Pregnant, newly wed and now trapped at the Chinese epicentre of a global health crisis, Thai national Aphinya is among thousands of foreigners desperate to escape — and watching helplessly as the US and Japan fly their citizens home.

Hundreds were flown to safety this week to Tokyo, Singapore and California on government-chartered flights, but those from countries with less diplomatic clout fear they are being left behind.

"I feel hurt that they don't care about us," Aphinya Thasripech, 32, told AFP.

"Either I could starve or I'll get infected and die," said the factory worker, who is two months pregnant.

So far 170 people have been killed by the virus since it emerged from a market in Wuhan, and more than 7,700 people have been sickened.

The illness has also spread around the world, with cases being recorded as far away as the United Arab Emirates, Finland and the United States, but all of the deaths have been in China.

China has imposed transport bans in and around Wuhan — effectively trapping tens of millions of people — including thousands of foreigners — in a bid to contain the virus.

Aphinya arrived in China on two weeks ago to marry her Chinese husband in Xiantao — about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Wuhan.

Now the city is a virtual ghost town, with restaurants and shops shuttered.

Aphinya said she is worried for the health of her unborn baby, and desperate for the Thai government to get her out.

For days, the government in Bangkok has said they are awaiting "permission" from China to evacuate 65 citizens known to be at ground zero.

But the wait is taking its toll.

"Sooner or later, it will get to us," said Aphinya, adding she had heard that a man had collapsed in a restaurant near her.

Thai medical student Badeephak Kaosala has barricaded himself in his dorm room with a dwindling supply of food and water.

He has watched with disbelief as wealthy nations have mounted mercy flights for their stricken citizens, with no word from home on when — or if — he might get out.

"China has given permission to so many other countries… so we feel really down," , 23, told AFP.

— 'Only fools want to stay' —

South Korea, France and Britain have all announced preparations to evacuate their citizens. Japan has already brought out two plane-loads.

But "fear, frustration and panic" is mounting among those still trapped, said Pakistani Ruqia Shaikh, 33, who was visiting friends when the city was locked down.

There are around 500 Pakistani students in Wuhan. Currently four have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, an official in Islamabad has said.

Those with families are eager to leave, said Ruqia, though some students prefer to remain where they are — happier to take their chances against the disease than run the gauntlet of Pakistan's poor health facilities.

"Our country is not capable of treating the coronavirus," she told AFP.

But Fadil, an Indonesian doctoral student in Wuhan who goes by one name, said he and his friends are desperate to leave — even if only to another Chinese city.

There are about 100 Indonesians in Wuhan, and another 143 elsewhere in Hubei province.

"The key thing is that we want to get out of here," he said. "Only fools would want to stay in Wuhan."

A few Myanmar nationals living in Wuhan have taken to Facebook, issuing public pleas to be brought home.

"Other countries are calling back their citizens… when are we going back?" said Khin Thiri Thant Zin, a hospital intern in Wuhan.

"I have a headache from crying so much — I cannot sleep at night."

Three Japanese evacuated from Wuhan test positive for virus
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 30, 2020 –

Three Japanese evacuated from the epicentre of a deadly new coronavirus outbreak have tested positive for the illness, the government said Thursday, as it faced criticism for the country's minimal quarantine measures.

The new cases were announced as another evacuation flight from Wuhan landed in Tokyo, and the government confirmed a second case of apparent person-to-person transmission of the virus in Japan.

More than 400 people have now been repatriated from Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak that has killed 170 people and infected thousands.

But while returnees praised the government's effort to bring them home quickly, there has been criticism of Japan's decision to allow the arrivals to "self-quarantine", with two people on the first flight even refusing to be tested for the virus.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said Thursday there were now 11 confirmed cases in Japan.

"In addition to the eight (previously known) cases, among the people who returned from Wuhan yesterday, infection has been confirmed in one person with symptoms and two other people who have no symptoms," he told parliament.

On Wednesday, authorities reported a second case involving someone who had not recently travelled to China.

The woman was a tour guide — for visitors from Wuhan — who worked on the same bus as a driver who also contracted the virus.

– 'A truly new situation' –

"The eighth case is the second suspected incident of human-to-human transmission in Japan," Kato said.

"We are in a truly new situation."

Earlier Thursday, 210 Japanese arrived on a second flight from Wuhan, with a third trip expected to collect remaining citizens.

Some 15 people from the first flight have been hospitalised with varying symptoms, while another 13 on the second evacuation also reported feeling unwell.

Japan is not forcibly quarantining arrivals, saying they lack the legal basis to confine people who have not tested positive for the virus. Instead, returnees have been asked to stay at home until they test negative for the virus.

But Kato revealed Thursday that two people on the first flight had refused the test.

"We don't have the legal basis to force them so we let them go home," he told lawmakers.

– Fierce criticism –

The two were asked to avoid public transport, and quarantine officers will follow up on their health.

The government has since classified the new virus a "designated infectious disease", meaning it will be able to forcibly hospitalise those who test positive, but the regulation will only work its way through the system by February 7.

But the rules on testing people with no symptoms will not be affected.

Japan's approach sits in stark contrast with other countries that are isolating repatriated nationals for between 72 hours and 14 days. Singapore said 92 of its citizens would be isolated for two weeks after being evacuated on Thursday.

Online there has been fierce criticism, with one Twitter user dubbing returnees who refused testing "terrorists".

"People talk about human rights, but how is quarantine discrimination?" asked another, adding: "Becoming the source of a pandemic would definitely be negative for a person who was released instead of quarantined."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament that the first flight was "arranged in extreme chaos" but that efforts were made to convince all those on the second flight to be tested for the virus.

It was not yet clear, however, how many of them had agreed.

Kato said Japan would need to "expand screening" in light of cases in people with no symptoms.

He also urged people to avoid stockpiling surgical masks — which are in short supply — but ruled out larger-scale measures including cancelling mass gatherings as necessary so far.