BEIJING: Local authorities in China will assist some overseas Chinese who live in parts of Italy hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak and in dire need of help to get back to China, a source told.
A temporary charter flight may be arranged to bring them back to Wenzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province soon, the source said, without specifying the exact time for the trip and the number of such flights that may be planned.
A senior member of the Rome-based Wenzhou Overseas Chinese Association shared a notice with the Global Times, which reads that a charter flight will depart from Milan to Wenzhou on Sunday at 18:50. The post said the plane will arrive in Wenzhou on Monday afternoon, with business class tickets going for 3,625 euros for adults and 2,772 euros for children, and economy class charging 2,660 euros for adults and 2,027 euros for children.
People who are qualified to apply for the flight are those above 70 years old and minors under 10 years old. One child can be accompanied by one adult and the plane can carry 200 people, the notice reads.
A staff member from the Wenzhou Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese confirmed with the Global Times on Sunday that the plane is a commercial charter flight.
Xu Xiaolin, head of the Qingtian Clansmen Association in Italy, told the Global Times that he advised local governments in China that some overseas Chinese who have contracted the virus and are in critical condition be transferred to China for treatment. Wenzhou city and Qingtian county administrated under the city of Lishui are major hometowns for overseas Chinese in Italy. Media reports said more than 300,000 Chinese people from Zhejiang live in Italy. Even though Qingtian people living overseas have been told to reconsider returning to China, some still have tried to return via third countries, Xu said. Yi Gu, a Chinese national who is studying in Italy’s worst-affected Lombardy region, told the Global Times that Chinese people in Italy found it difficult to receive treatment in the early stages of the outbreak, and were not admitted into hospitals in the worst-hit regions.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
