144 Wuhan Evacuees in 3rd Transfer Test Negative for COVID-19... 3 Under Retesting (Update)

Overseas Koreans returning from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, via the third chartered flight arrived at Gimpo Airport on the morning of the 12th and are moving./2020.02.12./Photo by Airport Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Among the 144 people, including Korean residents who returned from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China on the 3rd temporary flight and their family members with Chinese nationality, all tested negative for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Three people are undergoing retesting.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, announced the test results for the 3rd group of evacuees from Wuhan and their families during a briefing on the afternoon of the 26th.

The total number of people who returned from Wuhan on the 3rd flight was 79 Korean residents and 147 family members. They returned on the 12th and stayed at a temporary living facility at the Defense Language Institute of the Joint Military University in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. One Korean grandmother voluntarily entered the facility to take care of her granddaughter, making a total of 148 people who lived there for two weeks.

According to health authorities, those confirmed negative will be released from quarantine as of midnight on the 26th. Final discharge will be possible on the 27th. The government brought a total of 701 evacuees from Wuhan to Korea in two rounds on the 30th and 31st of last month. Including the 3rd group, a total of 848 people have arrived so far.