COVID-19 Pakistan: Looking back at how events unfolded
Coronavirus entered public discussions in Pakistan in January 2020 when Pakistani students in China were barred from travelling back to their country by the Chinese government. There were speculations in the media about how badly they were being treated by the Chinese authorities and how Pakistani government was helpless in coming to their rescue. They were said to be stuck in their dormitories for days without food and medicine. Their parents staged protests in front of government buildings demanding Pakistani government to evacuate their loved ones from Wuhan and Hubei. The government’s response was that these students were better off under the Chinese care in the prevailing circumstances, and that bringing them back was against public health advice on international travel to and from China. The Chinese embassy in Islamabad tweeted: We will take care of them like our own [i] . The Chinese embassy declined Pakistani Health Minister’s request for a visit to China to meet these students