China not happy with the decision

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 2, (Agencies): In the context of strict measures taken by the government of Kuwait to prevent the new coronavirus from entering the country, a familiar security source said Kuwait carries out strict checks on passengers entering the country via any port to ensure they have not travelled or were in transit in China or Hong Kong over the past few weeks since the outbreak of the virus in China, reports Al-Rai daily.

The source said the procedure includes thoroughly checking the passports of passengers before the concerned passengers are referred to the health clinic to ensure the virus does not affect Kuwait.

The daily added, as a precautionary measure passengers who have travelled to Chinese cities over the past period will be prevented from entering the country, because the chances of them carrying the virus are very high.

According to the source, “The Chinese embassy has informed the security authorities that the decision to prevent its citizens from entering the country even if they are not carriers of the virus and have valid residence is arbitrary especially since several projects in the country are supervised and implemented by Chinese companies and Chinese engineers, and therefore preventing them from entering the country will put on hold these projects and the companies will incur huge losses.

The embassy has warned, according to the source, that the Kuwaiti decision will lead to delays in the projects supervised by Chinese companies, and consequently the contractual penal provisions will apply to them.

The embassy said, “We have extend a hand of cooperation in examining our citizens at the airport, and in spite of this the issue has been generalized.” The source added in case of suspicion while the passenger is still air bound, the captain informs the control tower, so that the all passengers will be dealt with accurately by sending a medical team on board the plane before the passengers disembark and the passenger who is suspected of carrying the virus shall be examined and if the information proves to be correct, all passengers will be quarantined in one place and examined individually and will allowed to go only after ensuring that he/she is not infected by the virus.

In a related development, sources denied that the Chinese embassy in the country has been closed because of the spread of the coronavirus, stressing the working hours at the embassy are normal. The sources explained the embassy was closed for normal work between Jan 24 to Jan 30, because of Chinese spring holiday and normal work resumed thereafter.