Coronavirus: Americans Cheer As Evacuation Flight From Wuhan Reaches U.S.
More than 200 Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, because of the deadly new strain of coronavirus cheered as their plane landed in Alaska late Tuesday night. It was a moment of relief and joy amid a rush to help ensure the passengers don't have the respiratory virus, officials say.
"The whole plane erupted in cheers when the crew said, 'Welcome home to the United States,' " said Alaska's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. She described the scene as "a moving and uplifting experience."
The chartered airliner — a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 — is now on its way to the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., about 65 miles east of Los Angeles. It's scheduled to land around 8 a.m. local time, according to the flight tracking site Flightradar24.
The 201 passengers on the flight have undergone four health screenings: two in Wuhan before their flight took off, and two after their arrival in Anchorage.
The flight was organized by the U.S. State Department to get diplomats, their families and other Americans out of Wuhan, the city that is the center of the virus outbreak.
Before embarking on the final leg of their journey, the passengers were "approved to continue on to California by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services said in a news release Wednesday.
Once they arrive in California, the passengers will be screened once again and "temporarily housed for a period of time," the Alaska health department said.
"Alaska is proud to do its part in helping our fellow Americans come home safely," Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. Applauding the rigorous screenings the passengers underwent, Dunleavy added, "For our fellow Americans on the airplane, we wish them Godspeed as they head to California and ultimately to their homes."
Since it was first identified in Wuhan last month, the 2019 novel voronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, has killed 132 people and there are currently more than 6,000 confirmed cases, according to a tracking map created by Johns Hopkins.
The majority of the cases are in China, primarily in Hubei province, where Wuhan has been placed under a virtual lockdown in an attempt to prevent the virus's further spread. But the coronavirus has already been diagnosed in 17 other countries, including the U.S. and Canada.
Several international airlines have suspended or reduced flights to China, from British Airways to carriers in South Korea and Indonesia. The neighboring country of Kazakhstan has halted all mass transportation — flights, train and buses — to China.
Similar to the U.S. evacuation flight, a Japanese flight from Wuhan landed safely in Tokyo Wednesday.
The CDC says that while it considers the immediate risk posed by the coronavirus as "low," travelers should avoid any nonessential travel to China.
"The outbreak is growing and there is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas," the CDC said earlier this week.
The agency also recommends people take simple steps to cut the chances of spreading any respiratory illness, such as washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and avoiding close contact with anyone who is sick. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
