Factbox: Countries evacuating nationals from China virus areas
A growing number of countries around the world are evacuating or planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and citizens from parts of China hit by the new coronavirus.
To mask or not to mask: confusion spreads over coronavirus protection
“Do not wear a mask if you are well” read a warning plastered across the front of Singapore’s main newspaper on Friday, as authorities around the world sought to calm panic buying of masks seen as a guard against the fast-spreading coronavirus.
RwandAir suspends flights to China amid the coronavirus outbreak
RwandAir has halted flights to and from China until further notice amid a coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 213 in China and spread to 18 countries.
South Korean evacuees from Wuhan welcomed to quarantine centers
Hundreds of South Koreans flown home on a charter flight from China were greeted with welcome signs on Friday as they arrived at quarantine centers where nearby residents had staged vehement protests only a day before.
Travelers breach China virus lockdown by taking bridge over Yangtze
People are leaving and entering China’s Hubei province by foot over a bridge spanning the Yangtze river despite a virtual lockdown on vehicle traffic due to a coronavirus epidemic that has killed about 200 people.
Japan to enforce special virus measures from Sat, urges citizens against non-urgent China trips
Japan will bring forward the date that the coronavirus will become a “designated infectious disease” and warned its citizens on Friday to put off non-urgent travel to China as a third chartered flight repatriating its nationals arrived from Wuhan.
Plane leaves China virus epicenter with 110 Britons and foreigners aboard
A plane carrying 83 British and 27 foreign nationals flew out on Friday from China’s central city of Wuhan, the center of a virus epidemic that has killed more than 200 people and infected more than 9,000, the British government said.
Police kill man holding 20 women and children hostage in north India
Police shot dead a man holding around 20 women and children hostage at his house in northern India after a 10-hour standoff, state officials said on Friday.
Malaysian rail project stops Chinese workers returning from Wuhan
More than a dozen Chinese workers at a ‘Belt and Road’ train project in Malaysia who had gone home to Wuhan for the Lunar New Year have been told not to return until further notice, head of the project owner said on Friday.
China sends two flights to bring back Wuhan citizens from Thailand and Malaysia
China’s aviation authority has dispatched two Xiamen Airlines flights to bring back Wuhan citizens to the Chinese city from Bangkok in Thailand and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, it said on its website on Friday.
