Four Tibetans Among Eight Confirmed Coronavirus Cases in Tibetan Area of Sichuan Province

Four Tibetans are believed to be among eight confirmed novel coronavirus (nCoV) cases in a Tibetan area of western China’s Sichuan province, RFA has learned.

According to the Facebook and Weibo pages of Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan author, the eight confirmed cases were in Tawu county (Daofu in Chinese), Karze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Hospitals in the region are working with limited resources.

In an announcement published Tuesday, the Tawu County People’s Hospital asked for donations of protective clothing, disposable gowns, masks, medical-grade sanitizer, antibiotics and other supplies needed by frontline medical personnel working to contain nCoV’s spread.

This echoed a Jan. 29 announcement from the Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People’s Hospital which said the hospital was experiencing large patient volume, and that the hospital was treating people who had tested positive for nCoV. The hospital called for donations of medical items that exceed national standards.

Meanwhile in the Tsojang (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, two more patients were diagnosed with nCoV, increasing the total there to three.

As of Tuesday, Qinghai had a total of 15 positive cases, with 12 in the capital Xining and the three in Tsojang, according to statistics confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese state media.

In addition, there were eight total in the Karze, one in the Ngaba (Aba) and one in the Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous prefectures.

Inside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (Xizang) only one confirmed case has been announced, an individual named Zhang who arrived in Lhasa by train from Hubei on Jan. 24.

No further information was provided by the TAR authorities.

Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Rigdhen Dolma. Written in English by Eugene Whong.