22-year-old Tamil Nadu student dies of illness in China, family seeks help to bring body home

New Delhi Dec 02: A 22-year-old Indian student from Tamil Nadu, who had been studying medicine in China for the past five years, died of an illness and his economically weak family has sought help from the foreign ministry to bring back his body.

According to reports, the student, identified as Abdul Sheikh had returned to India but on December 11, he went back to China for an internship at Qiqihar Medical University in northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

Upon reaching China and after a mandatory eight-day isolation, Sheikh fell ill and had to be admitted to the intensive care unit, where he died, as per reports.

A relative of Abdul Sheikh has appealed to the foreign ministry to help bring the body back home so that the family can perform the last rites.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has again urged China to regularly share specific and real-time data on the COVID-19 situation in the country, amid a surge in coronavirus cases after it relaxed its strict 'zero-COVID' policy. The global health agency has asked Chinese health officials to share data on genetic sequencing, hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations.

A high-level meeting took place between officials from WHO and China on the current surge in COVID-19 cases to seek further information on the situation, and to offer WHO's expertise and further support, a WHO statement said on Friday, as reported by PTI.

"WHO again asked for regular sharing of specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation - including more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths -and data on vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60 years old," it added.