Australia has upgraded its travel advice in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak to include all of mainland China to level four, “do not travel”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has advised Australians not to travel to China, while asking those who have returned from the country to self-isolate for 14 days.
Mr Morrison said DFAT had recommended the implementation of additional border measures, which would deny entry to Australia for people who have left or transited through mainland China from today.
Exceptions will be made for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, as well as air crews who have been using appropriate personal protective equipment.
Qantas suspends flights to China
Earlier on Saturday, Qantas has announced it will suspend its flights to mainland China from February 9. The carrier says the move is a result of entry restrictions imposed by countries such as Singapore and the US.
“Qantas will suspend its two direct services to mainland China (Sydney-Beijing and Sydney-Shanghai) from 9 February until 29 March 2020,” it said in a statement.
“This follows entry restrictions imposed by countries including Singapore and the United States, which impact the movement of crew who work across the Qantas International network.
“These entry restrictions pose significant logistical challenges for rostering crew to operate mainland China services, leading to the need to temporarily suspend these flights.
“There is no change to Qantas services to Hong Kong as it’s exempt from current travel restrictions.”
Qantas said it was liaising with the Australian government on the impact of these changes to citizens. Customers with bookings between February 9 and March 29 will be contacted by the airline to discuss options.
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“The suspension may be brought forward if demand levels or other factors change,” the QANTAS statement said.
“The date for flights to resume will also be regularly reviewed based on the circumstances.”
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) said it agreed with Qantas’s decision.
“We welcome the move by Qantas to suspend direct flights into China, though we note it is for logistical reason rather safety reasons,” TWU secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement.
“This issue is getting more serious by the hour and it requires a calm but definite response. The Federal Government must act immediately and end flights from China,” Mr Kaine said.
Palaszczuk backs Trump
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Saturday she believed flights to Australia from China should be halted until the coronavirus epidemic had been contained.
“I don’t often agree with Donald Trump, but I do agree with the US authorities on this occasion that I think we should take every measure possible to combat this virus,” she said.
“There is still further data we would like from the Federal Government, and that is where there have been travellers coming from China to Queensland — not families from the Chinese community that are at home, but there may be some travellers independently travelling around Queensland.
“We would like to know where they are so we can actually make sure they are getting the messages and they are self-isolating.
“I think that is really, really important and I think that’s not just a state issue, I think that’s a national issue.”
Ms Palaszczuk said her disaster management committee would meet again on Sunday to discuss the situation with coronavirus.
She was speaking in the Brisbane suburb of Sunnybank, which has a strong Chinese community, saying she wanted to show support and discourage discrimination.
Evacuation of Wuhan ongoing
The office of the Foreign Minister Marise Payne said planning for the evacuation of Australians from the epicentre of the coronavirus was ongoing.
Australia is expecting approval from Chinese authorities to allow a Qantas plane to land in Wuhan and take evacuees to Christmas Island for quarantine.
It is not yet known how many evacuees will board the plane, which is expected to leave Australia soon.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is due to address the media regarding the evacuation on Saturday afternoon.
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