A plane carrying 71 Jordanian and Arab students arrived at the Queen Alia International Airport at dawn on Saturday after being evacuated from China’s Wuhan region following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, reported Jordan's Petra news agency.
Acting Health Minister Saleh al-Kharabsheh said the Jordanian students will be transferred to al-Bashir Hospital for examination to ensure that they are free from infection. The passengers will not enter the airport building as a precaution, he added.
Transport Minister Khalid Saif said there were 55 Jordanian students, seven Palestinians, three Omanis, a Lebanese, three Tunisians and Bahraini on board the Royal Jordanian aircraft, which is the first official carrier of a country to enter the Wuhan airport for evacuation.
The Health Ministry's Secretary General, Hikmat Abu al-Foul told Petra that the Jordanian and Arab students are in good health, but they will be placed in quarantine as a precaution.
He said they will be medically examined on Sunday after the arrival of the necessary equipment, noting that the aircraft will be sterilized over the course of five days.
The Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control had this week urged nationals against travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Bahrain and Oman banned all but non-essential travel to China.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry advised its citizens against traveling to China and called upon Kuwaiti citizens currently in China to quickly leave amid fears from the outbreak, the state news agency said, citing a ministry statement on Friday.
The statement also called on Kuwaiti citizens to keep away from other countries in which the virus appeared.
