On Sunday, Saudi Arabia evacuated 10 students who were living in China's Wuhan, the city where the current coronavirus (nCoV) is believed to have originated.
The kingdom's state television reported that Chinese authorities approved the special flight sent to repatriate the young men with no further details provided on the evacuation process. The Saudi students' landing and arrival back home were broadcast on live television. Images of Saudi Health Ministry personnel waiting for the evacuation plane to land in Riyadh were posted on social media as well.
The medics performed check-ups on the students inside the plane as soon as it landed. They then transported them to an area where they will live in quarantine for the next two weeks.
Saudi Arabia is taking serious action to help prevent the deadly virus from infecting anyone in the country. Hours before evacuating students from Wuhan, Saudia airlines announced it would temporarily suspend flights to China starting Sunday.
The kingdom isn't the only Arab country evacuating citizens from the epicenter of the current coronavirus as Egypt announced it will be following suit.
On Sunday, Egyptian officials confirmed they have sent an airplane to bring back nationals living in Wuhan. Those returned will be quarantined upon arrival.
Several other Arab countries have taken measures to protect their citizens from the ongoing outbreak.
Over the weekend, Iraq announced it would ban all flights arriving from China. Other countries are expected to announce similar decisions this week. A number of Arab countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and Bahrain are all screening passengers arriving from China at their airports.
Coronavirus in the Arab region
So far, the UAE is the only country in the region to have confirmed cases of the virus. Early on Sunday, the Gulf nation said it was dealing with a fifth infected patient, a Chinese tourist who recently arrived from Wuhan.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said the man was in stable condition and is receiving treatment. His family - who flew in from the coronavirus-hit city with him - tested negative for the virus.
Speaking to The National, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Health and Prevention Dr. Hussein Al Rand said the man's illness was not detected at the airport upon arrival but at a medical center later on.
He added that "there is no reason to panic" as the UAE is well prepared and has preventive measures in place to deal with similar cases.
Last week, local officials confirmed the first infection in the country among four tourists from the same family. At the time, they were all said to be in stable condition. The country continues to screen for the virus at its local airports and has yet to suspend flights to or from China.
Coronavirus has been declared a global emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared the current coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency.
This comes as the number of people infected by the virus continues to rise, especially in China. To deal with the national emergency, the East Asian country has turned an empty building into a 1,000-bed emergency facility in under two days to contain as many patients as possible.
The illness has also spread to several countries including Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Italy, Germany, the UK, the U.S., and France.
Around 14,000 cases have been reported worldwide at the time of writing and the numbers are expected to rise. This is because the current coronavirus (nCoV) is said to be highly contagious. Scientists at Britain's Imperial College estimate that each coronavirus patient infects on average 2.6 others.
According to WHO, measures that can be taken to prevent infection include: regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, and avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
