 500 million Yuan ($70.6 USD) among all people living in Wuhan. 

Irrespective of local or non-locals, the residents can apply and use the vouchers, a move aimed to support the operation resumption in commercial, trade, cultural and tourism sectors. Around 18 million Yuan of the vouchers will be earmarked for the registered impoverished people in the city.

The municipal government will hand out the vouchers weekly via the online platforms of Alibaba, Meituan Dianping and Tencent. 

The above three E-commerce giants will also offer their own coupons worth a total of 1.8 billion Yuan, which may be used together with the government-issued vouchers. 

The first stage of distribution will be from April 19 to May 31, and the second stage from June 1 to July 31. 

The consumers will be able to use the vouchers for offline payments in restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and cultural and tourist sites. At the first stage, they can only use them when their actual expenses reach or exceed three times the voucher value. 

A survey conducted by Alipay showed that over 10 million businesses have benefited from the nationwide voucher campaigns, with over 90 percent of them being micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Pakistani scholar advises to follow China example

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A Pakistani scholar in Wuhan, Ali Nagri, in a video message, has appealed to his Pakistani counterparts to be fully cooperative with the government and follow the instructions issued time to time for elimination of coronavirus from the country. 

He said that Wuhan was reopened to the public after 76 days and there was a wave of celebrations not only for the Chinese and Pakistanis living here but for all international students. 

He pointed out that all those living in Wuhan during lockdown faced a number of problems but, at the end of the day, they emerged successful by defeating the virus. 

He urged upon the Pakistanis to follow the example of the Wuhan and pay full attention to the anti-virus directives issued time to time by the authority concerned to counter the pandemic from Pakistan.

Wuhan resumes train, subway service; final restrictions to be lifted on April 8

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Wuhan, China's COVID-19 ground zero, is returning towards normalcy. It has re-opened for business and the subway service has also been resumed following over two months of suspension. 

Travel controls on most of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, were lifted on March 23 while the subways and long distance trains resumed on March 28. 

The final restrictions preventing people from leaving the city of Wuhan are scheduled to come to an end on April 8.  

The central Chinese city of Wuhan, once at the epicenter of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, has gradually begun its journey towards normal life after a couple of months of lockdown as the authorities have lowered virus risk evaluation from high to medium.

The necessary precautions still remained in place as the commuters of the subways and trains were required to have their body temperatures checked before entering metro stations. They were also required to sit in between empty seats. 

The markets in the city of 11 million inhabitants have reportedly opened on March 30 but customers were scarce as they waited for things to improve further in the days to come.  

According to the reports, around 70% to 80% of shops on the mall were found open but many of them imposed restrictions on how many people could enter while the shopkeepers set up dispensers for hand sanitiser and checked customers for signs of fever. 

Wuhan’s bus and subway services are generally availed by thousands of people while commuting in and out of the manufacturing and transportation hub of central China.

Wuhan to lift outbound traffic restrictions on April 8

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China's Wuhan, the epicenter of Coronavirus (COVID-19), will open travel to outside the city on April 8, with other parts of Hubei province ending their lockdown, according to a government announcement. 

The provincial government also announced that people will need to show a health code, a digital health certificate issued by the province, when leaving the province. Wuhan will continue stringent traffic control until April 8. 

However, starting on March 25, the migrant workers in Wuhan, who hold a green health code and wish to return to work outside the city, could be transported in groups directly to their destinations after passing a nucleic acid test for novel Coronavirus, according to the announcement. 

The other travelers with a green health code will be able to leave the city on April 8 while people from other provinces will be able to travel within the province with the health code issued by their original provincial regions without the need to present other certificates. 

Wuhan will gradually resume production based on epidemic risk evaluation. The opening time of school, including colleges, kindergartens and vocational institutions, is still postponed and will be set at a later time, the announcement added.