US Citizens Evacuated From China Due to Arrive at California
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 9:53 am
FILE - Women and children walk past personnel after arriving on an aircraft chartered by the U.S. to evacuate Americans from the Chinese city of Wuhan, at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, Jan. 29, 2020.
About 350 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, are expected to arrive at two U.S. military bases in California on Wednesday as Washington works to fly more citizens home.
The Pentagon, in a statement overnight, said the U.S. travelers on two State Department-chartered flights would be quarantined for 14 days after landing at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
The State Department separately said it may stage additional flights on Thursday but gave no other details.
The United States and other countries are seeking to evacuate their citizens from the epicenter of the virus. The fast-spreading outbreak has killed 490 people in China, while two deaths have been reported outside of the mainland.
U.S. health officials have reported 11 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States so far, including two person-to-person transmissions, and have declared a health emergency with mandatory 2-week quarantines for travelers from China's affected province.
Nearly 200 Americans were evacuated late last month, mostly U.S. diplomats and their families.