Indonesians in Hubei to be Evacuated Soon

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed that all Indonesians in Hubei, China, should be evacuated immediately. The Chinese government said that it would facilitate the evacuations.

KOMPAS/ANGGER PUTRANTO

An official from the Probolinggo Port Health Office checks the temperature of a newly arrived passenger on 27 Jan. 2020 at Banyuwangi International Airport in Blimbingsari, East Java. The Probolinggo Port Health Office and state-owned port operator Angkasa Pura II have implemented precautionary measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed that all Indonesians in Hubei province, China, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, be immediately evacuated.

The President gave the instruction after meeting with Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Doni Monardo at Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Thursday (30/1/2020) afternoon.

“Earlier, the President had ordered the immediate evacuation of all Indonesians in Hubei province,” Retno said after the meeting, as quoted from a press statement from the Presidential Secretariat.

A few hours before, after an event in South Tangerang, the President said the government had prepared a comprehensive evacuation plan. This includes the evacuation process in China and safety procedures upon the evacuees’ arrival in Indonesia.

The President had ordered the immediate evacuation of all Indonesians in Hubei province.

“We choose the option to evacuate but there are procedures. This morning, I told the foreign minister to explore this option. In an evacuation, there are processes upon [the evacuees’] arrival. Once they arrive, will we have a huge quarantine area and where will that be? Things like this must not be underestimated. We need to carefully prepare everything as this relates to a virus,” the President said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said the Chinese government would be ready to facilitate the return of Indonesians from the new coronavirus-affected region in Hubei province to Indonesia.

Currently, plans are being discussed to transport Indonesians from seven locations in Hubei province to the pickup point, namely the Wuhan airport, prior to the evacuation aircrafts’ arrival.

A team from the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing is standing by near the affected regions to facilitate these processes. The embassy has asked Indonesians in Hubei to prepare all travel documents and other administrative requirements.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Paramedics conduct an emergency medical drill for first-responder treatment of suspected coronavirus patients in an ambulance on Thursday (30/1/2020) at Kariadi Central General Hospital (RSUP) in Semarang, Central Java.

Other countries

Countries across the globe are becoming increasingly concerned over the speed of the new coronavirus. Many countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from China. As of Thursday, there were 7,783 confirmed new coronavirus cases in 18 countries, with the death toll reaching 170.

On Thursday, an Airbus 380 airplane departed Portugal to evacuate hundreds of Europeans trapped in China. The airplane took off from a former military airbase in Beja, 200 kilometers to the southeast of Lisbon.

The airplane’s captain, Antonios Efthymiou, said that the airplane would stop over in Paris to pick up a team of doctors and additional crew members before heading to Hanoi and then China. The airplane is expected to carry around 350 Europeans.

Meanwhile, a chartered flight carrying 200 UK citizens from Wuhan that was supposed to depart the city on Thursday morning was delayed as it was still waiting for permission from the Chinese government.

Previously, hundreds of UK citizens in Beijing and Shanghai had arrived in the UK and would undergo quarantine. The plan is to place them in a former dormitory of the UK National Health Service (NHS) employees.

During the quarantine period, their movement is limited. They must not have any contact with the general public and must stay inside the facility at all times. This is in order to prevent the possibility of the new coronavirus spread from China to the UK.

The step has been taken as people with the new coronavirus look normal during the incubation period. They do not show any symptoms and may not even be aware that they are carrying the disease.

As the BBC reported, all UK citizens from China will undergo tests once they arrive back in the UK to find out whether they have the virus or not. Those with confirmed infection will be isolated and those showing symptoms will be treated at hospitals. Those who do not have the virus will be observed for 14 days to anticipate possible appearances of symptoms.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

A girl from Xi\'an, China, sits on a luggage trolley as she waits for her parents on Thursday (30/1/2020) at Hang Nadim International Aiport in Batam, Riau Islands. The girl was one of 399 Chinese nationals holidaying in Batam who were repatriated by a Chinese travel agency.

First case

India and the Philippines are the two latest countries to report confirmed new coronavirus cases from Wuhan. South Korea also said that it had one confirmed coronavirus case from human-to-human transmission. This has worried global health experts as the virus can spread more easily.

The presence of cases of human-to-human transmission led to World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to gather experts to decide whether the new coronavirus outbreak merits a global health emergency.

In Batam, Riau Islands, Embung Fatimah General Hospital is treating one patient for suspected new coronavirus. Batam Health Agency head Didi Kusmarjadi said that the patient, identified as RM, 40, showed symptoms of pneumonia and severe breathing difficulties.

“He has no travel history to China. However, rather than underestimating this, we are dealing with the patient as a coronavirus suspect,” Didi said.

A sample of the patient’s neck swab has been sent to Jakarta to confirm whether or not the patient has the new coronavirus. (AP)