BEIJING (AP) — Countries began evacuating their citizens Wednesday from the Chinese city hardest hit by an outbreak of the coronavirus virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad.
A Japanese flight carrying evacuees home included four people with coughs and fevers, two of whom were diagnosed with pneumonia. The three men and one woman were taken to a Tokyo hospital in separate ambulances for treatment and medical checks. Another woman developed nausea at the airport and also was hospitalized.
It was not immediately known whether they were infected with the new coronavirus that appeared in the central city of Wuhan in December. Its symptoms, including cough and fever and in severe cases pneumonia, are similar to many other illnesses.
China's latest figures cover the previous 24 hours and add 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the central province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan. The 5,974 cases on the mainland were a rise of 1,459 from the previous day — a smaller increase than the 1,771 new cases reported Monday. Dozens of infections have been confirmed abroad as well.
The United Arab Emirates, home to long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, confirmed its first cases Wednesday in members of a family who had come from Wuhan, the state-run news agency reported. It was not clear how many family members were involved.
British Airways said it was immediately suspending all flights to and from mainland China after the U.K. government warned against unnecessary travel to the country. The airline said in a statement Wednesday that "we apologize to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority." The airline operates daily flights from London's Heathrow Airport to Shanghai and Beijing.
The outbreak also has affected international sporting events, with the International Hockey Federation postponing Pro League games in China and qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for February in soccer, basketball and boxing being moved outside of the country. With 177 days before the summer Games, Tokyo organizers are on edge over the outbreak's possible knock-on effects.
In Australia, health officials said the Chinese women's national soccer team was quarantined in Brisbane due to concerns it had passed through Wuhan a week ago.
The team will be kept in isolation in a hotel until Wednesday next week. None of the group of 32 players and staff have shown symptoms.
Chartered planes carrying evacuees home to Japan and the United States left Wuhan early Wednesday as other countries planned similar evacuations from areas China has shut down to try to contain the virus. The lockdown of 17 cities has trapped more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease control measures ever imposed.
A plane carrying Americans who had been in Wuhan left for Anchorage, Alaska, where they will be rescreened for the virus. U.S. hospitals are prepared to treat or quarantine people who may be infected. After departing from Alaska, the plane is to fly to Ontario, California.
At the Tokyo airport, Takeo Aoyama, an employee at Nippon Steel Corp.'s subsidiary in Wuhan, told reporters he was relieved to be able to return home.
"We were feeling increasingly uneasy as the situation developed so rapidly and we were still in the city," Aoyama said, his voice muffled by a white surgical mask.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed the condition of the four ill passengers after the flight of 206 Japanese evacuees arrived.
