Russian Aerospace Forces to Evacuate Russians From Virus-Stricken China - Kremlin

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces will be engaged in bringing Russian nationals from China's provinces that are most affected by the novel coronavirus beginning on Saturday, Dmitry Peskov, said.

"At the order of Russian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, aeroplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces will be engaged in evacuating Russian nationals from China's regions that have been most severely affected by the coronavirus. [The aircraft] will begin to carry out the flight later today," Peskov told reporters.

The day before, the UK Foreign Office said that a plane had evacuated 83 UK and 27 foreign nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak.

The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, located in Hubei, in late December and has since spread to more than 20 countries. 

The virus has already killed 259 people in China and infected about 12,000 others. More than 100 cases of the new disease were registered outside of China.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Thursday in light of the outbreak.