11 Feb 2020 09:41

Forty-six Tajik citizens flown out of coronavirus-hit Wuhan to Dushanbe

DUSHANBE. Feb 11 (Interfax) - Forty-six Tajik citizens arrived in Dushanbe from the Chinese city of Wuhan, at the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, on Tuesday morning on the Tajik air carrier Somon Air's charter flight, the press service of the country's Health Ministry told Interfax.

"The citizens flown out of China have been transported to the Harangon health center for war and labor veterans in the Varzob district on the outskirts of Dushanbe, where they will be quarantined for two weeks. Seventeen employees of different agencies in charge of these people's return will be placed in quarantine together with them. They will be provided with three meals a day at the health center," Health Ministry spokesperson Bibihonum Darveshzoda said.

At present, more than 800 people who have returned from China are under quarantine in Tajikistan. They include 47 Chinese citizens, she said.

No cases of the novel coronavirus have been identified in Tajikistan to date, Darveshzoda said.

As of Tuesday morning, China has 42,638 novel coronavirus cases and 1,016 deaths, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.

In the past day, 2,478 new cases of the coronavirus and 108 deaths were reported in China, where 103 people died in the Hubei province, at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, one in Beijing, one in Tianjin, one in the Heilongjiang province, one in the Anhui province, and one in the Henan province.

More than 37,000 people are currently being treated at Chinese hospitals, including 7,300 in serious condition.

Some 4,000 people have already recovered and have been discharged from hospitals. Their number grew by 716 people in the past day.

Outside mainland China, 70 novel coronavirus cases have been registered, including 42 in Hong Kong (one death), ten in Macao, and 18 in Taiwan.

The Chinese authorities have allocated more than $10 billion for efforts to contain the coronavirus spread, China's Finance Ministry said on Sunday.