Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, unsure how much longer commercial or government-chartered flights will fly overseas due to the relentless spread of the coronavirus, is urging U.S. citizens to return home "immediately."
Any Americans abroad who want to get back to the United States should contact the American embassy in the respective country where they currently are to start making arrangements for a flight home.
"We don't know how long commercial flights will ... operate," Pompeo said, adding it is not a sure thing that flights being chartered by the US government specifically for Americans to return home due to COVID-19 fears will be available in some countries.
Whether Pompeo was motivated by a piece of unfortunate news is unknown. However, at the same press conference, he announced that a State Department official has died from the coronavirus.
"We've had a State Department official pass away as a result of this virus," he said. "We've had other members of the team come down with COVID-19 as well, I think we are now up to four or five dozen people who have tested positively inside the State Department, that includes our locally employed staff, the full State Department team," Pompeo said, without adding further details about the individual.
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