Assisted departure flight from Wuhan
The Australian Government is pleased to confirm the second flight to assist the departure of Australians from Wuhan has arrived in Darwin.
The flight carried 266 passengers. They were made up of 252 Australian citizens and permanent residents, six Australian consular staff and eight students from Pacific Island countries.
They included 84 Australian citizens and permanent residents aged under 16, and 11 infants under 2 years of age in family groups.
No one has presented with symptoms on the flight though health screening is ongoing.
They will be housed in quarantine at Howard Springs, on the advice of health authorities.
The assisted departure has been a complex operation under difficult circumstances.
We have worked to keep families together.
We are pleased we were able to assist a small number of vulnerable students from Pacific Island countries to depart Wuhan on our flight. This included one student from PNG and seven from Vanuatu.
We know this is a stressful time for people affected by the virus and related disruptions. Australians should continue to follow all health precautions which are available on the Smart Traveller website -www.smartraveller.gov.au. For those seeking assistance or information, the DFAT emergency number is +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 if you are calling in Australia on behalf of a family member.
We thank the Chinese Government for its close cooperation in arranging the second assisted departure from Wuhan. This is a challenging time for the Chinese people and our thoughts are with them. We also thank Qantas for its continued assistance.
I would personally like to thank our diplomatic and consular staff both on the ground in China and in Australia for their hard work and dedication at this time.