Iran Health Minister Urges Admin. to Prevent Trips from China

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki called on First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri to order the cancellation of trips from China amid the threat of coronavirus epidemic in the Islamic Republic.

News ID: 80055

Date: 31 January 2020 - 18:58

Namaki made the remarks in a tweet on Friday, saying he had asked Jahangiri in a letter “to inform the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Roads about a halt to be put on the entry of all travelers from China (by land, sea, and air) until further notice.”

“All health bases at the country’s ports have been on high alert since the outbreak of Coronavirus,” the minister added in his tweet.

Namaki also said that more than 70 Iranian students residing in China’s Wuhan will return home in the coming days.

They will be quarantined and monitored in a suitable place for two weeks after arriving in Iran, he added.

Wuhan is in virtual lockdown, and nearly all flights at the city's airport have been canceled and checkpoints block the main roads leading out of town.

Authorities have imposed similar lockdowns on more than 10 cities near Wuhan as part of the ongoing containment effort.

The virus has so far killed 213 people and spread to at least 18 countries around the world, with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases standing at 9,809.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared it an international public health emergency.

Iran is a major destination for Chinese tourists visiting the Middle East.

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