A security official stands guard as an ambulance arrives with a patient to the Infectious Disease Centre of Princess Margaret Hospital on January 22, 2020 in Hong Kong, China.

The U.S. Consulate in the epidemic-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight Tuesday.

A notice Sunday from the embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on the flight that will proceed directly to San Francisco.

It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals "at greater risk from coronavirus," a new respiratory disease that has sickened 1,975 people and killed 56, almost all in Wuhan.

