Sudanese Students Evacuated from Wuhan to UAE for Quarantine

As part of an initiative of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed to evacuate all Arab students from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Sudanese students in Wuhan have been evacuated to the UAE where they will be in quarantine for 25 days.

In addition to the Sudanese students, 215 Arab students have been evacuated from Wuhan on 4 March 2020. The students were flown out on a special aircraft, equipped with HEPA cabin air filtrations systems, medical supplies and equipment necessary to carry out the evacuation procedure, along with medical response teams and cabin crew trained to carry out the evacuation. Once they arrived, the evacuees were taken to the newly-established Emirates Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi where they will undergo medical testing and monitoring.

Sudan News Agency (SUNA) confirmed the successful evacuation of 140 Sudanese students from Wuhan where the virus first broke out on 1 December 2019. More than 95,000 cases have been confirmed in 85 countries or territories, leaving more than 3,200 people dead. 

وزارة الخارجية تعلن إكتمال عملية ترحيل الطلاب السودانيين القادمين من مدينة ووهان الصينية إلى العاصمة الإماراتية أبوظبيhttps://t.co/BVtkaRY8LR#سونا #السودان pic.twitter.com/8oUPMNmFlY

— SUDAN News Agency (SUNA) 🇸🇩 (@SUNA_AGENCY) March 4, 2020

🔴وصول جميع السودانيين لمدينة أبوظبي بسلام#سودانيين_ووهان_في_الامارات pic.twitter.com/qfj45CMrMv

— هاشتاق السودان ⁦🇸🇩 (@hash_sudan) March 4, 2020

Along with the Sudanese students, there are Egyptian, Yemeni and Iraqi students at the high-quality Emirates Humanitarian City, who will undergo a minimum of a 14-day quarantine period. There are no reports on whether any of the 215 evacuated students have tested positive for COVID-19.

Citizens and ambassadors from Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, and Iraq praised the UAE’s humanitarian initiative.

شكرا UAE 🇦🇪 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4EFM1qQABu

— S A N T O S (@MusabAbdallah1) March 4, 2020

One of the evacuees, Sudanese medical student Ahmed Fath Al Alim, wrote on his Facebook page that he and other Sudanese students were safely evacuated from Wuhan and taken to Emirates Humanitarian City where they found a warm welcome message from HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, which says:

‘We know the difficulty of leaving a place where you had a safe home, especially as you are leaving because of an unexpected crisis on a new land where you may not know anyone. That’s why we would love to welcome you in person. We want to assure you that you are among your family and friends and that you are a dear guest and we will provide you with complete health care and all you need to continue the trip to your home country when that was safe for you.’

There are currently no confirmed or reported COVID-19 cases in Sudan. However, there are 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UAE with no fatalities.

From postponing large-scale events to closing schools, the UAE is taking wide-ranging measures in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country. All schools and universities will be closed for four weeks, starting from 8 March.

References:

https://www.uae-voice.net/uae-initiative-to-evacuate-sudanese-students-from-china/

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/03/04/UAE-evacuates-Arab-nationals-from-China-to-get-medical-care-.html

https://gulfnews.com/uae/video-coronavirus-hit-wuhan-evacuee-finds-letter-from-sheikh-mohamed-bin-zayed-in-uae-room-1.70151669