Kuwait airlifts 900 citizens from virus-hit Iran
Evacuees transported to quarantine site set up at a local hospital
Cairo: Kuwait has launched an airlift to evacuate 900 citizens from Iran over an outbreak of the new coronavirus there, Kuwaiti media reported Sunday.
The Kuwaitis were repatriated aboard six flights as part of precautions taken by the Gulf country to keep the viral ailment at bay.
Upon arrival in Kuwait, the evacuees were transported to a quarantine site set up at a local hospital, daily newspaper Al Rai reported.
Kuwaiti has not reported any suspected case of the infection, codenamed COVID-19.
All the Kuwaitis flown back home from Iran are in “good health” and have not shown any symptom of infection, spokesman for the Kuwaiti Health Ministry Abdullah Al Send said.
“All necessary measures are in place according to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation [WHO],” Kuwaiti Health Minister Shaikh Basil Al Sabah said.
He disclosed that Kuwait had planned to send a medical team to Iran to check Kuwaitis before they are brought back home. “But the Iranian authorities did not allow them to land at the airport terminal,” Shaikh Basil added.
Over the past days, Kuwait has stepped up its anti-virus precautions. The country has barred Iranian residents from returning to Kuwait until they stay in a third country for two weeks, the incubation period of COVID-19.
Kuwait also suspended all flights to and from Iran that has reported six deaths due to the novel virus so far.
On Thursday, Kuwait’s ports authorities said they will stop the sea transportation of people to and from Iran over the outbreak of the new virus “until further notice”.