OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:07 AM PT — Saturday, January 25, 2020
The U.S. government is organizing a flight of out the Chinese city of
Wuhan to evacuate American citizens and diplomats amid the coronavirus
outbreak. The local U.S. consulate is reportedly contacting American
citizens to offer them a place on the plane, which will seat around 230
people and is expected to take off on Sunday.Around 1,000 U.S. citizens are said to be in Wuhan. However, those who choose to evacuate on the plane will be responsible for the cost of their ticket. The flight will be directly to the U.S. Onboard medical personnel will be present to ensure the infection doesn’t spread.
The U.S. government is also planning to temporarily close the consulate in Wuhan.
Meanwhile, officials in China are taking on a massive construction project to build a quarantine hospital within 10 days. Authorities reportedly started building the 1,000 bed hospital on Friday. It will be used to treat patients who are being turned away from overcrowded hospitals in Wuhan.
At least 41 people have died and 1,200 others have been infected by the new and unknown virus, which includes pneumonia-like symptoms.
In 2003, a similar building was quickly erected during a SARS outbreak.
