YANGON—Myanmar has announced it will evacuate 60 citizens studying in the vicinity of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll from the pneumonia-causing virus rose to 80.
The Myanmar Embassy in Beijing announced on Sunday that the students’ request to return to Myanmar had been granted. It plans to evacuate them by bus to Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, 350 kilometers from Wuhan, Hubei Province, and outside an exclusion zone in which local governments are trying to halt the spread of the contagious disease.
“From Changsha, or via Kunming, they will fly back to Mandalay,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that “to make it happen the embassy is collaborating with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials in Hubei and Hunan provinces.”
Meanwhile, Japan and France also are planning to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, according to Reuters.
China has confirmed more than 2,700 cases of pneumonia caused by the virus, with more than 460 patients in critical condition, according to officials there.
On Monday, China banned all outbound group travel in a bid to stop the virus spreading globally.
Despite these efforts, as of Monday, Thailand and Hong Kong have each reported eight infections; the United States and Macau five each; Taiwan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia four each; France and Japan three each; Vietnam and South Korea two apiece; and Canada and Nepal one each.
No fatalities have been reported outside China.
You may also like these stories:
China Has World’s Second-Largest Arms Industry, Think Tank Estimates
China Extends Holiday by Three Days in Bid to Battle Virus
