Coronavirus: Bangladesh sending plane to Wuhan on Friday

The Bangladesh government will on Friday send a plane to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of a deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed 213 people in the Asian giant, to evacuate its nationals.

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight will depart from Dhaka on Friday afternoon, Meerjady Sabrina Flora, a director at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR, told bdnews24 on Thursday night.

Upon their arrival from from Wuhan on Friday night, the Bangladeshi nationals will be kept isolated and under observation at the Ashkona Hajj Camp near Shahjalal International Airport, Sabrina said.

The flight would ferry back a total of 341 Bangladeshis from the Chinese city.

The government had earlier said the the country's embassy in China was "in touch" with about 400 Bangladeshi students, who have been locked down along with millions in Wuhan.

The embassy also established contact with the Chinese authorities to ensure urgent support for the expatriates in Wuhan, the Foreign Ministry had said after the outbreak started.

Some of the Bangladeshi students in Wuhan told bdnews24 on Thursday that they wanted to return home as soon as possible from the city which is under a lockdown.

In South Asia, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal have confirmed one case each of the coronavirus.

Pakistan announced this week that four students were tested positive in Wuhan.

As of Friday, China has increased the toll to 213, with 9,692 infected cases.