Coronavirus precautions: Chinese restricted to their compounds

LAHORE: To avoid spread of coronavirus in Pakistan, all Chinese working in different government projects and private companies will stay in their compounds, campuses, cancelled all meetings and to stay indoors unless going outside is unavoidable.

Further, those Chinese returning to their assignments in Pakistan from China after New Year holidays or other type of business trips are instructed to stay in their rooms, compounds and campuses for two weeks as a quarantine measure. Deputy Consul General of China in Lahore Peng Zhengwu confirmed that as a part of internal quarantine measure against Ncv; all the meetings of the Chinese Consul General in Lahore are also cancelled. “The Chinese Consul General in Lahore has cancelled all recent meetings,” he mentioned with a hope that things will be OK after a week. Further, the Chinese Consulate General also instructed the all Chinese coming to Pakistan in recent days are advised to stay in rooms for at least 14 days. Additionally, all Chinese companies have requested their Chinese employees to stay in camps and not go out unless necessary, he added. An official of the leading Chinese company also confirmed that they stopped dealing with locals for the last couple of days. This dealing will remain suspended at least for a week and can be extended to two weeks, he said, adding that only direct human interaction was suspended as an internal quarantine measure as instructed by the government to avoid spreading of Ncv coronavirus in Pakistan.

However, he confirmed that they were working via communication means such as phones, emails and communication applications. Only those businesses have suffered where Chinese are working physically in the projects and interacting with the locals, he added.

Following the Chinese government instruction, Lahore Mass Transit Authority also issued new advisory for the Chinese workers working on Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project. According to the advisory, the Chinese workers will not shake hands with locals, besides using masks while working in the public. They will remain in their compounds for three days while the health department completed their screening in their compounds. Mass Transit Authority General Manager Uzair Shah said the Chinese workers were not working for three days on the eve of their New Year. During these three days they were restricted to their compounds, he added. However, he said the work was stopped at the OMLT for a day due to coronavirus issue. Further, they are ordered to keep washing their hands multiple times during their work outside as well, he added.

A Chinese working on Lahore Safe City project has also confirmed that they are restricted to their living areas since coronavirus news. “Majority of Chinese workers have already flown to China on the eve of the Lunar New Year on annual leave for celebrations,” he said, adding that remaining Chinese are following the internal quarantine instructions issued by the embassy. Now the challenge will occur when the Chinese return from China after holidays as they could be suspected carriers of coronavirus, he observed.