Countries evacuating nationals from China coronavirus areas

Saudi Arabia evacuates 10 students, Uzbekistan evacuates 251 from China

A growing number of countries around the world are evacuating or planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and citizens from parts of China hit by the new coronavirus.

The following are some countries’ evacuation plans, and how they aim to manage the health risk from those who are returning.

Singapore said on Friday it was planning another flight to bring Singaporeans back from Wuhan. The city-state evacuated 92 Singaporeans from Wuhan last Thursday.

The US State Department said two planes with about 300 passengers, mostly Americans, took off from Wuhan on Thursday bound for the United States. One of the flights is carrying more than 60 Canadians. A group of 350 American evacuees arrived on Wednesday and were placed under quarantine, bringing the total number of people subject to quarantine to 540.

Three suspected Coronavirus patients tested at PIMS

Uzbekistan evacuated 251 people from China and quarantined them on arrival in Tashkent.

A plane load of New Zealanders, Australians and Pacific Islanders evacuated from Wuhan arrived in New Zealand’s Auckland on Wednesday, where they will be quarantined to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Taiwan has evacuated the first batch of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan.

Brazil on Tuesday obtained authorisation from China to fly two planes to Wuhan to evacuate Brazilian citizens who asked to be repatriated.

Italy flew back 56 nationals from Wuhan to Rome on Feb 3. The group will spend two weeks in quarantine in a military hospital, the government said.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne said 243 citizens and permanent residents were evacuated from Wuhan on Monday on an Australian government-chartered aircraft.

Saudi Arabia has evacuated 10 students from Wuhan, where the new coronavirus outbreak began, Saudi state television reported on Sunday.

Indonesia flew 243 evacuees from China’s Hubei province and placed them under quarantine at a military base on the sparsely populated Natuna Besar island northwest of Borneo.

South Korea flew 368 people home on a charter flight that arrived last week. A second chartered flight departed Seoul for Wuhan, with plans to evacuate around 350 more South Korean citizens.

A third chartered flight repatriating Japanese people arrived from Wuhan last week, bringing the number of repatriated nationals to 565. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan is making arrangements to repatriate all Japanese who want to return from Wuhan and surrounding areas.

A plane carrying 83 British and 27 European Union nationals from Wuhan landed in Britain last week.

Kazakhstan has evacuated 83 of its citizens, mostly students, from Wuhan.

A German military plane will be leaving for China shortly to evacuate more than 100 German citizens, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said last week.

Morocco will evacuate 100 citizens, mostly students, from around Wuhan.

Spain’s government is working with China and the European Union to repatriate its nationals.

A plane evacuating 176 Canadian citizens from China is due to land in the early hours of Friday, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday. Canada also said on Thursday a second plane would be needed to fly people out of Wuhan. That plane is expected to depart on Feb 10 and land in Canada on Feb. 11.

Russia said it would begin moving its citizens out of China via its Far Eastern region on Feb. 1, regional authorities said. It plans to evacuate more than 600 Russian citizens from Hubei province, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said. A first Russian military plane took off on Tuesday to evacuate Russian citizens from Wuhan, the RIA news agency reported.

Chinese man with coronavirus symptoms put into isolation ward in Islamabad hospital

The Netherlands is preparing the voluntary evacuation of 20 Dutch nationals and their families from Hubei Province, Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament. The Netherlands is finalising arrangements with EU partners and Chinese authorities.

France has evacuated some nationals from Wuhan and said it would place the passengers in quarantine. It said it would first evacuate nationals without symptoms and then those showing symptoms at a later, unspecified date.

Swiss authorities said they hope to have about 10 compatriots join the French evacuation of nationals from China.

A plane brought 138 Thais home from Wuhan on Tuesday and they waved from evacuation buses as they headed off for two weeks in quarantine to ensure they are free from the disease.