In a bid to curb the devastating effect of Coronavirus, South Korea has sent a jet to evacuate its citizens from China.
The VCN-235 Air Force plane left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at noon on Tuesday (Feb 18), and landed in Japan’s Haneda Airport, 20 minutes away from the Yokohama port where the cruise ship Diamond Princess is docked.
The plane according to report, will depart Japan on Wednesday and arrive at Gimpo Airport at around 8am. It is set to evacuate five people – four South Korean nationals and a Japanese spouse – from the cruise ship. But the final number could change depending on the situation, according to government officials.
There are 14 Koreans onboard – nine passengers and five crew members, all of whom are reportedly unaffected by the coronavirus. They have been stranded on the ship with around 3,700 people since Feb 3, after a former passenger was diagnosed with the virus. As of Tuesday, 542 people were infected with Covid-19, in the largest cluster of virus cases outside of China.
The remaining Koreans have said they want to stay on the ship, largely due to their residence status tied to Japan. The mandatory quarantine on the cruise is set to end Wednesday, which means the remaining Koreans may leave the ship if they test negative.
Upon returning from Japan, the evacuees will be transported to quarantine facilities of Incheon Airport for 14 days, similar to hundreds of Korean nationals airlifted from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the covid-19 outbreak.
