More than 100 Germans and family members landed in Frankfurt on Saturday after being evacuated from the Chinese city Wuhan for checks for the fast-spreading coronavirus and two weeks' quarantine, prompting the health minister to call for calm.
None of the people on the air force aircraft had shown any symptoms of the virus which has killed 259 people in China and triggered a virtual lockdown of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, German Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters.
"All those returning are currently healthy but to protect them, their personal environment and society at large, it is important that we ensure that nobody is infected," Spahn said.
He warned against hysteria and hostility towards those in quarantine.
"I am most concerned about conspiracy theories of all sorts that circulate in the social media, which only have one goal, to spread uncertainty," he said.
Germany on Friday confirmed a seventh case of the coronavirus, identifying the victim as a man who works at the auto parts supplier Webasto in Bavaria who contracted the virus after a colleague from China visited the firm.
Five other workers there had earlier tested positive while the sixth victim was the child of a Webasto employee.
The virus outbreak has already hit business in Germany, with buyout firm Carlyle Group delaying the U.S. initial public offering of its German speciality chemicals group Atotech, sources said overnight.
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