Iran Evacuates Its Citizens From China’s Wuhan Over Outbreak Of Coronavirus

A plane carrying Iranian students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, landed at Imam Khomeini Airport in the capital Tehran on the morning of February 5. 

“All the passengers and flight crews will be kept in quarantine for two weeks, despite the fact that a number of specialist doctors examined all passengers during the flight,” an official of the Iranian Road Ministry told Mehr news agency.

“In addition to 53 Iranians, a lot of citizens of neighbouring countries have also been evacuated following the request of the Iranian students,” the report added.

Mohammad Mahdi Gooya, the head of the Health Ministry’s Communicable Diseases Centre said in a symposium related to coronavirus that “none of these students was diagnosed with coronavirus, but they will still be quarantined for two weeks in terms of healthcare of them”. 

The death toll from the monthlong coronavirus outbreak has continued to climb in China, rising to 722 as of Saturday. New cases have surged by double-digit percentages in the past 11 days, with no sign of a slowdown. The overall number of those infected with the deadly virus across China reached at least 34,546.

In a phone conversation on February 3, the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi talked about the latest developments concerning the outbreak of coronavirus in China. 

Zarif lauded the Chinese government for its responsibility and efforts to control the crisis and prevent the spread of the virus and expressed his opposition to the politicization of such issues.

The rapid spread of the disease has raised fears about its impact on the Chinese economy and global growth. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said recently that the fatal virus outbreak in China could bring positive outcomes for the American economy. 

The disease has forced global companies including tech giants, carmakers, and retailers to temporarily shut down their production sites in China as authorities extended the Lunar New Year holiday and imposed major travel restrictions across the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on January 30 that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern". 

Following WHO's warning, Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki announced on January 31 that Iran has decided to temporarily stop all flights to and from China amidst the coronavirus outbreak until further notice.