Ukraine’s prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk initiated the evacuation of all Ukrainian nationals from China amid the escalating coronavirus outbreak that has spread far beyond the Asian country’s territory.
The evacuation will be carried out by efforts of Ukraine’s Emergency Service as well as ministries for defense, infrastructure and foreign affairs, Honcharuk’s Telegram channel reported late on Jan. 31.
“Security of Ukrainians around the world is the government’s primary goal,” the prime minister’s message reads. “Not a single laboratory-confirmed case of (the Chinese coronavirus) has been registered in Ukraine. But we are ready for any scenario. Starting from today, the activities of the purposefully formed emergency response center is under my personal control.”
By the morning of Feb. 3, the Healthcare Ministry is expected to formulate a plan of action to prevent the virus from entering and spreading in Ukraine.
“We also contemplate the necessity of declaring a state of high alert for the country’s united civil protection system.”
The coronavirus causing atypical pneumonia was initially registered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December. Since then, the disease has spread rapidly, with at least 18 nations across the world registering new cases. According to the Guardian, as many as 259 persons have died of the virus as of Feb. 1, and nearly 12,000 cases have been registered.
A number of nations, including Great Britain and the United States, have terminated air travel to China in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading further.
Amid the rising number of the infected and dead in China and beyond, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
According to Ukraine’s foreign ministry, at least 57 Ukrainian nationals are currently in the central Chinese province of Hubei affected by the epidemic. In general, according to Ukraine’s embassy in Beijing, 93 Ukrainians are currently registered in China.
