None of the seven Hungarian citizens evacuated from Wuhan, China through a joint European Union mission show any symptoms of the coronavirus disease, Tamás Menczer, state secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Sunday.
“The Hungarians who left Wuhan are all symptom-free,” Menczer told national news agency MTI.
An Airbus plane of Portuguese airlines Hi Fly landed Sunday afternoon at the Istres-Le Tube military airbase near Marseilles, with 254 evacuees on board, most of them from various European Union member states along with 60 non-EU citizens.
The French and non-EU citizens have been quarantined for 14 days while most citizens of other EU member states flew on to their respective countries. The Hungarians were brought home on an army airplane.
Both the passengers and the staff receiving them wore full biological protective gear and the seven – five returning from Wuhan and two from other cities in the region – were whisked to the infectious diseases department of the South Buda Hospital, which also treats tropical diseases, and is thus is best equipped to deal with the two-week quarantine.
Hungary’s chief medical officer Cecília Müller also confirmed that none of them showed any symptoms.
Meanwhile, Hainan airlines has suspended its flights from Budapest to two Chinese destinations until March 27, and other airlines are expected to follow suit.
Title image: Hungarian citizens leave the plane upon their arrival to Budapest on February 2. (source: Ministry of Defense)
