BEIJING, January 2020: The Ministry of Foreign Relations has instructed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing to immediately contact the Sri Lankan students studying in the Wuhan Province as well as some Sri Lankan nationals employed there, and make arrangements to evacuate them to safer areas as Chinese officials have placed Wuhan under lockdown following the rapid spread of the Wuhan Pneumonia.
The Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing said it was closely monitoring the evolving situation of the coronavirus infection in China and is presently in discussion with relevant Chinese authorities in Beijing and Wuhan as well as Sri Lankans in Wuhan and other parts of China. The Embassy is in discussion with the relevant Chinese authorities and other embassies in Beijing to explore all the possibilities of evacuating Sri Lankans in Wuhan.
The Embassy has been receiving queries from Sri Lankans in Hubei province especially in Wuhan as well as from their relatives in Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankan nationals have been informed to avoid crowded places and stay indoors.
The Embassy is also in close consultation with the Beijing based foreign Embassies particularly our neighbouring countries, with regard to the course of action being taken about their citizens in Wuhan.
Initially, there were around 85 Sri Lankan students in Hubei Province, however, most of them had returned to Sri Lanka for the holidays before the outbreak of Coronavirus. In the event of a necessity for evacuation, the Embassy in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Colombo and other agencies of Government, are making preparations for the students and their family members numbering 30.The Embassy in Beijing, and the Consulate Generals in Shanghai and Guangzhou are making coordinated efforts to provide necessary information to Sri Lankans around China.
The Embassy has created a WeChat group by which the latest information is being updated and information from Sri Lankans in Wuhan also has been received. The Sri Lanka Embassy is also closely monitoring advisories issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The following Embassy officials can be contacted for any information in this regard:
Mr Alexi Gunasekara, Minister/Commercial +8613070138025,
Brig. Kalpa Sanjeewa, Minister Counsellor/Defence +8613051733302,
Ms. Inoka Weerasinghe, Second Secretary+8615116905523,
Ms. Thilini Gunaratne, Second Secretary+8613121722296.
Wuhan, now termed as ‘ground zero’ temporarily closed its airport and railway stations yesterday for departing passengers. All public transport services in the city of 11 million people has also been suspended until further notice. Transport authorities also began shutting down some of the main highways leaving Wuhan leading to a complete lockdown of the city.
