A chartered jet carrying more than 200 passengers airlifted from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China has been redirected from Ontario International Aiport to March Air Base Reserve in Riverside County, officials have confirmed.

Update: 201 Americans land in Riverside County, evacuated from Wuhan

Just hours earlier, ONT had been preparing to receive the jet, taking steps to provide temporary shelter for passengers upon anticipated arrival Wednesday.

Early Tuesday evening, an uneasy calm settled over the international arrivals terminal at ONT as China Airlines passengers from Taiwan arrived to hugs from family and friends. Most were wearing surgical masks.

An airplane, background, carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China, makes a refueling stop at the north terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska Tuesday evening, Jan. 28, 2020. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Travelers wearing masks leave the international terminal at Ontario International Airport after arriving from Taipei, Taiwan on China Airlines flight 24 Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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A baggage handler wears a mask as he off loads luggage from China Airlines flight 24 at Ontario International Airport after arriving from Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Travelers wearing masks exit off of China Airlines flight 24 at Ontario International Airport after arriving from Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Rancho Cucamonga resident Joseph Massralla, wears a mask as he leaves the international terminal after arriving on China Airlines flight 24 from Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)



A traveler wears a mask outside the international terminal after arriving from from Taipei, Taiwan on China Airlines flight 24 at Ontario International Airport Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. A chartered jet carrying more than 200 U.S. consulate employees from the Wuhan region of China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, will land Monday morning at Ontario International Airport. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Ontario fire department paramedics watch as China Airlines flight 24 arrives at Ontario International Airport after arriving from Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Carrying some 240 American diplomats and citizens, a Boeing 747 aircraft sits on the tarmac of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Chartered by the U.S. government, the plane flew from Wuhan, China, the source of the recent coronavirus outbreak. The plane will refuel while passengers clear customs and go through the Centers for Disease Control screening before heading to Riverside County, California. (AP Photo/Michael Dinneen)

An airplane, background, carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China, makes a refueling stop at the north terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska Tuesday evening, Jan. 28, 2020. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

A closed entrance at the north terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, where a plane carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China was expected later Tuesday, is seen Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)



Some passengers were concerned about friends, family and associates living or working in mainland China getting infected with the coronavirus and being sickened with what can cause a virulent strain of pneumonia. So far, the deadly germ has infected 6,000 people globally and killed more than 130 in China. Only five cases have been reported in the United States and none has died.

The State Department had announced a jet with 240 American diplomats leaving the Wuhan region of China, where the coronavirus outbreak began, would touch down in Ontario after a brief stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

Jetliner flying from Wuhan, China, arrives in Anchorage, where evacuated Americans are expected to be screened for coronavirus. https://t.co/2ykS9imYkG pic.twitter.com/6pe4kiHzx4 — Anchorage Daily News (@adndotcom) January 29, 2020

Late Tuesday, San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman announced on social media that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had changed the flight path and redirected the plane to March ARB. Base spokeswoman Linda E. Welz confirmed the change.

“I want to thank all our first responders at Ontario fire, Ontario PD, all the officials and especially the county team that did amazing things to be prepared for this flight,” Hagman said in a video posted to Twitter.

The passengers were to be quarantined at ONT in “a highly secure, contained facility isolated from other passengers and staff,” an earlier airport statement read. Ontario airport officials said the Wuhan passengers would remain there “for however long is necessary,” but that would be up to the CDC, the California Office of Emergency Services and the San Bernardino County Department of Health.

Jose Arballo Jr., spokesman for Riverside University Health System – Public Health, said late Tuesday that officials were conducting a conference call to discuss preparations for the plane’s arrival at March ARB.

“We are working with state and federal officials with the idea that the plane in question could be arriving at March Air Reserve Base. We are working on the logistics and finalizing plans,” Arballo said.

RELATED: Plans and outreach efforts over coronavirus concerns in place, health officials say

Meanwhile at ONT on Tuesday evening, Jane Chen, executive vice president of Markwins, a cosmetics company based in City of Industry, said she spent December in China on business. She stayed the next several weeks relaxing and “getting clean” in Taipei, Taiwan, until returning to Ontario.

“I am worried,” she said through her white paper mask, while waiting by the curb for a ride. “Even two months later I’m still worried.”

Chen said her colleagues in the United States did not want to travel with her. In fact, she’s considering switching manufacturing from China to Mexico. “We may transfer production to Tijuana,” she said.

Joseph Nassralla, a media executive from Rancho Cucamonga, got off the China Airlines flight with his mask in one hand and suitcase in the other. He said everyone in Taiwan was very aware of the outbreak on the mainland and were discussing it or reading about it on social media. He said “fake news” would pop up on his phone that exaggerated the public health threat, rattling his nerves.

“Some people just need to scare others,” he said, adding that health authorities in Taiwan encouraged people to wear masks and wash their hands frequently. He described the people of Taiwan as “aware” but not alarmed.

Johnny Huang, waiting to pick up his friend from Rowland Heights, had read reports of the U.S. State Department hiring a chartered jet to airlift employees out of the consulate in Wuhan. That flight was on its way to Alaska Tuesday night, where passengers would be screened. Those with symptoms would be taken off the plane and brought to a hospital, authorities said.

Members of the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley congressional delegations were angered that they were kept in the dark about the airlift from Wuhan and said they were not getting specific information. Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona, learned about the plane coming to an Inland Empire air facility after reading this newspaper, she said. Torres led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in sending a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar demanding answers.

“I want to make sure the HHS and the State Department does not withhold any type of information,” Torres said during an interview Tuesday. She said the California delegation will be briefed on Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “I want real information on the status of people on that plane.”

The letter, which is also signed by representatives Ken Calvert, R-Corona, Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, Gilbert Cisneros, D-Los Angeles, Grace Napolitano, D-West Covina, Mark Takano, D-Riverside, and Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, emphasizes the need for proper systems in place to protect local residents.

“Addressing a health threat like the coronavirus requires caution and communication, and we are urging the government for both,” Chu said in the letter. “The evacuation of Americans in Wuhan is a relief. But we must ensure they are being given the appropriate screenings and treatments before full repatriation.”

“With any health care emergency, it is critical to provide the public with clear and complete information,” Calvert said.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in China has jumped to 5,974, according to the government. At least 130 people have died from the respiratory illness — which belongs to the same family as the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

There have been no deaths outside of China, but more than 80 cases of infection have been reported in other countries, including five in the U.S., including one each in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Chinese authorities have quarantined major cities in the province, including Wuhan, where the virus emerged in December, to try to stop the spread, affecting some 56 million people.

The virus is believed to have come from a wholesale market where vendors legally sold live animals from stalls in close quarters with hundreds of others. Nearly two decades ago, SARS had a similar origin story, jumping from bats to Asian palm civets, and then to humans involved in the wildlife trade.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that circulate mostly among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Common symptoms in an infected human include a fever, cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Common symptoms in an infected person include a fever, cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

Staff writer Brian Rokos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.