Coronavirus: Germany to fly home citizens from Wuhan

BERLIN

Germany will fly home its citizens who wish to leave the Chinese city of Wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Maas said a military aircraft with a medical team is departing from Germany on Friday for the evacuation of some 100 German citizens from Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

He thanked Chinese authorities for their cooperation.

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has climbed to 213, the National Health Commission said Friday.

Some 9,692 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, also known as 2019-nCoV, have been reported in China.

The virus has raised alarms globally, with cases reported across Asia, Europe, the U.S., and Canada.