Minneapolis man recounts 'scary' experience evacuating China amid coronavirus outbreak

Yulin Yin is back on U.S. soil after he evacuated Wuhan, China amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In the United States, more Americans are arriving home from China on evacuation flights arranged by the State Department. Among them is a Minneapolis man who is currently being quarantined in San Diego.

Yulin Yin spent his first full day in quarantine Thursday at an Air Force base in San Diego. He says the accommodations are very nice and there are medical teams checking in on him and the others multiple times a day, taking his temperature and conducting other tests. He needs to be there for at least 14 days before he can head home to his family in Minneapolis.

Yin landed in Wuhan, China last month to visit his family for the Chinese New Year celebrations. It was just before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global emergency.

“When the WHO declared an emergency and the United States suspended all the flights that was really, really scary,” said Yin. “I thought, 'Wow, I don’t know when I’m going to come home.'”

By then, all of Wuhan had officially shut down with no way to get out. Yin was getting nervous of when he would see his wife and two children again. His wife reached out to several Minnesota congressional leaders for help. Yin was finally placed on a chartered State Department flight Wednesday night, but it wasn't until they were wheels up before he could breathe a sigh of relief.

“You never know what could happen,” he said. “Even after we did the final check, we did the last announcement, they said everything was good and we were waiting for the Chinese government to allow us to board, which was crazy because we were like, wow what could happen now?”

Yin says he's worried about his elderly parents catching the virus, but they are all taking precautions and staying home.

Back on U.S. soil, Yin says he understands the strict quarantine rules at the Air Force base in San Diego, getting only a few breaks outside a day. So far, he feels healthy and can't wait to get home to Minnesota.

“When we finally landed, there was a big applause from everybody,” said Yin.

If no one is diagnosed with coronavirus from that group of people, then they will be allowed to fly commercially back to their homes.

FOX 9 also learned there is a group of 35 Minnesotans at the military bases in San Diego and Sacramento assisting local health officials. They are volunteers with the National Disaster Medical Team, a federal agency that assists in events like this.