(Update) 3rd evacuation flight brings home Japanese from Wuhan

January 31, 2020

Tokyo--The third charter jet sent to Wuhan by the Japanese government arrived at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda on Friday, bringing home 149 Japanese nationals from the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus crisis.

Nine of the passengers were complaining of ill health. Eight of them were sent to a hospital in Tokyo, while the medical facility that will accept the remaining person has yet to decided, officials said.

Returnees who showed no symptoms during medical checks will be transferred to designated facilities to monitor their health condition.

A total of 565 Japanese nationals have been brought back to Japan on three government-chartered planes sent to Wuhan to evacuate all Japanese nationals who want to return home during the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the deadly virus.

According to the health ministry, three people in their 40s to 50s who were on the first flight, which arrived in Japan on Wednesday, tested positive for the virus. Two of them did not show symptoms of the coronavirus-caused pneumonia.

Virus test results for the 210 Japanese nationals who returned to Japan on the second charter jet on Thursday will be available shortly. Of them, 26 people have been hospitalized as they showed symptoms such as coughing and high fever.

The government has asked returnees with no pneumonia symptoms to stay at designated accommodations, including hotels and government-affiliated facilities, for up to two weeks to monitor carefully whether they have been infected. They are also being asked to refrain from going out.

Most of the returnees are at high risk of infection with the new coronavirus, including residents living near the seafood market in Wuhan where the virus is believed to have originated.

The government is considering the dispatch of a fourth charter plane as early as early next week to bring home more Japanese nationals from Wuhan. Jiji Press