Aamir Latif
03 February 2020•Update: 03 February 2020
KARACHI, Pakistan
Some 97 Pakistanis, including 40 students, arrived in capital Islamabad on Monday following the resumption of flight operations to the coronavirus-hit China, the officials said.
Two flights of Qatar Airways, and China Southern Airlines, landed at Islamabad airport with a difference of a couple of hours on Monday morning, Zafar Mirza, the prime minister's health affairs adviser confirmed on Twitter.
On Jan. 29, Islamabad had suspended flight operations to and from China amid rising casualties from the novel virus outbreak that prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency last week.
The Qatar Airways flight carried a group of Pakistani students stranded in Urumqi city, which borders Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, due to the suspension of flights.
The second flight brought 69 passengers -- 57 Pakistanis and 12 Chinese -- from Beijing. The passengers, according to Mirza, included Chinese envoy to Pakistan Sun Weidong.
"At Islamabad Airport, this morning - received passengers from China, including HE Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan. CZ6007 brought 69 passengers, including 57 Pakistanis and 12 Chinese. We supervised implementation of Airport SOP's, and I interviewed passengers," Mirza said on Twitter.
All the students were permitted to go home after health department staff conducted their medical examinations, he added.
Around 30,000 Pakistanis, including a large number of students, are based in China.
Over 500 students currently reside in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak that began late last year. So far, at least four Pakistani students in central Wuhan have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
No coronavirus cases have yet been confirmed in Pakistan.
The novel coronavirus, so named because under the microscope it resembles a crown, or corona in Latin, has killed at least 361 people in China, with over 17,200 infected.
The virus, which originated in Wuhan, is said to have been transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats.
Since its outbreak, China has put Wuhan under lockdown in a bid to contain the virus and is building a 1,000-bed hospital to treat those affected.
Beyond China, the virus has spread to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, France, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Nepal and Canada.
Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at airports worldwide. Several airlines have suspended flights to Wuhan.
