A plane repatriating 28 French and 36 nationals of other countries of the European Union took off Friday from Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis at the epicenter of the epidemic of the new coronavirus. On their arrival, French returnees must be placed in quarantine in a holiday village in Calvados, in Normandy.
Transport medical equipment freight
The plane was chartered by Paris with the main objective of transporting medical equipment for the benefit of Chinese medical personnel in the province of Hubei, the most affected by the epidemic. But his return flight to France was an opportunity to repatriate around sixty French and European nationals who wanted it.
The plane arrived in Wuhan, central China, around one in the morning, to take off a few hours later bound for France.
It will land at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. "It is necessary to carry them out from this airport, in conditions likely to prevent the spread of the epidemic," said the Official Journal. It is the third plane sent by Paris to Wuhan since this city and the surrounding province of Hubei were cut off from the world by a draconian sanitary cordon, a month ago.
300 people already repatriated
After two first French repatriation flights, a British plane had also evacuated around 30 French people on February 9. On all three of these flights, more than 300 people have already been repatriated from China to France and placed in quarantine in two places of accommodation in Bouches-du-Rhône. Most of them have left and the last 35 returnees, who arrived on February 9 via London, are due to leave on February 23.
French returnees on Friday must for their part join a Calvados holiday center in Normandy on Friday, where they will be confined for 14 days, said department prefect Philippe Court on Thursday. In this Pierre & Vacances village about 15 kilometers from Deauville and Cabourg, 77 cottages out of 330 were privatized for the occasion.
"Solidarity medical freight"
This third French plane, which took off on Wednesday evening from Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, was carrying on board 17 tonnes of medical cargo including protective coveralls, masks, gloves and disinfectant products intended for Chinese medical personnel, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This material, undergoing customs clearance Friday morning, is a "medical cargo of solidarity", according to a diplomatic source.
Paris had proposed to bring back on Friday's flight other European citizens wishing to benefit from a return, "the latter being taken care of, upon their arrival, by the authorities of their country", according to the Quai d'Orsay. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said on Thursday that the French consulate general in Wuhan remained open with a small team of volunteers "to assist our compatriots on the spot and demonstrate France's solidarity in the province".
No new case of coronavirus infection was discovered on French territory, the assessment remaining unchanged with 12 confirmed cases in total, with four hospitalizations without signs of severity, seven people healed and one death.