Nothing to Worry About Health Condition of Wuhan Evacuees: President Jokowi

President Jokowi answered reporters’ questions after releasing Javanese eagle in Magelang, Central Java province, Friday (14/2). (Photo by: PR/Rahmat).

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged the communities to accept Indonesian citizens evacuated from China with open arms.

“We expect that the communities can accept those evacuees for who they are,” President Jokowi told reporters in the Central Java town of Magelang, Friday (14/2).

According to the President, the communities do not have to worry about health conditions of those evacuees.

The President pointed out that those Indonesian citizens returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan—which is the center of the COVID-19 outbreak—have strictly followed the health protocol and procedures laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The quarantine process in Natuna Island was closely monitored for 14 days,” he said.

The Head of State also guaranteed that those evacuees have gone through strict health check processes.

For the record, Indonesian Ministry of Health on Saturday (15/2) will carry out the last observation for those evacuees and is set to return them to capital Jakarta via Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta.

The Indonesian Government on February 2 evacuated 243 people—including 237 Indonesian nationals, a foreigner and five embassy staffers—from Wuhan as well as other cities in the central Chinese province of Hubei following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The evacuees, the evacuation team and all support staff were airlifted to Hang Nadim airport on the island of Batam and were then immediately transported to Natuna Island—located 565 kilometers to the northeast of Batam—for quarantining.

The number of cases of the novel coronavirus soared to over 69,000 worldwide, with the global death toll reaching 1,669. (TGH/EN)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Reviewed by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas