Coronavirus: 14 Argentine residents in China ask to be repatriated

02/14/2020 - 10:13

• Clarín.com
• World

The 14 Argentines living in China, in the province of Hubei, requested "the repatriation of compatriots who have been isolated for 23 days " because of the coronavirus epidemic that especially affects this country.

"Today we are going to release a statement and a video recorded by all the Argentines who live in China, supporting this request for repatriation to those of us in Hubei," La Red Karen Gómez told the radio, who traveled to make a master's degree to that Province whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicenter of the virus.

Gomez explained that "many countries evacuated their citizens" and clarified: "We have asked the Argentine consulate in Beijing but we did not have a positive response."

When asked about her current situation, the young woman said that she lives "in a university, in a room, for 23 days " and " unable to leave the building".

"All these measures are positive because the number (of contagions) is decreasing," he said, but reaffirmed the will of the 14 Argentines who are there to "realize the repatriation."

"We are 14 Argentines in Hubei with children , the youngest is 8 months old and the idea of ​​the statement is that you can unlock" the repatriation, he insisted.

He stressed that the decision arose after exhausting " all formal requests without receiving any response."

After the possibility of evacuating the Argentines along with the Government of Brazil failed, Gomez admitted not knowing "where is the lock".

"We have no information in detail. From the consulate in Beijing they contacted us from the beginning but they are limited in that kind of decision," he said.

Finally, he said: "In these 23 days I went shopping at a large supermarket, before they took my fever, and people attended with suits, chinstraps and goggles."

JPE