Officers wearing protective suits are seen in Batik Airplane before take-off to pickup Indonesian citizens at Wuhan, in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang near Jakarta, Indonesia February 1, 2020. — Antara Foto/Muhammad Iqbal/ via Reuters
JAKARTA, Feb 1 — Indonesian officials said today that around 250 of its nationals being evacuated from China’s Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus epidemic, will be quarantined in its Natuna Islands military base.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said all the evacuees, along with five officials arranging their return on the Batik Air flight, were healthy and that further medical checks would be conducted on board the plane and at their arrival in Indonesia.
Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the evacuees would be housed at the military facility on the northern Natuna Besar island, which has a hospital, for “transit observation.”
Tjahjanto did not specify how long the group would remain on the island, but Marsudi has previously said they would be kept away from other people for at least 14 days to avoid contagion. There have not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Indonesia.
The Indonesian plane was also taking medical equipment, including face masks and surgical supplies, for use in China, where the number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to 259. — Reuters