Wisconsin family trapped in Wuhan amid deadly coronavirus outbreak
The United States will evacuate some Americans in Wuhan on a flight out of the quarantined city Wednesday morning as concern over the spread of the coronavirus continues. But, there are roughly 1,000 Americans in the city and space is limited.
Sam Roth, a Wisconsin father, is doing everything he can to help get his family get out of Wuhan. His wife, Daisy, and two young children, Adalynn and Abagail, flew to China last week to visit Daisy's family for the Lunar New Year holiday.
"From the moment they stepped foot on Wuhan, they were told, 'Stay inside. Don't get in big gatherings,' and then the city went on lockdown," Roth told CBS News correspondent Ramy Inocencio.
At least 106 people have died in China after getting the virus. Priority for the State Department's chartered flight out of Wuhan will be given to those at greatest risk, the government said.
"We've got a 10-month-old, we've got a 5-year-old. They're susceptible, and they should be prioritized," Roth said.
U.S. health officials said the virus is not spreading widely in America and that danger to the public is low, but there are five confirmed cases and more than 100 people being tested across 26 states.
"The American public should not be fearful about this, but you really need to take it very seriously because as things evolve, our recommendations and our policy will change to be in accordance with what the evidence is," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In Wuhan, the city is racing to complete two hospitals that will be used to treat thousands of infected patients. The city's mayor offered to resign because of what he called an unsatisfactory response to the illness, saying about five million people left the city before it shut its borders.
The U.S. flight out of Wuhan is scheduled to touch down in Ontario, California, just east of Los Angeles.