China employing “strictest measures” vs coronavirus spread: envoy

January 31, 2020

The Chinese government is closely watching the events on the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines, especially as the Department of Health has confirmed a case in the country.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian stressed that the embassy is maintaining “close cooperation with the Department of Health in order to obtain more relevant information and assist the Philippines in the prevention and control of the epidemic.”

“I also hope that the Philippine side could take good care of the patient and protect her legitimate rights and interests,” Huang said in a press conference.

Huang assured that the Chinese government is taking the most comprehensive and “strictest” measures against the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China.

“Compared with any epidemic in the past, I think we have taken the strictest measures some of which even go beyond the requirement of the World Health Organization [WHO],” Huang said in press conference.

“China has the full confidence and capability to win the battle against the virus,” he added.

According to Huang, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general , even “spoke very highly” of the overall efforts being undertaken by the Chinese government in prevention and control of the 2019-nCoV. 

“He (Ghebreyesus) has made it very clear that the measures taken by the Chinese government and Chinese people are not only good for the Chinese people but also good for the rest of the world,” Huang said.

The Chinese envoy stressed that his government is working very hard to stop the spread of the 2019-nCoV from Hubei province where Wuhan City is the center of the epidemic to other parts of China. 

In China, there are over 9,600 confirmed cases of the new virus with a death toll of at least 213, as per WHO.

The WHO has also declared a global emergency over a new coronavirus outbreak. DMS