Families fleeing the coronavirus epidemic in China could be sent to isolated mining camps or hotels as Christmas Island fills up with plane-loads of Australians.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the government was drawing up contingency plans "for every possible scenario" after more than 200 Australians were forced into quarantine on a cruise ship off the Japanese coast.

Two Australian passengers of the Diamond Princess have caught the coronavirus after an infected passenger flew from Wuhan to Tokyo and spread the disease to others on board.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"We have been worried about cruise ships. We are worried about what happens if further provinces are shut down and whether we face the prospect of trying to assist people to depart literally in the thousands," Mr Dutton said.