Four Japanese evacuees from Wuhan taken to hospital with fevers

Japanese officials say four evacuees on a flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan have a cough and fever.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed their condition after the flight of 206 evacuees arrived Wednesday morning to a Tokyo airport. Passengers on the flight were wearing masks and underwent temperature checks before boarding and on the plane. Plans were made for all of the evacuees to be treated and quarantined depending on their test results.

The four are a woman in her 50s and three men whose ages are from their 30s to 50s. They were taken to a Tokyo hospital on separate ambulances for treatment and further medical checks.

The new type of coronavirus that has infected thousands of people, mainly in China, causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia.

Countries on Wednesday began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad.

China’s latest figures cover the previous 24 hours and add 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the central province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. The 5,974 cases on the mainland marked a rise of 1,459 from the previous day, although that rise is a smaller increase than the 1,771 new cases reported on Monday. Dozens of infections of the new type of coronavirus have been confirmed outside mainland China as well.

A Japanese chartered flight carrying 206 evacuees from Wuhan included some who had coughs and fever on the plane, Kyodo News reported, citing health ministry officials. They were expected to be taken by ambulances to a Tokyo hospital specializing in infectious diseases.

Takeo Aoyama, an employee at Nippon Steel Corp.’s subsidiary in Wuhan, told reporters he was relieved to be able to return home.

“We were feeling increasingly uneasy as the situation developed so rapidly and we were still in the city,” Aoyama told reporters, wearing a white surgical mask that slightly muffled his voice.

Another of the evacuees, Takayuki Kato, said their temperatures were taken before the plane left Wuhan and again by a doctor on board.

Both Kato and Aoyama said they didn’t see anyone with obvious symptoms or feeling ill near their seats. All of the passengers were expected to undergo further health checks and were expected to stay home until a lack of infection was confirmed.

Aoyama said more than 400 Japanese people wishing to return to Japan are in Wuhan, including those who are working for a Japanese supermarket chain that stays open to serve customers who need food.