A planeload of Australians from the coronavirus-stricken city of Wuhan has departed the Chinese city, which has been under lockdown since January 23.
It is understood the Qantas flight which is able to carry more than half of Australian citizens and permanent residents trapped in Hubei province left Wuhan at about 5 am on Monday (Australian time).
The Boeing 747 will be touching down in mainland Australia before flying out to Christmas Island where evacuees will be quarantined at the immigration detention centre for two weeks.
While some 600 Australian citizens and permanent residents were reported to have been trapped in Wuhan, the aircraft could only carry 364 passengers.
Operated by a volunteer team of four pilots and 14 Qantas cabin crew, it left Sydney on Sunday afternoon to travel via Hong Kong to Wuhan.
Before flying out of the epicentre of the coronavirus, Australian passengers strapped on surgical masks and went through health checks among several other cautionary procedures which will be repeated once the aircraft lands in Darwin.
There will be a limited food and beverage service to minimise interaction between crew and passengers and the 747 plane will be thoroughly cleaned afterwards.
Federal health minister Greg Hunt confirmed an Australian medical assistance team with a mobile hospital had arrived in the former detention centre of Christmas Island.
“Personnel are in place to receive the passengers from Wuhan and we expect that the flight will be collecting within the next 24 hours,” Mr Hunt told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
Busy day on Christmas Island for AUSMAT building the field facility ready to assist Australians pic.twitter.com/CMFkXvMtnQ
— NCCTRC (@NatTraumaCentre) February 2, 2020
The health minister also confirmed that more strict screenings will be in place for passengers arriving not only from Hubei province but all mainland China.
On Sunday (Australian time), a 44-year-old Chinese man in the Philippines became the first confirmed coronavirus fatality outside of China.
He is from Wuhan and had travelled to the Philippines where he later died from the respiratory-illness, the Philippines Department of Health said.
There have been 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia.
There are now more than 14,000 cases of the virus globally, with just over 300 deaths.
People who have been in mainland China since the start of February – excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – are now advised to self-isolate.
Australians are also being told not to travel to mainland China.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Saturday foreign travellers who have left or passed through China will be denied entry to Australia aiming to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families, dependents, legal guardians and spouses, will be exempted from the strict measures, Mr Morrison said.
“If you’ve been in mainland China from the 1st of February and you’re not an Australian citizen […] do not travel to Australia at this time,” Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram said.
“If you arrive in Australia … your visa will be cancelled and you will be placed in an alternative place of detention for a quarantine period.”
Mr Outram told reporters 71 passengers were not allowed to board their plane in China overnight and 12 flights have been cancelled on Sunday.
-with AAP
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