Ten Saudi students were evacuated from the Chinese coronavirus epicenter Wuhan and flown to Riyadh on a private plane dispatched by the Saudi government. The plane arrived in Riyadh today (Sunday) morning as a result of coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi Embassy in China, which made great efforts to finalize the necessary arrangements and procedures to transport them and ensure their safety in cooperation with the Chinese authorities.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), accompanied by specialized medical teams, the students were taken to a well-equipped accommodation where they will be quarantined for two weeks to undergo all lab tests in order to ensure their safety and prevent the spread of the virus. This procedure comes within the framework of the epidemiological surveillance and ongoing follow-up of the novel coronavirus by MOH. The Ministry reassured citizens and residents once again that until now, there is no documented case of anyone affected by the novel coronavirus in the Kingdom.
It is to be noted that MOH is implementing a number of precautionary measures to prevent infiltration of the virus into the Kingdom by means of screening all arrivals from China via direct and indirect flights. MOH indicated that between January 20 and February 2, 62 samples were screened and all tested negative for the coronavirus. It said that 3,152 passengers coming from China via direct flights, and 868 via indirect flights were screened during the same period, adding that it provided medical teams around the clock in all land, sea and air ports, which receive direct and indirect flights from China. Also, MOH's National Health Laboratory has developed the necessary laboratory capabilities to detect the disease in record time since the detection of the first communicable case in China and prior to the WHO's declaration that the coronavirus outbreak is of international concern.
It is noteworthy that the Kingdom has vast and invaluable experience in disease control and prevention as a result of handling and dealing with millions of people coming from all over the world during the Hajj and Umrah seasons.
According to the latest statistics disseminated by WHO, the confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus amounted to 14,386 cases in China, as well as 175 cases outside China. 305 people have died so far from the novel coronavirus.