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This article lists major evacuations conducted by several countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus was first identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China in mid-December 2019, when a group of people developed a pneumonia without clear causes, and existing treatments were found to be ineffective. The novel coronavirus has similar characteristics to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Within a number of weeks, several thousand people in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan were infected, and the Chinese central government imposed strict containment measures, including a lockdown of Hubei itself.
Due to the effective lockdown of Wuhan and Hubei, and the continued growth of the outbreak in these locations, several countries planned to evacuate their citizens and/or diplomatic staff from the area. This was done primarily through chartered flights of the home nations, which were provided prior clearance by Chinese authorities. Australia,[1] Belgium,[2] France, Germany, India,[3] Indonesia,[4] Japan, the Philippines,[5] Sri Lanka, Thailand,[6] and the United States[7] were among the first to plan the evacuation of their citizens.[8] Pakistan has said that it will not be evacuating any citizens from China due to lack of domestic facilities to help treat Pakistanis who may be infected.[9][10]
- ^ Xiao, Bang; Walsh, Michael (4 February 2020). "'Thousands of times worse than I imagined': Coronavirus evacuee slams Christmas Island". ABC News.
- ^ Aers, Kathleen (27 January 2020). "België haalt landgenoten terug uit Chinese provincie Hubei na uitbraak coronavirus". vrtnws.be.
- ^ "Coronavirus: Second plane carrying 323 Indians from Wuhan to reach Delhi today". indiatoday.in. February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ Nathalia, Telly (30 January 2020). "Last-Minute Preparations Underway to Evacuate Indonesian Citizens From Coronavirus-Ravaged Wuhan". Jakarta Globe.
- ^ Mabasa, Roy (29 January 2020). "PH sending special flights to get Pinoys from Wuhan, Hubei in China". Tempo. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "C130 aircraft on standby for Wuhan evacuation". Bangkok Post. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ Jiang, Steven; Stracqualursi, Veronica (25 January 2020). "US arranging charter flight to evacuate American diplomats and citizens out of China amid coronavirus outbreak, official says". CNN. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- ^ Yamaguchi, Mari (28 January 2020). "Countries Evaluate Evacuation of Citizens Amid Wuhan Coronavirus Panic". The Diplomat. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Shira, Dezan (21 March 2020). "The Coronavirus in Asia and ASEAN – Live Updates by Country".
- ^ "Pakistan cancels flights to China as fears of coronavirus spread". Dialogue Pakistan. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.