A flight has departed for Wuhan on the afternoon of Feb. 8 to bring more Singaporeans back.

Today also marks the last day of Chinese New Year, also called the ‘Chap Goh Mei’ (literally 15th night) which is traditionally a day for family reunion.

2nd flight to bring Singaporeans and families back & delivering medical supplies to Wuhan

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Scoot flight TR5120 has departed from Singapore to Wuhan on Feb. 8 afternoon.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, said that the returning Singaporeans and their family members are expected to arrive in Singapore tomorrow morning.

Appropriate quarantine arrangements have been made for all of them.

The plane will deliver humanitarian assistance from the Singapore government, including medical supplies and diagnostic test kits for the 2019-novel coronavirus (nCoV) to help Chinese communities that are severely affected by the outbreak.

The test kits from Singapore will help the hospitals in Wuhan to speed up the process in identifying patients who might be infected, so that they can receive treatment earlier.

Vivian handed over Singapore’s humanitarian assistance to the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Xiaoyong, earlier today at Changi Airport.

Vivian also thanked the airline crew, the pilots, and the cabin crew for continuing to fly.

Overcome virus outbreak by working together

In his Facebook post, Vivian also gave credit to the Chinese government for sequencing and releasing the full genome of the virus by mid-January.

That is important as the spread of the virus is transboundary and access to the full genome has allowed many research centers across the world, including A*STAR in Singapore, to rapidly develop test kits for specific identification of the 2019-nCov.

"Infectious diseases do not stop at the border. We can only overcome this global challenge by working together, at both the national and international level. Singapore will continue to work closely with China and the international community to tackle the challenge.

It is worth reflecting that now, today, barely 3 months after this epidemic has occurred, we have test kits available because of this effective scientific collaboration."

Vivian said that maintaining links between Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing is particularly important to deliver essential services, especially in a time of crisis like this.

He concluded that it is only through collaboration on all fronts that we can overcome the epidemic together.

Top photo via Vivian Balakrishnan's Facebook