State Dept. says it has repatriated 9,000 Americans amid coronavirus pandemic

The State Department announced Tuesday that it had repatriated more than 9,000 U.S. citizens who were stranded abroad as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

A State Department official pointed to efforts the agency undertook to bring home hundreds of Americans from Wuhan, China, where the virus was first detected, as well as efforts to fly home around 1,000 Americans from Morocco.

The moves came in response to countries around the world closing their borders to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which in some cases has left Americans stranded.

“As of today, we have repatriated more than 9,000 Americans from 28 countries. Our teams, working around-the-clock in Washington and overseas, will bring home thousands more in the coming days, from every region of the world,” the official said in a statement.

“The Department has never before undertaken an evacuation operation of such geographic breadth, scale, and complexity,” the statement read. “We are using all the tools at our disposal to overcome logistical and diplomatic challenges and bring Americans home from hard-to-reach areas and cities hardest-hit by the virus.”

More than 400,000 people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 17,000 have died. In the U.S., more than 46,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed, and more than 500 people have died.