evacuations related to the covid-19 pandemic evacuations related to the covid-19 pandemic this article lists major evacuations conducted by several countries as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2022 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses 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culture protests pregnancy prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal the sars-cov-2 virus was first identified in the city of wuhan, hubei, china in mid-december 2019, when a group of people developed a pneumonia without clear causes, and existing treatments were found to be ineffective. the novel coronavirus has similar characteristics to severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) and middle east respiratory syndrome (mers). within a number of weeks, several thousand people in hubei's provincial capital of wuhan were infected, and the chinese central government imposed strict containment measures, including a lockdown of hubei itself. due to the effective lockdown of wuhan and hubei, and the continued growth of the outbreak in these locations, several countries planned to evacuate their citizens and/or diplomatic staff from the area. this was done primarily through chartered flights of the home nations, which were provided prior clearance by chinese authorities. australia, belgium, france, germany, india, indonesia, japan, the philippines, sri lanka, thailand, and the united states were among the first to plan the evacuation of their citizens. pakistan has said that it will not be evacuating any citizens from china due to lack of domestic facilities to help treat pakistanis who may be infected. international evacuations statistical overview this is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources. organizing country/ies citizens evac. others evac. total evac. as of ref. india – – 4,582,000+ 2021-03-15 philippines 1,375,686 15+ 1,375,701+ 2021-08-24 european union 82,064 10,116 92,180 2020-09-10 united states – – 108,972 2020-06-05 poland 47,500 (est.) 800 54,000+ 2020-04-05 military and organisation evacuations the peace corps evacuated all volunteers, estimated at over 7,000 and suspended all volunteer programmes. major civilian evacuations from 15 march to 15 april, the polish flag carrier lot flew over 54,000 people, including poles and other nationals, under the "lotdodomu" (lot flight home) programme. the government of india plans to evacuate citizens from around the world through the "vande bharat mission" in may. the first phase, with over 15,000 indian citizens planned to be evacuated from 7 to 13 may, focuses mostly on the gulf states and other areas with high concentrations of indians such as the us and uk, while the second phase, starting 15 may, will shift efforts to other european and central asian countries. it has been predicted that this evacuation will surpass the 1990 airlift of indians from kuwait to be the biggest in the country's history, with estimates ranging as high as 192k-250k nationals to be brought home. as india closed its airspace to international flights in march, these flights are crucial for both citizens wanting to return to india as well as anyone who wants to leave the country via outbound flights. list of international evacuations departure date organizing country/ies evacuees nationalities departure airport arrival airport notes 2020-01-30 to 2020-03-17 turkmenistan beijing, moscow, minsk, istanbul turkmenabat airport turkmenistan removed all its citizens from countries with coronavirus. 2020-01-24 to 27 vietnam 200 200 da nang international airportcam ranh international airport wuhan tianhe international airport vietnam permitted four exceptional flights to take tourists and others from wuhan home in the period 24–27 january, and organised a flight to evacuate citizens and diplomats. 2020-01-29 australia new zealand 300 (est.) wuhan tianhe international airport on 26 january, abc news's exclusive report showed over 100 australian children were trapped in wuhan as the foreign minister marise payne said diplomatic staff were making effort on evacuation plans. on 29 january, australia and new zealand announced that they would cooperate in the evacuation of their citizens from wuhan. there are between 50 and 82 new zealanders in wuhan and 600 australians in hubei including 140 australian children in wuhan. the new zealand government chartered a boeing 777-200er aircraft from the national carrier air new zealand to assist in evacuation efforts, subject to approval from chinese officials. while prioritising new zealand nationals, australian and pacific island citizens were also carried. 2020-01-29 united states 195 march air reserve base first us evacuation flight, with a fuel stop in anchorage. 2020-01-29 japan 206 tokyo haneda airport this was japan's first evacuation flight. three passengers later tested positive for the virus, with two of them becoming japan's first asymptomatic cases. 2020-01-30 210 this was japan's second flight from wuhan. 2020-01-30 singapore 92 singapore changi airport singaporeans were evacuated from wuhan via a special scoot flight, crewed by volunteers from the airline after co-ordination between singapore and chinese authorities facilitated the flights. however, not all singaporeans were evacuated as some displayed symptoms before the flight. two of the evacuees were later confirmed as the first singaporeans to have the virus. both were asymptomatic during the flight but were found to have a fever upon arrival. 2020-01-31 japan 149 tokyo haneda airport japan's third flight from wuhan. 2020-01-31 south korea 368 gimpo international airport 2020-01-31 united kingdom 110 83 27 royal air force brize norton passengers left wuhan with military medics from the uk, arriving at raf brize norton in england. the british passengers were quarantined at a segregated block of arrowe park hospital on the wirral; all passengers were tested before and during the flight, with none having the virus. the other eu nationals were flown on to spain from brize norton. more britons (up to 150) were supposed to be on the flight, which was planned to leave a day earlier, but china initially declined permission, and then anyone who had a chinese passport (including infants and a newborn to british parents) were told they could not leave. shortly before the flight departed, this decision was reversed, but it was too late for people to get to the airport even though the plane was also delayed for several hours. the british government plans to send another plane if necessary. 2020-01-31 france 180 istres-le tubé air base 2020-01-31 china 76 suvarnabhumi international airport wuhan tianhe international airport 2020-01-31 124 kota kinabalu international airport 2020-01-31 111 tokyo haneda airport 2020-01-31 germany 124 wuhan tianhe international airport frankfurt airport the german air force plane was denied a stopover in moscow after its starting point in wuhan, according to the german minister of defence. originally, the plane had received approval for a layover in moscow to stop for refuelling and a change of crew personnel. the aircraft evacuated 102 german and 26 non-german citizens. the plane made a stopover in helsinki on its way to frankfurt airport. the german minister of health stated that all passengers showed no symptoms of the coronavirus. on its way to wuhan, the aeroplane carried 10,000 suits of protective equipment as requested by the chinese government. two passengers later tested positive for the virus. 2020-02-01 south korea 333 gimpo international airport south korea's second flight, operated by korean air. 2020-02-01 sri lanka 33 mattala rajapaksa international airport a special sri lankan airlines plane flew from wuhan after co-ordination between the sri lankan government and chinese authorities. after arrival all passengers were quarantined at a segregated block at diyatalawa garrison of the sri lanka army. 2020-02-01 india 324 indira gandhi international airport this was india's first evacuation flight. there were three minors, 211 students and 110 working professionals, and the flight was operated by air india. 2020-02-01 turkey 42 32 10 ankara esenboğa airport a cargo plane delivered medical equipment to china before taking the evacuees to ankara. all passengers were quarantined in a local disused hospital. 2020-02-01 jordan 71 55 7 3 3 1 1 queen alia international airport flown by royal jordanian, making it the first wuhan evacuation flight by a flag carrier. 2020-02-01 mongolia 31 chinggis khaan international airport the flight was operated by miat mongolian airlines for the government. passengers were quarantined at the national center for communicable diseases. 2020-02-01 myanmar 59 mandalay international airport myanmar national airlines operated the flight. 2020-02-01 bangladesh 312 shahjalal international airport using a chartered boeing 777-300er of biman bangladesh airlines, the government evacuated many people in wuhan, mostly students studying there. after arrival they were taken to hajj camp which was turned into quarantine near dhaka airport for 14 days. 3 people who had high temperature was taken to cmh hospital. 2020-02-01 morocco 167 mostly students and staff of the country's embassy to china. passengers were quarantined for 20 days instead of the standard 14. 2020-02-01 china 89 phuket international airport wuhan tianhe international airport 2020-02-02 indonesia 238 wuhan tianhe international airport hang nadim international airport government of indonesia chartered a batik air aircraft with 18 crews and 30 medics to evacuate around 200 indonesian citizens from hubei province. all passengers were then transferred to raden sadjad air force base, in ranai, natuna island using one boeing 737 and two c-130 hercules from indonesian air force. 2020-02-02 india 330 323 7 indira gandhi international airport this was india's second flight. all passengers were quarantined in delhi and manesar, haryana. 2020-02-02 algeria 46+ 36 10 unspecified number of students flown by air algérie. also delivered supplies to china. 2020-02-02 saudi arabia 10 king khalid international airport mostly students, flight to riyadh operated by saudia. 2020-02-03 italy 56 italians and poles pratica di mare air base flown by a specially equipped kc-767. 2020-02-03 france 254 istres-le tubé air base the flight had 65 french nationals on board as well as residents of 29 other countries. 2020-02-03 australia 243 christmas island airport qantas flight chartered by the australian government evacuated about 240 people, including 84 children and 5 infants, to the australian mainland, before they were flown on smaller planes to the christmas island detention centre for quarantine. the inbound flight delivered medical supplies including masks, protective suits and gloves. 2020-02-03 taiwan 247 taoyuan international airport charter flight operated by china eastern airlines 2020-02-04 russia 144 12816 from post-soviet states roshchino international airport two military planes evacuated passengers to tyumen, siberia for quarantine. 2020-02-04 malaysia 107 kuala lumpur