Coronavirus Latest: Dulles Airport Has Processed Over 14K Evacuees Coming Back To The U.S. Since March 20
STERLING, VA (WJZ) -- As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, U.S. citizens and permanent residents overseas are returning home to their loved ones.
Customs and Border Protection at Dulles Airport has processed more than 14,000 evacuees so far as of April 7.
The flights, coordinated by the U.S. Department of State, are commercial and charter airlines, and have arrived almost every day according to the airport.
60 flights have landed 14,365 evacuees back into the U.S. over the past 25 days.
They also worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify evacuees who were coming from countries part of President Trump's proclamation who would need enhanced screening for the virus.
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"These evacuation flights remain a monumental task involving a lot of moving parts working in unison to get these people home," said Javier Cortes, CBP's Acting Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington D.C. "I'm proud of our Customs and Border Protection officers, the airport and charter airlines, and other Federal partners for their work – as always, they stepped up when there was a real need."
The flights have averaged about 239 passengers with a especially high flight from Qatar that had 396 passengers and a low of six in a flight coming from the Azores.
Here is a breakdown of flights by continent:
- 26 flights from Africa with 6,667 passengers;
- 13 flights from South America with 3,398 passengers;
- 11 flights from Europe with 1,708 passengers;
- 10 flights from Asia with 2,592 passengers;
- The most flights, 12, arrived from Peru evacuating 3,156 passengers.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
