Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Retno Marsudi, struggles to bring back Indonesian nationals from Wuhan. (Image via JoSS)

Wuhan's evacuation is difficult: Retno

Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said that the effort to evacuate Indonesian nationals from Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China, is difficult since the city is under virtual lockdown by the Chinese government. Since Wuhan was the ground zero of the outbreak, the Chinese government has been locking the city down to contain the virus from breaking out.

Speaking on Tuesday, Retno said that the Indonesian government remains open regarding evacuation. However, since Wuhan was being locked down, the evacuation measure has to wait. The Indonesian government needs to negotiate with China and there are steps to be complied with.

Not only the Chinese government, Retno said that her Ministry also had conducted coordination meetings with domestic stakeholders such as the Ministry of Politics, Law, and Security, Armed Forces, and Ministry of Health to map the evacuation options from the route to quarantine.

Retno tabulated that there are currently about 100 Indonesian nationals in Wuhan, and all of them are students. Meanwhile, throughout Hubei, there are 243 Indonesian nationals.

For almost a week, the Chinese government had isolated Wuhan and prepared 15 quarantine camps in Hubei. The local government also provided a 24-hour hotline for the foreign visitors to inquire about the novel coronavirus, especially where the quarantine camps are.

The food and drink storages are running out and the evacuation is deemed as a necessary action. Furthermore, the Indonesian nationals are also begging to come home.

Retno asserted that measures are being designed and tested to protect the Indonesian nationals in Wuhan. She also ensured that all the Indonesian nationals are in good health despite the limited mobility by regularly keeping in touch with them.

Source: https://bit.ly/2GyMVcQ