Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: National Carrier Oman Air has said that they will suspend all flights to and from Guangzhou, China, effective Monday, February 3, 2020.
This comes after Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) announced that all flights to China will be suspended until further notice. “Within the framework of PACA’s follow-up of the recent developments of the epidemiological situation of the emerging Coronavirus, and after coordination with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the authority suspends all civil aviation flights between the Sultanate and the People’s Republic of China, as of February 2, 2020 until further notice,” a statement issued by PACA said.
After the PACA notification, the national carrier said, “Following the directives of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA), Oman Air will suspend all flights to and from Guangzhou, China, effective Monday, February 3, 2020. Additionally, bookings to and from Guangzhou have been suspended. The safety of our guests and employees remains our highest priority. We apologise for any convenience caused by this action. All guests are advised to monitor our website and official social media channels for further updates.”
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This comes after a large number of carriers around the world have slashed or suspended service to China because of the outbreak which has killed 300 people so far.
Meanwhile, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Saidi, Minister of Health chaired yesterday the third meeting regarding the latest development of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) at the Ministry of Health (MoH) headquarters.
The meeting brought together a number of MoH undersecretaries, directors-general of health services, directors of hospitals in various governorates along with senior officials.
The meeting addressed the measures taken to combat the Novel Coronavirus and reviewed the global situation, where the World Health Organization classified this disease as a public health emergency of international concern.
The Ministry is continuing to support health institutions by providing the required devices and cadres that would enhance their capabilities in handling any detected case. The Ministry urges all citizens and residents to follow good health practices when sneezing or coughing, and taking the information from the formal sources.
Activation of the public health plans in all government and private health institutions, provision of required lab reagents in the public health laboratories, raising public awareness on this disease, as well as activating the emergency plans for the land, sea and air entry points have been discussed during the meeting.
The health minister also received on Sunday in his office HE Li Lingbing, China’s Ambassador to Oman. During the meeting, both sides exchanged cordial talks and discussed means of enhancing cooperation between the two friendly countries. HE MoH’s Health Affairs Undersecretary attended the meeting.
The meeting shed light on the epidemiological situation of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China and actions taken by the Chinese government to tackle the situation. Furthermore, precautionary measures on world level were reviewed.
