Rhode Island family back in U.S. after being stranded in China

A Rhode Island family is now back in the United States after they were stranded in China due to precautions over the spread of the Coronavirus.

Randy Stockstill and his family traveled to Wuhan to celebrate the Chinese New Year, but weren’t allowed to leave the country as the disease became widespread. Stockstill’s wife is Chinese.

Stockstill’s family were staying roughly 200 miles from Wuhan which is the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak. 

After the virus became widespread, travel in and out of Wuhan was shut down. 

Luckily a couple days later, the State Department chartered a plane for American diplomats and others to leave China. 

Stockstill’s family left China on that chartered flight that contained over 200 Americans and arrived in Alaska early Wednesday morning.

“A big cheer let out on the plane when we landed,” Stockstill told Good Morning America. “We’re really grateful the U.S. Government came through for us.”

All 201 passengers on board the flight had to be screened twice before leaving China. Then those passengers were screened two more times upon landing in Alaska, according to officials.

The CDC said that all passengers have been approved to continue onto California. 

Stockstill’s sister, Jill Bonanno, set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to get her brother’s family back home while they were stuck in China. 

The John Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering has developed an interactive map showing the locations of all confirmed cases of the Coronavirus that can be found  here.

Additional resources can be found on a special webpage created by the Center for Disease Control.