Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A special plane carrying Saudi students who were evacuated from the Chinese coronavirus epicenter Wuhan arrived in the capital on Sunday.

The arrival was confirmed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan on Twitter.

He also said those evacuated arrived in “good health.”

“Under the guidance of the wise leadership, 10 Saudi students from Wuhan, China, have been evacuated and have arrived in the Kingdom in good health,” said Prince Faisal in a tweet.

This came following the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, and under the supervision and follow-up of Prince Faisal.

The evacuated students underwent medical evaluations and will be kept in quarantine for 15 days as a precaution, according to Al Arabiya sources. However, they are not showing any symptoms of coronavirus.

Prince Faisal also mentioned in his tweet the efforts of the Chinese authorities.

“We highly appreciate the efforts of the Chinese authorities which have helped overcome obstacles and helped our teams on the ground,” he added.

Chinese authorities approved the special flight that flew the students to Saudi Arabia, the report said.

The evacuation process from the affected area was carried out with careful and successful efforts in cooperation with the Chinese authorities, which showed full cooperation with the Embassy of Saudi Arabia to China.

Upon the students' arrival, the ministry of health personnel received them and took all necessary precautions for such cases, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The evacuation of Saudi students is part of precautionary measures being implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on the situations of Saudi citizens in China.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reaffirmed that no cases of new Coronavirus have been recorded in the Kingdom till date. The ministry said 62 samples have so far been collected and all of them tested negative. Also, a total number of 3,152 passengers were examined on their arrival from China and another 868 passengers traveling on board indirect flights.

Medical teams from the ministry have swung into action around-the-clock in all land, air and sea ports receiving passengers from China, the ministry said adding that the National Health Laboratory made available all the laboratory arrangements to identify and detect any case of the epidemic.

Saudi Arabian Airlines has also suspended all its flights to and fro between Riyadh and Jeddah with the Chinese city of Guangzhou. “Passengers with confirmed reservations on these trips can have their tickets refunded without any additional charges,” the national carrier said in a statement.