Germany plans to evacuate citizens from Wuhan - Der Spiegel

Germany will become the latest country to evacuate its citizens from China's coronavirus-struck Wuhan region, with the German air force repatriating 90 Germans living in the area, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Monday. The epidemic, which originated in Wuhan city, has claimed 81 lives in China so far and has affected more than 2,800 people globally, most of them in China.

Germany will be joining France, Portugal, and Spain, which have already announced plans to evacuate their citizens, and Britain, which has said it is working to offer its nationals an option to leave the surrounding Hubei province. Der Spiegel said Germany and China had been engaged in discussions over whether Berlin could deploy military aircraft to carry out the evacuation, with Beijing wanting to civilian aircraft to be used instead.

The German government did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the report. But military sources told Reuters a troop transport plane would be made available if German citizens were flown out.