Embassy tells Malaysians in Wuhan to be ‘on standby’

0

SIBU: Ivan Yeo Zhi Yu and Balachandar Subramaniyan, who are among a number of Malaysians still in Wuhan, China, have confirmed receiving a call from the Malaysian Embassy regarding the operation to bring them back home.

According to the two, they are told to be on standby and also to wait for further instructions from the embassy.

Feeling both relieved and anxious about returning to Malaysia, Yeo and Balachandar say they have read the news about Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s announcement of a special flight, which would transport 132 people – comprising 108 Malaysians and 24 non-citizens who are their spouses and children – out of Wuhan today, following the spread of coronavirus there.

Ivan Yeo Zhi Yu

Dr Wan Azizah said subject to the approval from the Chinese government, only those who had been certified healthy after undergoing an exit screening by the local authorities at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, would be brought back to Malaysia.

Balachandar, 43, who hails from Sabak Bernam, Selangor, and is pursuing his doctorate from China University of Geosciences, said he received a call from the Malaysian Embassy’s rescue team at about 5pm yesterday.

“They told us to be on the standby and (to) await further calls. Me and other Malaysian students, including Ivan (Yeo), have shared our exact location with the rescue team.

“So now, (we are) waiting for further messages or calls from the Malaysian Embassy’s rescue team,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.

Asked on the supply of food and clean water in Wuhan, Balachandar said there was no issue.

“Even the residential management community centre also visited us twice to check on our status, deliver face masks and tell (us) to call them should we need any assistance,” he added.

It is learnt that Balachandar has been working in Sarawak since 2003 as a geochemist with the Mineral and Geosciences Department.

In 2017, he went to Wuhan to pursue his PhD, under a scholarship provided by the China Government Scholarship Council, in association with a cooperation between the Asean Geological Institute and China Geological Survey Chengdu Centre.

Meanwhile Yeo, who is also pursuing tertiary education at China University of Geosciences, said the Malaysian Embassy’s rescue team had advised them to stay in their quarters.

“This is the latest information that I have received,” he said.

On food supplies, Yeo said it should be sufficient to last for about 15 days, adding that the shop near his dormitory had re-opened.

According to the 22-year-old Bintulu native, the majority of Wuhan city folk had remained indoors, adhering to the notice issued by the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, Sarawak China Graduates Alumni Association chairman Dr Wong Siu Eing said he had been in constant contact with several of the Malaysian students in China.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in China, was where the coronavirus outbreak was first reported last December.

It is confirmed that there are over 14,300 cases around the world, and 305 people have died.

All deaths, except one, were reported in Mainland China.

A man in the Philippines was the first death from coronavirus reported outside of China.

Philippine health officials, on Sunday, announced the death of a 44-year-old Chinese man who had flown in from Wuhan.

He developed severe pneumonia after being admitted to a government hospital in Manila on Jan 25, said the Department of Health of Philippines.