Indian Embassy in China constantly checking on the health of Indians amid coronavirus outbreak: Jaishankar

Indian embassy in Beijing is constantly checking on the health and well being of the Indians in China amid the outbreak of coronavirus, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Sunday.

"Our Embassy in Beijing is constantly checking on the health and well-being of the Indians in China. Please follow @EOIBeijing for more updates on the situation," Jaishankar tweeted.

The virus which originated in Wuhan city of China in December and since then has spread in various cities around the world. Over 50 people have been killed after developing pneumonia-like symptoms and around 2000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in China.

As a precautionary measure, China imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has acknowledged that the respiratory illness, which has been traced to the city of Wuhan, is an emergency in China.

The Indian embassy also issued an advisory for people travelling from China to India and asked people from Wuhan to monitor their health closely.

In a statement, the Indian Embassy listed out health measures while travelling from China, which includes avoiding contact with live animals and consumption of raw undercooked meats and wearing a mask.