Virus Cases in China Top SARS as Evacuations Begin

Countries have began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS. The number of confirmed cases jumped to 5,974 on Wednesday, surpassing  the 5,327 in mainland China during the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003. The death toll rose to 132. A Japanese flight that brought back evacuees from Wuhan included four passengers with coughs and fevers. It wasn't immediately known whether they were infected with the new virus that first appeared in the city in central China in December.

A plane evacuating more than 200 Americans from a Chinese city at the center of a virus outbreak continued Wednesday on to Southern California after everyone aboard passed a health screening test in Anchorage, Alaska. The aircraft had stopped there to refuel. All 201 passengers had already been through two screenings in China and were screened twice more in Anchorage. Alaska's Department of Health and Social Services says one passenger received medical attention for a minor injury that happened before boarding the airplane in China.  In California, they will undergo additional health screenings and be temporarily housed for a period of time.