Families of the Pakistanis, especially students, stranded in China amid coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring country, staged a protest demonstration outside the National Press Club in Islamabad on Saturday.

Men and women carrying placards said that government’s silence on the issue was tantamount to stubbornness. They said that all countries, including India and the United States, had pulled out their citizens from China, but the Pakistani government had not taken any steps in this regard. The said the government must bring all people stranded in China back home immediately because they were living there in the fear of falling prey to the deadly virus. Also, they said, Pakistanis stranded in China were suffering from food shortage. They said their family members stranded in China were not infected. They said they just wanted the government to bring them back and keep them under observation. If they have any symptoms of the disease, they should be treated, they said.