ISLAMABAD (AA): Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Russia extended condolencesto China over the loss of lives caused by the deadly coronavirus in thecountry, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
According to the ministry, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan,Malaysia and Russia talked to their Chinese counterpart on the phone andexpressed condolences over the death of more than 300 people from the novelcoronavirus epidemic.
“State Councilor &Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a telephone call withTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Cavusoglu expressed condolencesand sympathy to those who passed away due to the novel coronavirus epidemicand their families,” said Lijian Zhao, the deputy director-general at theChinese Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
Turkish diplomatic sources also confirmed Saturday the phone conversationbetween Cavusoglu and Wang that Cavusoglu expressed condolences to thecountry.
According to Lijian, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi alsospoke with Wang and conveyed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s best wishes toPremier Li Keqiang. Qureshi expressed Pakistan’s strong support for China’sefforts to contain the outbreak.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Russian Foreign MinisterLavrov also spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister and expressed condolencesto China.
Russia fully recognized and highly appreciated effective measures taken byChina to combat the outbreak, believed that the threat of the epidemic willsoon be eliminated, Lavrov said during his conversation with Wang.
The coronavirus, so named because under the microscope it resembles acrown, has killed at least 304 people in China, with nearly 14,380infected. More than 137,600 people are under medical observation.
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According to the World Health Organization’s local office on Sunday, a44-year-old man who reportedly died of the coronavirus in the Philippineson Saturday became the first confirmed death outside China.
The patient was a Chinese from the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province,where the virus was first detected.
Since its outbreak late last year, China has put Wuhan under lockdown in abid to contain the virus and is building a 1,000-bed hospital to treatthose affected.
Beyond China, the virus has spread to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, theU.S., Singapore, France, Vietnam and Canada, and most recently to thePhilippines with the confirmed death on Sunday.
Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at airportsworldwide. Several airlines have suspended flights to Wuhan.
