The US Department of State announced on Tuesday that it had authorized a voluntary departure of non-emergency staff from its Consulate General in Hong Kong amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in China
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2020) The US Department of State announced on Tuesday that it had authorized a voluntary departure of non-emergency staff from its Consulate General in Hong Kong amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in China.
"On February 10, 2020, the US Department of State authorized the voluntary departure ("authorized departure") of non-emergency US government employees and their family members at the US Consulate General in Hong Kong, China," the statement said. "Authorized departure gives these employees and their family members the option to depart if they wish. Departure is not required."
A permission to leave China has been given earlier to non-emergency diplomatic staff of the US Embassy in Beijing and five other consulates in the country.
The novel strain of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, was first detected in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread to more than 20 countries. Currently, the death toll from the novel coronavirus is more than 1,000 in China, with the total number of registered cases exceeding 42,000.
