BEIJING – China Tuesday said it was willing to continue to deepen cooperation with the international community to respond to the new coronavirus and jointly maintain regional and global health security.
“After the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the overall deployment of the epidemic prevention and control work,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing.
He said at the same time, relevant Chinese departments notified the WHO, relevant countries, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan of the epidemic situation timely and shared the information of the new coronavirus gene sequence immediately.
The spokesperson said the local government of Wuhan had adopted measures to control the disease and strengthened the control of personnel entering and leaving Wuhan.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered to resolute efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus that caused cases of pneumonia in some major Chinese cities and other Asian countries.
He said governments and departments at all levels should put the health and safety of the people in the first place, especially during a time when China is experiencing huge mobility during the spring festival holiday.
The president urged the relevant parties to take effective measures to stop the spread of the virus, make all efforts to cure the infected, find out the origin of the virus and how it had been spreading.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also made important instructions on the spread of the virus and said China would work with the World Health Organization (WHO), and relevant countries and regions to deal with the new coronavirus and strictly prevent its further spread.
China’s National Health Commission has set up a special leading group to guide local governments to properly cope with the epidemic.
China has reported 217 confirmed cases and seven suspected cases of this new type of coronavirus labeled 2019-nCoV.
The mysterious virus was first reported in Wuhan city, Central China’s Hubei province in December 2019, where it might originate at a seafood market.
