OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — With tight travel restrictions in place to and from China, the coronavirus has impacted lots of families across the world, including potential families.
"Can you imagine your child being on the other side of the world, you know there's a disease, you know people are dying, there's no one there that you know of that's meeting their basic needs, and here you sit,” said Char Lanning, Executive Director of Families Through Adoption.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement about the situation saying, "We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens defer travel to China for adoption purposes and that prospective adoptive parents contact their adoption service providers to discuss future plans."
One adoption agency in Omaha that's been impacted is Holt International. In a statement to KMTV, they say they have temporarily canceled adoptive family travel to China.
According to our partners at the Omaha World Herald, four potential Omaha families adoption plans have been impacted through multiple agencies.
It comes as the World Health Organization said on Friday coronavirus cases in continues to be a concern. As of 6:00 AM Friday, there were 31,211 confirmed cases in China.
Holt International says the families have been disappointed, as they continue to monitor the situation and stay in contact with those potential parents.
