Via State/DS

DSS regional security office team helps process and board 195 Americans and other passengers for the first evacuation flight out of Wuhan, PRC, Jan. 29, 2020. (U.S. Department of State photo)

In January 2020, as the new and highly infectious coronavirus began spreading through People’s Republic of China (PRC), the local government unexpectedly closed the airport, stopped public trans- portation, and closed the roadways. U.S. diplomats and other personnel posted at the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan were caught in the lockdown, worried about potential inability to access medical care and support services, and fearful they might not be able to leave Wuhan. DSS revised its evacuation plan quickly to help evacuate Americans on the first airlift out of Wuhan. This laid the groundwork for four additional evacuation flights that brought 600 Americans home by the end of February 2020.

Read more at: https://www.state.gov/the-untold-coronavirus-story.