Tokyo (AFP)

Some 206 Japanese nationals evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, epicenter of the new coronavirus, arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, and 12 of them had to be hospitalized, without one case of contamination among them being confirmed immediately .

The aircraft dispatched by the Japanese government in connection with the Chinese authorities landed around 08:40 Japanese time (Tuesday 23:40 GMT) at Tokyo Haneda airport.

Medical personnel were on board and the passengers were questioned during the flight to detect any symptoms.

All were taken to a medical center by bus for further examinations.

Five returnees who said they felt bad were hospitalized upon arrival. Two were later diagnosed with pneumonia, but it was not confirmed at this stage whether they had coronavirus or not, the results of the tests taking time.

The Ministry of Health subsequently announced that seven additional hospitalizations were planned for returnees who presented symptoms similar to a flu-like condition during exams after their arrival.

- "Partially informed" -

There are no plans to automatically quarantine all Japanese returnees from Wuhan. However, the authorities have asked them not to leave their place of residence in Japan for two weeks, in order to avoid potential transmission of the virus if they are carriers, even if there is no sign of noticeable disease. .

Returnees with a family drop-off point in Tokyo are authorized to stay there, while the others will be initially accommodated at a hotel in the capital until the hypothesis of contamination is ruled out.

"I am really relieved and I thank the government," said one of the returnees, Takeo Aoyama, an employee of the steel company Nippon Steel in Wuhan, when he got off the plane.

"As you know, we could no longer move freely and were only partially informed. The restrictions on the transport of goods and travel were very strict, so it was impossible to continue economic activities" on the spot, he said. he added, stating nevertheless that it was possible to obtain food.

- Seven cases confirmed in Japan -

"It is important that infection prevention measures are taken in Japan. But aid to China is also necessary and I wish to participate in the efforts towards those who stay there," said Aoyama.

Some 650 Japanese people living in Wuhan, an important metropolis and industrial center in central China, have expressed the desire to be repatriated to the archipelago due to the closure of the agglomeration where a new form of virus appeared in December, causing life-threatening pneumonia.

The first evacuees were selected because of the level of risk expected, according to Mr. Aoyama.

Priority was given to this first wave of repatriation "those who have expressed the wish to return and live in the neighborhoods closest to the market in Wuhan where the virus appeared", he explained.

The government announced the departure Wednesday evening of a second plane bound for Wuhan, which should repatriate some 200 additional Japanese nationals on Thursday.

The first device specially chartered by the Japanese airline ANA Holdings had brought thousands of masks, gloves and goggles to Wuhan.

A last report of the virus Wednesday by the Chinese authorities reported 132 dead and nearly 6,000 people infected throughout the country.

In Japan, the number of cases recorded rises to seven, including one in his sixties who did not go to China and was therefore infected in the Japanese archipelago. This bus driver from the Nara region (west) had transported tourists from Wuhan twice in January, according to the Ministry of Health.

"We have to admit that a new stage has been reached" in Japan with this case, said Health Minister Katsunobu Kato.

"Since yesterday (Tuesday), we have opened a call center for worried people and we will widen the surveillance beyond those who have stayed in Wuhan," added the minister.

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© 2020 AFP