ZHOU Pingjian, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, has said no Nigerian citizen residing in Wuhan city has contracted the novel Coronavirus.

He made this disclosure on Monday during a  press briefing held in Abuja.

According to the envoy, the city is home to 60 Nigerians, and they are all safe from the virus.

Pingjan also disclosed that the number of persons infected has risen to 17,205 with 361 deaths recorded since the outbreak in late December 2019, while 475 persons infected have been cleared from hospitals.

However, Nigerian students in China claimed the government was yet to reach out to them or provide any assistance to those who are stuck in dormitories out of fear of contracting the virus, whereas other countries like France and the United Kingdom in the past week have evacuated nationals from the country.

The virus has since spread to more than 24 countries, despite different countermeasures that have been employed to curb the spread of the disease by world governments, including imposing travel bans and upscale checks at airports.

The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency.

Meanwhile, rumour continues to circulate about the importation of the virus into the country, which was amplified with the closure of some supermarkets selling Chinese products. But the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday, has refuted such claim.