KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 141 people, comprising 117 Malaysians and 24 non-citizens (spouses and children) will be repatriated from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) focal point of Wuhan, China, tomorrow.
A spokesperson from the Malaysian Embassy in China, in a statement today, said the evacuees will board a special flight from the virus-hit Wuhan.
“So far, Malaysians in Wuhan have provided good feedback and cooperated well (with the team here).
“The team has also received good support from the Chinese government and the local government of Hubei Province to mobilise Malaysians in Wuhan.
“Efforts taken to repatriate Malaysian citizens and their spouse and children are well underway,” Malaysian Ambassador to China, Raja Datuk Nushirwan Zainal Abidin was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, a team of six personnel from the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing has begun operations of a secretariat in Wuhan city.
“The team arrived at 3.50am today after traveling on land over 1,720 km from Beijing to Wuhan.
“Their primary task today is to continuously update logistics information as well as refine actions that will be taken to bring Malaysians back from Wuhan.
“Further discussions were also made with the Chinese government and local government of Hubei Province to ensure the smooth running of the process,” the statement read.
Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said only those who pass the exit screening set by the Chinese government at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport would be evacuated.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is the central disaster management committee chairman, said an AirAsia flight with a crew of 12 would be utilised for the mission.
She further said there were negotiations between the Foreign Ministry and Chinese government following the Cabinet’s decision to repatriate Malaysians from Wuhan, since it was under lockdown.
The negotiations also involved National Disaster Management Agency and AirAsia.
As of today there have been no further positive 2019-nCoV cases. The cumulative number of reported 2019-nCoV positive cases remains at eight.
On Saturday, the NST reported that the government has been granted permission by the Chinese authorities to evacuate Malaysians in Wuhan and areas in Hubei province following the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
There are about 35,000 Malaysians living in China, 25,000 in Hong Kong and 2,500 in Beijing.