Canada to Send Second Plane to Evacuate Nationals From Wuhan
Canada to Send Second Plane to Evacuate Nationals From Wuhan
(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said a second chartered plane is departing to Asia to bring another load of nationals out of Wuhan, the Chinese city locked down over the coronavirus outbreak, Canadian Press reported.
“The plane would be leaving on the 10th of February, bringing back the last group of Canadians who want to be repatriated on the 11th,” Champagne said in Ethiopia Sunday.
Last Friday, a first Canada chartered plane with 176 passengers landed at a military base in Ontario. Separately a smaller group arrived in an American flight. The total number of Canadians that have been repatriated is 215, Canadian Press said.
The evacuation of Canadian citizens follows other countries that in the past days have rescued citizens from the virus-stricken region. Countries including the U.S. and Australia have issued travel bans on foreign nationals who had recently visited China or who arrived directly from the mainland in order to quell the spread of the epidemic.
Confirmed cases for coronavirus have climbed to 37,198, and there have been more than 800 deaths worldwide.
Canada responded to China’s request for medical equipment, including face masks as well as other protective gear, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a separate press conference Sunday in Addis Ababa, Canadian Press reported. The North American country is ready to assist China if more help is requested, he said.
The government is also monitoring 285 Canadians who are subject to quarantine on two cruise ships off the coast of Japan and Hong Kong. There are seven Canadians with confirmed cases of the virus that were contracted aboard one of the ships, which is docked in the port city of Yokohama. They’re being treated in Japanese hospitals, the news wire said.
Canada has seven confirmed cases of the virus within its borders, the federal government said on its website.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Esteban Duarte in Toronto at eduarterubia@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Ian Fisher, Linus Chua
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