Stranded Pakistanis start arriving home from coronavirus-hit China

PTI, Feb 3, 2020, 5:20 PM IST

Islamabad: Some of the Pakistani nationals stranded in coronavirus-hit China started arriving home as Islamabad on Monday, February 3 allowed two Chinese flights to land here, a day after it received special medical kits from Beijing to detect the deadly virus cases.

Pakistan suspended flights from China on January 31 till February 2, a day after the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of the virus as a global health emergency.

According to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA), two flights of China Southern Airlines from Urumqi city of China landed at the Islamabad International Airport.

One of the flights- CZ6007- carried 69 passengers, including 57 Pakistanis and 12 Chinese. The flights were allowed a day after Pakistan said it has received special medical kits from China to detect the coronavirus cases.

Officials said a Qatar Airlines flight also came from Doha, bringing at least 40 Pakistani students from China who had traveled to Qatar due to suspension of direct flights to Pakistan.

Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza was at the airport to see the arrival and mandatory checks on the passengers.

At Islamabad airport this morning – received passengers from China along with HE Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan. We supervised the implementation of Airport SOPs’ and I interviewed passengers, Mirza tweeted.

Following all international protocols ensuring their health & safety as well as that of all Pakistanis. A responsible Pakistan means being emotional when needed but rational and practical in decision making as well. We support the Chinese Govt efforts to overcome CNV (coronavirus), he said.

So far, no case of the virus has been found in Pakistan. While India, the US, Sri Lanka, and many other countries evacuated their nationals from Wuhan, Pakistan has declined pleas by its stranded citizens in the city to airlift them.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi on Sunday said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as medical facilities back home do not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with coronavirus.

The death toll in the coronavirus epidemic soared to 361 with 57 deaths on Sunday alone while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 17,205.

There were up to 800 Pakistanis studying in various universities in Wuhan – a city of 11 million people that has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier, the Foreign Office said that there were 28,000 Pakistani students currently in China apart from hundreds of businessmen.