SANDF says preparations for returning South Africans from Wuhan ‘at an advanced stage’
Approximately 151 South Africans have indicated that they want to leave the affected city, while some chose to stay put.
Nurses walk inside a quarantine room at the finished but still unused building A2 of the Shanghai Public Clinical Center, where COVID-19 coronavirus patients will be quarantined, in Shanghai on February 17, 2020. Picture: Noel CELIS / POOL / AFP
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Tuesday preparations for South Africans to return to the country from coronavirus-affected Wuhan in China was at an advanced stage.
“The department of defence, in particular the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), can confirm that it is part of a multidisciplinary team that is in support of the department of health and the department of international relations and cooperation as instructed by the president and commander in chief of the SANDF, to repatriate South African citizens from the COVID-19 hit city of Wuhan in China,” the department said in a statement.
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The department said approximately 151 South Africans have indicated that they want to leave Wuhan, China, while some chose to stay put.
The death toll passed the 3,000-mark since the global outbreak in December.
SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said several departments were involved in the repatriation process, which would take place in about two weeks.
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“Once all the logistics have been confirmed by the planners, the operation of the repatriation process will commence.
The repatriation planning process is currently at an advanced stage and it takes into consideration everything related to the logistics operation,” he said.
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