The Mozambican government sees no need for panic in the face of the Coronavirus scare in China and will not be forced to repatriate the country’s citizens from the Asian nation, Health Minister Armindo Tiago has said.
Tiago ruled out the prospects of the Mozambican authorities getting its nationals out of China, saying this was unnecessary as none of the over 300 Mozambicans in China have contracted the virus and that the process would be costly and logistically cumbersome.
“Therefore, there is currently no compelling need to repatriate Mozambicans,” Tiago told journalists in Maputo.
He said the exercise would involve putting all the repatriated Mozambicans in quarantine for two weeks “to see whether or not they have the symptoms”.
The minister said the southern African country is not financially prepared to carry out the exercise, since it would involve several institutions.
The virus has so far claimed more than 400 lives in China and other countries and has affected over 20,400 others, causing a global health scare.
Several countries have put travel bans with airlines cancelling flights to and from China and mass evacuations of citizens amid fears of a major pandemic, which could threaten exports and growth in the world’s second-biggest economy.
The Mozambican government last week announced the creation of a ministerial team to institute measures to ensure that Coronavirus does not spread to the country.
CM/jn/APA