VLADIVOSTOK, March 10. /TASS/: Russian and foreign diplomats evacuated on a special flight from Pyongyang to Vladivostok have left for Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s office in Vladivostok informed TASS on Tuesday.
There were 80 diplomats and their family members, including 13 Russian nationals, onboard the flight leaving from North Korea, where strict quarantine measures are currently introduced to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
"All of them have headed for Moscow shortly after arriving in Vladivostok," the Russian Foreign Ministry’s local office stated.
According to the ministry’s information, diplomatic missions of Germany, France and Switzerland have suspended their work in Pyongyang due to the quarantine. Romanian, Polish, Mongolian, Egyptian diplomats have also chosen to leave North Korea with their families.
Since early February, North Korea has suspended regular international flights, as well as passenger trains to China and Russia. The country has banned entry and exit for all foreign citizens. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry informed all foreign embassies that after March 1, the quarantine measures would be prolonged for an unspecified period.
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. According to Chinese authorities, about 80,700 people have been infected with the virus in the country. The death toll has exceeded 3,100, while about 59,900 patients have recovered. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus have been reported in over 100 countries, including Russia. The largest outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China have been detected in South Korea, Iran and Italy.
