Two aeroplanes are being sent to China to evacuate French and European citizens from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, SIA reports.
A first plane is set to depart from France on Wednesday morning and will repatriate 250 French citizens. More than 100 EU citizens will be repatriated on a second plane later in the week. The transport costs will be co-financed by the EU after a request by France for assistance.
It comes as French health officials confirmed that a fourth person has been diagnosed with the virus, an elderly woman in Paris, who is in a serious condition. The death toll from the virus has now hit 106 people, according to China's National Health Commission, with more than 4,500 infected. The country is entering a "grave and complicated stage" as the ability of a new type of virus to spread is "getting stronger", said China's health commission minister.
Speaking in Beijing, Ma Xiaowei declined to estimate how long it would take to bring the situation under control. He said there was still limited knowledge of the mechanism of spread of the virus, as well as the risk of it mutating. Gao Fu, director of China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters scientists were closely watching the virus and its behaviour and so far no obvious changes had been found.
Meanwhile, the US confirmed five cases of coronavirus, including new cases in Arizona and California. On Monday, US stocks fell amidst worries that the virus could affect the global economy.
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