Repatriation, quarantine, closed borders: the time for major maneuvers in the face of the coronavirus

The precautionary measures are being reinforced at full speed this Friday the day after the decision taken by the WHO to qualify the epidemic of the new coronavirus as "international emergency".

As a reminder, at this stage, nearly 10,000 people were contaminated in mainland China where 213 patients died, according to the last official report on January 31. A hundred cases are listed in the rest of the world, but almost all of the deaths occurred in the cradle of the contagion.

Faced with the emergency, a certain number of Asian and Western countries are making emergency repatriations and suspending their air links. Others go further and completely close their borders with China, like Russia. And this despite the reservations expressed by the WHO: obstructing the movement of goods and people could indeed prove counterproductive, in terms of humanitarian aid as well as economic impact.

We summarize the great maneuvers of the international community.

These States which evacuate their nationals

The list: United States, Japan, South Korea, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Germany, Canada, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Diseases, Singapore, Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Russia.

Thousands of foreigners are among the millions stranded in Wuhan City, where the epidemic of viral pneumonia spread. This repatriation is done on a voluntary basis. This Friday, a plane carrying some 200 French expatriates landed in Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône). They could be around four times as many still there, according to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. Flights, partially funded by the European Union, will allow the transportation of new nationals from several EU member countries.

These repatriation measures are most often accompanied by quarantine. In France, it will be for 14 days in a holiday center near Marseille. Ditto for the United Kingdom, where a first repatriation plane also landed on Friday. Germany and Japan - which changed its legislative framework for the occasion - have also initiated such a scheme. As for Russia, it announced this Friday the evacuation by February 4 of its nationals in the province of Hubei, and on the Chinese island of Hainan. As a reminder, the estimated incubation period of the virus is between 2 and 17 days.

Newsletter - The essentials of the news

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more

What about the other nationals stranded in the ghost town of Wuhan? "It is regrettable but the citizens of the countries which have a less diplomatic weight will have to manage," underlines Drew Thompson, an expert of China and former official at the American ministry of Defense.

Those who suspend their air links

List of airlines: Air France (FR), Air Austral (AUS), British AIrways (GB), Virgin Atlantic (GB), Lufhtansa (ALL), Iberia (ESP), Sas (Scandinavia), KLM (PB), El Al (ALG), Lion Air (Indo), Myanmar and Air KBZ (BIR), Ukraine Airlines and Sky up Airlines (UKR), Ural Airlines (RUS), Air Madagascar, Egyptair, Royal Air Maroc (MAR), Kazakhstan.

About fifteen airlines around the world have chosen to suspend their connections with the province of Hubei and / or with all of China. Interim measures, often lasting close to a month. There are European companies, including Air France, Asian but also North African (Morocco, Egypt, Algeria). In the United States, an American airline pilots' union even filed a lawsuit Thursday against the company American Airlines, to force it to suspend its links with China.

More radical, the Italian and Israeli authorities did not wait for the companies and made the decision themselves. In Rome, the state of emergency was declared this Friday noon.

Those who suspend the arrival of foreigners from China or Hubei province

List: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan, Vietnam (possible exemptions) .

Closed borders: Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong has refused to close the border with mainland China, as requested by part of the opinion. The executive, however, has closed six of its 14 land crossing points with the rest of the country. Gyms, swimming pools, beaches and museums have also been closed as a precaution.

Border countries, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have chosen to completely close their borders with China. Mongolia is the state that has taken the most draconian measures so far: in addition to the borders, it has closed schools and suspended all public events.

North Korea announced on January 22 the total ban on foreign tourists in this country already almost completely cut off from the world. Such measures had been taken in 2014 to protect themselves from the Ebola virus, although no case had been identified in Asia.

And China which repatriates its expatriates from Wuhan…

The approach is surprising. Beijing has sent two planes to Malaysia and Thailand to repatriate some 200 residents of Hubei province "detained" abroad ... to accompany them to the epicenter of the epidemic.

The ghost town of Wuhan on January 27 / Hector RETAMAL / AFP

Wuhan and Hubei have been cut off from the world for a week by a drastic sanitary cordon. In total, some 56 million inhabitants are prevented from leaving the region. There, the local hospital infrastructure is completely saturated, overtaken by the explosion in the number of cases of contamination. Sometimes you have to wait two days to see a doctor.