The federal government is relocating 210 U.S. citizens from Wuhan, China, back to the United States amid a respiratory illness circulating there.
The State Department is taking the lead on the effort, and the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting medical checkups for everyone on the flight. Officials will provide medical care to anyone who develops symptoms on the plane.
The CDC said in a release that passengers would be screened before they take off from Wuhan, monitored by medical workers while in flight, screened again when they land in Anchorage, Alaska, monitored again on the next flight, and then given a final screening when they land at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California. Officials will continue to monitor passengers for days after.
The virus has spread to at least 5,974 people in China and killed 132. The careful screening of U.S. citizens reflects a growing concern that people may be infected with the virus but not show any symptoms. Many of the cases are mild, but some develop symptoms similar to pneumonia.
Five people who live in the U.S. and had visited Wuhan have been infected with the virus, and another 110 are being monitored. Officials still aren’t certain how infectious or deadly the virus is and have said the general risk to most people living in the U.S. is low.
Twenty airports are screening passengers, though British Airways has canceled all flights from China, and United Airlines has suspended some of its flights from the country. The Trump administration may decide to restrict travel further.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday vowed to do everything to contain the “demon” epidemic.
