With the unprecedented outbreak of Coronavirus from China, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a Global Health Emergency. Despite efforts to contain the virus that originated from China, there are new cases of positive cases reported worldwide. Cases of positive tests have been reported from Tibetan area of Sichuan today.
The coronavirus outbreak that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 213 people worldwide so far and infected around 10000 globally, most of them in China. No fatalities have been reported outside China. Despite several cases being reported outside China, the World Health Organisation has on early Friday morning through a press conference declared it a global health emergency.
“Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak, and which has been met by an unprecedented response.” said the Director General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
With new cases of infection being reported from across the world, a case of infection by the Wuhan coronavirus in a Tibetan area of China was confirmed on Thursday in Sichuan’s Ngaba prefecture, according to Chinese state media reports which described the patient as a 26-year-old woman from Hubei.
The report follows an announcement on Wednesday confirming the infection of a patient identified only by his surname Zhang, who arrived in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa by train from Hubei on Jan. 24 and was admitted to a hospital for testing the next day, as reported by the Radio Free Asia on Friday.
Meanwhile Tibetan monasteries and other cultural sites like the Potala palace has been closed, people’s movement through the region is highly restricted now. It is also report that pilgrims in Lhasa has been directed to return to their natives.