US says it repatriated 9,000 Americans amid coronavirus

WASHINGTON

The U.S. has repatriated more than 9,000 stranded citizens amid the global coronavirus outbreak, according to the State Department Tuesday.

"As of today, we have repatriated more than 9,000 Americans from 28 countries," agency’s spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. "Our teams, working around-the-clock in Washington and overseas, will bring home thousands more in the coming days, from every region of the world."

U.S. authorities evacuated more than 800 in January and February from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began in December.

"Over 48 hours in March, Mission Morocco raced against a sudden and unexpected closure of Morocco’s borders to charter nine flights in quick succession into the country to bring home more than 1,000 Americans," it said.

According to the statement, the agency "has never before undertaken an evacuation operation of such geographic breadth, scale, and complexity."

It vowed to bring Americans home from hard-to-reach areas and cities hardest-hit by the virus.

"We will continue to take decisive action to inform and safeguard U.S. citizens overseas, protect the homeland," it said.

The virus has infected more than 51,500 people in the U.S., and left 674 others dead, according to data being compiled by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

The virus known as COVID-19 has spread to at least 169 countries and regions. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide is more than 414,200 with the death toll exceeding 18,500 while greater than 107,000 have recovered.