'Aircraft will bring back medical aid from China to contain Covid-19'

The government on Friday dispatched at least 17 tonnes of 'Halal food' for Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan city of China due to coronavirus outbreak.

A special aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) left for China today, carrying approximately 15-day food supply for some 1,300 Pakistani students residing in the city of Hubei Province, said the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) in a statement issued on Friday.

"On return, this same aircraft will bring medical aid from China to contain the coronavirus," the ministry added.

In the statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistan Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari extended his gratitude to all the stakeholders including the National Disaster Management Authority and the PAF for assisting government in fulfilling the promise it made with parents of the students.

"As promised, Pakistani cooked food rations and supplies for our people in Wuhan have been dispatched," he said.

Zulfi said the facilitation of overseas Pakistanis was the government's top most priority. He said there were strict instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure special care of all Pakistani students in China.