Terrified Pakistani students in China 'being kept in one room', no help from embassy

WUHAN: Pakistani students in China said Wednesday they were terrified and were "being kept in one room" after four others had been tested for coronavirus amid a hysteria that has spread throughout the world.

Two of them had earlier shared videos of appeals for assistance with Geo News.

Geo News has also learnt that the condition of one of the Pakistani students in China had worsened and her CT scan was carried out after collecting contributions worth 700 yuan in total. The student also suffers from respiratory issues.

Read more: Some important facts about coronavirus

Speaking to Geo News, one student — whose identity was protected — said: "We are very stressed and upset mentally. We're being kept in one room and we're scared and frightened. The virus is spreading day by day so for God's sake, help us.

"We're appealing repeatedly [and] we're requesting the embassy repeatedly but the embassy staff told us, 'You should have followed the rules in China, we can't do anything for you, just sit in your room'.

"We have 105 students in our university and we have some students' families and kids as well, some kids are aged six. We're more upset because children are more susceptible to the disease.

Related: Pak athletes stuck in China due to ‘flight issues’

The student added that no student of the Wuhan University had tested positive but that "we're at risk [because] we go outside to buy food so there's danger".

"Just today, four Pakistani students in another university near Wuhan University were tested positive so we're extremely scared, we're given food at one place but still have to go out for other basic necessities," the student added.

China situation 'not as it's being presented to world'

Earlier today, it was reported that four Pakistani students in Wuhan, China, had tested positive for the coronavirus. One of them said they have appealed for assistance from the Pakistani government to rescue and retrieve them.

“The situation in China is not as it is being presented to the world. The situation is extremely bad and the [Pakistani] embassy is helping in terms of documents only.”

Speaking to Geo News, the student said the conditions had worsened. “It's really bad, and students are not being given any rescue or services”. The students were “stressed out and inconvenienced”.

She added that the Pakistani embassy was only collecting letters but there was no help from them whatsoever.

Another student requested for help through a video, saying: “I appeal to the Pakistani government, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of the Army Staff, and the foreign ministry to rescue and retrieve us.

“We tried contacting the [Pakistani] embassy but they told us to just obey the orders. The Chinese government has only given us masks and thermometers and told us to sit and make do with these.

“One can understand how safe a person can be with only a mask.”