BEIJING (AP) — Countries on Wednesday began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad.
China’s latest figures cover the previous 24 hours and add 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. The 5,974 cases on the mainland were a rise of 1,459 from the previous day. Dozens of infections of the new type of coronavirus have been confirmed outside mainland China as well.
Earlier in the morning, a plane carrying Americans who had been in Wuhan left for Anchorage, Alaska, where they will be rescreened for the virus. Hospitals are prepared to treat or quarantine people who may be infected. Then the plane is scheduled to fly to Ontario, California.