A jet leaving the Wuhan region of China, ferrying about 230 U.S. passengers from the center of the coronavirus outbreak, soon will be headed to Ontario International Airport, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, Jan. 27.

The State Department has chartered a flight that will depart from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport for Ontario on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 29, China Standard Time. It will arrive at ONT sometime on Wednesday, after first making a stop in Anchorage, Alaska, the State Department confirmed by email.

All passengers — reportedly State Department officials and other Americans living in Wuhan, including nine children — will be screened for symptoms of the disease in China prior to departure. The airlift is part of the shutdown of the U.S. consulate in Wuhan, a city on lockdown and at the epicenter of the outbreak.

China has confirmed more than 2,700 cases of the new virus, with more than 100 deaths. Most have been in the central city of Wuhan where the illness surfaced last month.

Ontario airport officials said they are monitoring the situation and working in partnership with the California Department of Public Health in Sacramento, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.

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“The safety and security of our facilities are of utmost importance to ONT, and we are taking whatever steps are necessary to minimize the risk to our customers, our staff and the community at large,” the airport said in a prepared statement on Monday. The airport will remain open under normal operations.

ONT is designated as a repatriation center, whereby Americans stationed overseas can return safely, said ONT spokesman Steve Lambert.

This would be the first time the airport would be used as a repatriation center, said David Wert, a spokesman for San Bernardino County.

Wert said after passengers deplaning at ONT are reexamined by CDC doctors, there’s a possibility they would remain at the airport for observation for a period of time.

In a statement, the county said the Department of Public Health, Office of Emergency Services, and other departments are establishing a reception area and temporary living quarters in a space at ONT removed from the passenger terminals and other public areas.

“The county’s job will be to make this location as comfortable for them as possible, keeping in mind they might be here for up to two weeks,” Wert said.

Passengers will be examined on a regular basis to see if they develop any symptoms, he said.

When the plane arrives in Ontario, the passengers will be taken to a hangar on the opposite side of the airport from the passenger terminals, Wert explained.

The plane “will come right up the hangar,” he said. “The folks will get off the plane. They would be greeted and they would immediately undergo health screenings.”

Ontario police and other public safety personnel are prepared to ensure no unauthorized persons enter or exit the area.

“Every precaution is going to be taken to contain this to a very small area of the airport until we can make sure there isn’t any kind of threat of contamination,” Wert said.

Wert said the county and the airport have been holding numerous exercises and drills to be ready for any scenario. “Everyone’s been preparing for this for years,” he added. The airport reported that the state’s Medical and Health Coordination Center (MHCC) in Sacramento has been activated.

In Anchorage where the plane would stop for refueling on its way to Ontario, passengers would get off the plane and enter a terminal closed to the general public where they would receive a health screening. Anyone showing signs of being sick will most likely be taken to a hospital in Anchorage and not be allowed to proceed to Ontario, Wert said.

Since the coronavirus surfaced, small numbers of cases have been found outside China in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France and Australia.

The U.S. has confirmed cases in Washington state, Chicago, Arizona and two in Southern California – one each in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.