Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the Federal Government will try to evacuate “isolated and vulnerable Australians” trapped in China because of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.
The National Security Committee of Cabinet met earlier today and decided to launch the operation, after a briefing from Chinese authorities in Beijing on Monday.
Mr Morrison said Australian children and elderly people in the virus-hit city of Wuhan would get priority.
They will be taken to Christmas Island for quarantine.
“There is rather a limited window here and we are moving very, very swiftly to ensure we can put this plan together and put the operation together,” Mr Morrison said.
“I stress that this will be done on a last-in, first-out basis.
“Those who have been there who do not have an established support infrastructure where they’re living, they would have been shorter-term travellers to that area, they would not have been living there for many years and we’re particularly focused on the more vulnerable components of that population.”
The outbreak of the deadly disease has so far claimed more than 120 lives, and infected more than 4,000 people in China.
Details of the evacuation operation are still being finalised.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said more than 600 Australians had registered as being in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.
Millions of people in Hubei have been locked down as the Chinese Government fights to contain the spread of the virus.
“Our focus in this proposed assisted departure is on supporting isolated and vulnerable Australian citizens,” Senator Payne said.
“We are endeavouring to make further contact with people who have given us their details.”
Australians are also being told to reconsider any plans to travel to China, due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
After advising people not to visit Hubei province, where the outbreak started, the Federal Government’s Smart Traveller website has now upgraded its warning for the rest of China from normal advice to ‘reconsider your need to travel’.
The travel advisory does not apply to Hong Kong or Macau.
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