Two remaining Maldivians in Wuhan, evacuated

The two remaining Maldivians in Wuhan in China have been evacuated, as the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic continues to spread across the world.

India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, revealed that Maldivians were among the 112 people -76 Indians and 36 foreigners- evacuated from the city on Thursday, with the facilitation by the Chinese government.

Shortly after, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid tweeted that the “two remaining” Maldivians in Wuhan City have been evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) flight; the others evacuated on Thursday are from Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, South Africa, United States and Madagascar.

The two will be quarantined in Delhi for the required period, to make sure they are not carrying the disease; the seven Maldivians evacuated earlier were monitored for 14-days before being allowed back home.

Shahid expressed the “deepest gratitude” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart in India, as well as the countries representatives to the Maldives- High Commissioner Sunjau Sudhir and Ambassador Zhang Lizhong.

The IAF flight traveled to Wuhan with “115 tonnes of Indian medical relief for COVID-19”, as an expression of solidarity with the Chinese people.

While Maldives is yet to confirm a coronavirus case, it has strengthened the safeguards to ensure that it remains so.

As such, the government on Wednesday announced decision to temporarily ban cruise ships from entering the country, as well as travelers from two regions in South Korea and Iran.

At a press conference held Wednesday night, Health Minister Abdulla Ameen revealed that the decision was reached because of how quickly the disease is spreading worldwide.

Direct flights from China have also been halted temporarily, and the foreign ministry added Iran to its travel advisory on Wednesday; the other countries that the public is cautioned from traveling to are South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Italy.