Flight On Mission To Evacuate Stranded Malaysians In Wuhan Is Safely Back In KLIA2
All 167 persons onboard the flight will be quarantined for two weeks at an undisclosed surveillance centre.
By May Vin Ang β 04 Feb 2020, 01:03 PM
The AirAsia aircraft sent to evacuate the 141 Malaysians and their families in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, has arrived safely back at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) today, 4 February
According to Malay Mail, the flight chartered specifically for the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission by the government landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport yesterday evening, 3 February.
The 141 evacuees, comprising of 116 Malaysians and 25 of their non-citizen spouses and children, had to pass an exit health screening by the health authorities in the Chinese airport before they were allowed to board the aircraft.
The flight arrived back home this morning at 5.57am.
Accompanying the 12 crew members onboard the AK8264 flight for the repatriation mission were eight HADR mission personnel and six officers from the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing
According to Free Malaysia Today, the aircraft also brought with it 500,000 pairs of rubber gloves as a contribution to the Chinese government in an effort to contain the 2019-nCoV outbreak in the country.
The team of 12 AirAsia flight crew, six officers from the Ministry of Health, and one each from the National Disaster and Management Agency (NADMA) and Wisma Putra, before departing to Wuhan.
Image via NADMA/New Straits TimesEarlier yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said all 167 people onboard the plane - the evacuees, crew, and even the mission personnel - would be required to go through a health screening at the Air Disaster Unit (ADU) upon arrival back in klia2
"Those found to have the symptoms will immediately be sent to a hospital, while others will be taken by bus to a monitoring centre where they will be under observation for 14 days," said the Central Disaster Managament Committee chairman, as quoted by The Star.
The arrival of the passengers of AK8264 at klia2 was carefully overseen by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of infection
Meanwhile in Indonesia, evacuees from Wuhan received quite a welcome when they arrived at Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam on Sunday, 2 February
According to The Straits Times, Indonesian authorities have said extra measures will be taken to prevent the spread of the virus in the country.
However, the aggressive move of spraying passengers with disinfectant upon arrival has netizens questioning its necessity.
"Largely frivolous move," observed a Facebook user, "If its on anyone's skin, they're probably already infected - and this spray down with disinfectant will do nothing to remove the virus from their lungs."
While others hoped the video will not cause panic.
"This is not the full treatment for the virus. They were transferred from this to a military plane and are going to be quarantined on a military base on a secluded island," a netizen reassured.
