US to evacuate citizens from Wuhan to California on Wednesday

All 240 will be screened in advance and stop in Alaska

A chartered flight will depart from Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport on the morning of Jan. 29, China time, for arrival in Ontario, California, with a stop in Anchorage to refuel. © Reuters

ALEX FANG and YIFAN YU, Nikkei staff writers

January 28, 2020 07:38 JST

Updated on January 28, 2020 09:03 JST

NEW YORK/PALO ALTO, U.S. -- Hundreds of diplomats and other American citizens stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan will be evacuated Wednesday local time on a chartered flight as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread in the outbreak's epicenter.

A chartered flight will depart from Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport that morning for arrival in Ontario, California, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Nikkei Asian Review on Monday. Ontario is about 60 km east of downtown Los Angeles.