From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 2, 2020
More Europeans flee China virus as death toll climbs
A second French-chartered plane carrying 300 evacuees from China is flying to France on Sunday as more foreigners flee China’s rapidly developing virus.
The A380 is expected to land at the military base of Istres in the southern French region of Bouches-du-Rhone. A first plane landed Friday near Marseille.
Officials say none of the passengers on this plane from the central Chinese city of Wuhan had symptoms of coronavirus on leaving China. They include French, Belgians, Dutch, Danes, Czechs, Slovaks and some citizens of African countries.
Authorities say the plane would drop off most of its passengers at Istres before leaving for Belgium with several dozen people from northern Europe. Authorities haven’t said if the travelers arriving at Istres will be put into quarantine.
Europe so far has 23 people infected with the virus that emerged from Wuhan: Germany with eight, all tied to the same auto parts factory; France with six; Russia, Italy and the UK with two each and Finland, Sweden and Spain each with one.
The death toll from the virus in China climbed Sunday to 304 and the number of infections rose to 14,380. In addition, the Philippines on Sunday reported the first virus death outside of China.
— AP
