US To Evacuate Consulate Personnel, Citizens From Coronavirus Epicenter Wuhan- State Dept.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2020) The US State Department announced in a release on Sunday that the general consulate would evacuate its personnel and private citizens from the central Chinese city of Wuhan next week due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"The Department of State is making arrangements to relocate its personnel stationed at the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan to the United States. We anticipate that there will be limited capacity to transport private U.S. citizens on a reimbursable basis on a single flight leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on January 28, 2020 and proceeding directly to San Francisco," the statement read.

The new type of coronavirus, which is currently spreading across the world, was first detected in Wuhan in late December. The highest level of health emergency response has been declared across 30 provinces, cities under the central government's direct jurisdiction and special administrative regions of China, with a total population of over 1.3 billion.

According to the latest data, there have been already over 1,970 confirmed coronavirus cases in China, with the death toll now standing at 56. Confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have been also recorded in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, the United States, Malaysia, Australia and Canada.