Published 16:02 IST, February 1st 2020
China brings back overseas Wuhan citizens to coronavirus-hit city
China has jetted off two planeloads of its citizens back to Hubei, the quarantined province at the centre of the deadly outbreak where they were welcomed.
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China has jetted off two planelos of its citizens back to Hubei, quarantined province at centre of dely coronavirus outbreak where y were welcomed by authorities in full-body protective suits. A Xiamen Airlines charter flight took off from Bangkok landed late on January 31 in provincial capital Wuhan, which is believed to be main epicenter of infection.
health authorities covered mselves with white, full-body protective gear stood by cabin door as 73 passengers deboarded aircraft, smiling through face masks and waving to photographers.
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250 died, more than 12000 infected
A second flight landed soon afterwards carrying Hubei residents from Kota Kinabalu, a famous coastal tourist destination in Malaysia. Foreign Ministry said on Friday that country is trying to bring back Wuhan residents back from overseas as soon as possible. move was taken after more than 30 airlines worldwide anunced that y are reducing or halting flights to China as country struggles to contain spre of epidemic. death toll for Wuhan 2019-nCoV has spiked to more than 250 and infection cases surged nearly 12,000 by Saturday, February 1, confirmed China’s National Health Commission as per reports.
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Several countries suspend airlines
Communist Party officials in Wuhan, epicenter in Hubei province where virus emerged, reportedly expressed remorse over local authorities’ lethargy in taking equate containment measures to have prevented epidemic in time.
According to reports, only last week, China’s central government took a dramatic step as it issued restraint orders, imposing mass coronavirus quarantine that w encompasses 12 cities with approximately 1.4 billion citizens on lockdown. Several countries across world, including US, have suspended major airline services and immigration facilities placing travel restrictions on Chinese nationals. According to World Health Organization (WHO), majority infection cases outside of mainland China are associated with global contagion outbreak that involved ‘travel’.
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16:02 IST, February 1st 2020