Singapore has rejected visas to pilots and cabin crew who went to China to bring back Bangladeshi citizens from China’s Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak.
Cabinet Secretary Anwarul Islam made the statement during a press briefing on cororavirus at the Secretariat on Monday.
“Pilots and cabin crews who returned from Wuhan are not being allowed to enter other countries,” Anwarul said.
On February 1, a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines brought back Bangladeshi citizens stranded in China's Wuhan.
"Flight BG 7002 landed at HazratShahjalal International Airport around 11:53am," Biman's Deputy General Manager TaheraKhondoker said.
The Bangladeshis include 301 adults, 12 children and three infants.
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Global health emergency
The total number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 as of Monday. The number of new confirmed infections in China rose by 2,829, bringing the total to 17,205, reports Reuters.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency.
The virus is believed to have originated late last year in a food market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife.
New cases are being reported every day around the world, spurring cuts to travel, outbreaks of anti-China sentiment in some places and a surge in demand for protective face masks.
Medical experts say the rising number of human-to-human transmissions outside China suggests a greater potential for the virus to spread further.
Statistics from China indicate that just over 2% of people infected have died, suggesting that the virus may be less deadly than the coronaviruses behind 2002-2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
