Pakistanis stranded in virus hit-China start arriving as flight operations resume

Pakistanis stranded in Chinese cities other than Wuhan, arrived in the country on Monday as flight operations between the two countries were resumed after Islamabad said it could diagnose patients carrying the virus.

The 224 passengers were brought to Pakistan in four separate flights from China. Among these were also students. 

Earlier, The Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza tweeted that he supervised the implementation of “Airport SOPs” while receiving the passengers.

“At Islamabad airport this morning - received passengers from China along with HE Chinese Ambassador in CZ6007 brought 69 passengers including 57 Pakistanis and 12 Chinese. We supervised implementation of “Airport SOPs” & I interviewed passengers," he tweeted.

Read more: 'No Pakistani will be allowed to travel back from China till completion of 14-day quarantine'

On January 31, Pakistan had suspended flights to and from China with immediate effect, as World Health Organization called it a global health emergency amid coronavirus' increasing death toll.

The coronavirus has now infected nearly 17,000 people across the globe and has left at least 362 of them dead, almost all in China.

Several airlines including Air India, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways and Lufthansa have suspended their flights to China.