Coronavirus: Indonesia evacuates citizens, stops flights from China
- The 238 evacuees – including one foreigner – were airlifted by the military to the remote Natuna Islands where they will undergo two weeks of quarantine
- Also on Sunday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announced flights to and from mainland China will be temporarily stopped
A chartered plane flew the 238 evacuees – including one foreigner – to Batam Island, from where they were airlifted by the military to the remote Natuna Islands. They are to be quarantined there for two weeks, which is the incubation period of the newly identified coronavirus.
The one foreigner among the evacuees is the husband of one of the Indonesians, according to a press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which did not specify his nationality.
Officials of the foreign and health ministries and military officers who took part in the evacuation operation, as well as the crew of the charter, will also be under observation on Natuna for three days.
Four Indonesians declined to be evacuated, while three others did not pass health screening by the Chinese authorities and so were refused permission to leave the country, according to Indonesian officials.
