Many other employees at the US Consulate in Guangzhou are being tested, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing officials, by a State Department medical team that has been flown in. The report said officials are expecting more US personnel to be evacuated.
On May 23, the US Embassy in China said the US government is studying claims by an American diplomat who recently reported "abnormal" sensations of sound and pressure. The embassy provided no details regarding the location of the incident, but included contacts of the US Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a press release that a number of US government personnel were sent back to the United States for further evaluation after the "medical incident" in China.
"As soon as the State Department received medical confirmation that one US government employee had suffered a medical incident that was consistent with what American personnel in Havana, Cuba had experienced, the State Department deployed a medical team to Guangzhou, China to conduct a medical screening of all US government employees and family members who requested it," Nauert said on Wednesday.
"As a result of the screening process so far, the Department has sent a number of individuals for further evaluation and a comprehensive assessment of their symptoms and findings in the United States."
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a press release announced that the State Department established a task force to respond to mysterious health incidents overseas such as the ones that occurred in Cuba and China.