WUHAN: Death toll soared to 132 in Wuhan, the epicenter of worst Coronavirus while confirmed infections neared 6,000.
Hundreds of Americans and Japanese escaped the quarantined Chinese city at the centre of a viral epidemic aboard charter flights on Wednesday.
The scale of the deepening crisis was emphasised with the new infection number on the Chinese mainland exceeding that of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03.
SARS, another respiratory virus transmitted between people, went on to claim nearly 800 lives around the world, with most of those fatalities in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The new virus has spread to more than 15 countries since it emerged out of Wuhan late last year, although all the confirmed fatalities have so far been in China.
Authorities last week imposed transport bans in and around Wuhan in an unprecedented quarantine effort, leaving more than 50 million people effectively trapped.
China has taken other extraordinary measures to try and stop the disease spreading, including bans on tour groups travelling overseas, suspending schools and extending the Lunar New Year holiday.
With global concerns mounting, the United States, Britain and various other countries have also advised their citizens against travelling to China.
Thousands of foreigners have been among those trapped in Wuhan, which has become a near ghost-town with car travel banned and residents staying indoors.
Countries have for days been scrambling to try and get their citizens out of Wuhan safely, but have faced huge logistical, medical and bureaucratic hurdles.
Japan and the United States on Wednesday were the first to evacuate some of their citizens from Wuhan.
About 200 people were aboard the Japanese flight, which landed in Tokyo on Wednesday morning.
Medical professionals were on the flight to carry out health checks but Japan’s health ministry said there were no plans to quarantine the passengers.
They would instead be asked to remain at home and avoid crowds at least until the results of the test were known.
A US charter flight also left Wuhan on Wednesday with about 200 Americans on board, including employees from the local US consulate.
“These travellers will be carefully screened and monitored to protect their health, as well as the health and safety of their fellow Americans,” a State Department spokeswoman said.
The European Union will fly its citizens out aboard two French planes this week, and South Korea is due to do the same. Several other countries were assessing their options.
More deaths
Meanwhile, the virus continued to spread and kill in China and death toll is likely to go up.
Authorities said on Wednesday the number of cases in Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus of which Wuhan is the capital, soared by over 800 from the previous day.
The number of confirmed cases across the country climbed to 5,974, while the death toll nationwide jumped 26 to 132.
All of those new reported deaths were in Hubei except for one, on a province just to the north.
The virus is believed to have originated in a wild-animal market in Wuhan, where it jumped to humans before spreading across the country as the peak-travel period for Lunar New Year holiday festivities got underway.
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