Government Evacuate Indonesian Citizens In China Tomorrow

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi during a press conference regarding the corona virus case (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Good news for Indonesian citizens who are being quarantined in Hubei province, China because of the corona virus. Within 1x24 hours, the Indonesian government will arrive there to carry out the evacuation process.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the evacuation team had received permission from the Chinese authorities after he met the Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning.

"This morning I met with the Chinese Ambassador in Jakarta, he has conveyed the landing clearance and aircraft movements for the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Hubei Province," said Retno at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central Jakarta, Friday, January 31.

The aircraft used for the evacuation process were wide-body planes so that they could repatriate 243 Indonesians spread across 6 cities, namely Wuhan, Xianing, Xuangxi, Jingzu, Xianyang, and Xian.

The aircraft to be used is a Lion Air civil aircraft type A-330, taking into account time efficiency because it can carry all Indonesian citizens.

The involvement of the TNI defense system which is reserve in nature is on alert. A total of 10 TNI personnel assisted in security.

"Indonesian citizens who are willing to be evacuated can be flown directly without going through transit. Preparations at several points in Hubei Province, especially in Wuhan are currently ongoing. Meanwhile, preparations for admission in Indonesia are also being carried out with applicable health procedures and protocols," said Retno.

Today, Friday, January 31, there were 9,776 cases of corona in 23 countries around the world, with the death toll reaching 213 people. This data was obtained from John Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, which developed a portal for the latest monitoring of the spread of the corona virus. In this portal, the public can see a map of the spread of the corona virus in real time.