333 Wuhan Returnees Arrive on 2nd Charter Flight... "7 Symptomatic Patients Transported" (Comprehensive)

Transported 333 People Fewer Than Planned... "Some Residents Have Difficulties Reaching Wuhan Airport"
Faster Quarantine and Entry Procedures Than the Previous Day... Moved to Temporary Facilities and Hospitals Within 2 Hours of Arrival

Overseas Koreans from Wuhan, China are disembarking from a chartered flight that landed at Gimpo Airport on the morning of the 31st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Yu Je-hoon and Lim Cheol-young] A total of 333 Korean residents who stayed near Wuhan (武漢), Hubei (湖北) Province, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), arrived at Gimpo International Airport on the second chartered flight. Among them, seven people showing suspected symptoms such as fever were transferred to the National Medical Center.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies on the 31st, the 333 Wuhan residents boarded Korean Air flight KE9884, departing Wuhan Tianhe Airport at 6:18 a.m. and arriving at Gimpo International Airport around 8:12 a.m. The second chartered flight, like the first one the day before, arrived about 1 hour and 40 minutes later than expected due to strengthened quarantine measures by the Chinese side.

The authorities had planned to transport 368 people on the first chartered flight the day before from among 720 applicants and 350 people on the second chartered flight on this day. However, the actual number transported was 333, falling short of the plan. A government source explained, "We understand that about 10 passengers who applied for repatriation were unable to board due to difficulties in movement and other reasons."

Before the chartered flight arrived, numerous quarantine personnel wearing white protective suits, as well as fire trucks, ambulances, and police buses, were deployed at the apron. A temporary quarantine station made of tents was also set up on one side. It was similar to the day before when the first chartered flight arrived, but additional tents were installed.

The Korean residents began disembarking in earnest around 8:40 a.m. that day. After completing temperature checks and filling out questionnaires at the temporary quarantine station set up on the apron, the disembarked residents moved to the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center (SGBAC) for additional quarantine and immigration procedures. Then, those who showed no particular symptoms boarded police buses from 9:29 a.m. and were transported to temporary living facilities such as Asan in Chungnam Province.

According to the police, among the Wuhan residents on the second chartered flight, seven were found to have suspected symptoms such as fever and were transferred for hospital isolation. Four of them reportedly showed related symptoms even before boarding the chartered flight in China. These residents were transported to the National Medical Center by ambulance around 10:10 a.m. that day.

The quarantine, immigration, and transportation procedures related to the Wuhan residents on the second chartered flight were noticeably faster than the day before. While the residents on the first chartered flight waited about 40 minutes before disembarking and underwent about three hours of quarantine and processing before moving to temporary living facilities, the passengers on the second chartered flight completed all procedures and left the airport by 10:12 a.m., just two hours after disembarking.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.