Published 17:20 IST, January 29th 2020
Australia to quarantine coronavirus evacuees on Christmas Island
Australia nationals evacuated on a charter plane from city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province will be kept at the immigration detention center for 14 days.
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Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison has said that the vulnerable evacuees flown out of Chinese province will be quarantined on Christmas Island, as per reports. Over 600 Australian nationals, evacuated on the charter plane from the city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, will reportedly be kept at the immigration detention centre for up to 14 days in a joint operation with New Zealand that has 50 citizens in the epicentre of global coronavirus outbreak.
The island situated 2000km (1,200 miles) from mainland Australia will reportedly keep the Nationals isolated in lockdown as a containment measure against the spread of deadly coronavirus via person-to-person infection.
We now advise you to ‘reconsider your need to travel’ to China overall, due to the outbreak of novel #coronavirus & travel restrictions by local authorities. ‘Do not travel’ to #Hubei Province. Contact your doctor for symptoms of respiratory illness. https://t.co/8HM6dAGpM7
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) January 28, 2020
According to the reports, the Australian National Security Committee of Cabinet strictly wants all passengers who have been airlifted from the province of Hubei to isolate for a fortnight as they conduct meetings to launch the repatriation operation for its citizens.
Children and elderly citizens to be airlifted on priority
Scott Morrison, Australia PM has said in his address to the media that Australian children and the elderly citizens would be airlifted on priority from the city of Wuhan where the deadly coronavirus originated.
He said that there was a limited window and the country was proceeding swiftly to carry out the operation that will be done on a last-in, first-out basis. PM Morrison emphasized that the citizens who lacked established support infrastructure and have been shorter-term travellers to China could potentially be more vulnerable components of that population.
Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer to Australia, said that given the number of cases reported outside of Hubei and Wuhan province are bleak, the isolation of evacuees from other parts of China and other countries is currently not recommended, as per reports. However, he added that the advice will be updated if necessary as the federal government is closely monitoring the development.
17:20 IST, January 29th 2020