Those waiting to board sent home from airport as China withholds ‘official clearance’ to land

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Australians seeking to leave the Chinese city where the corona virus outbreak began may not be allowed to board a Qantas flight out of the country if they have a temperature, according to reports.

The remaining Australians stranded in Wuhan had been scheduled to fly overnight on Friday from locked down Wuhan to a quarantine site outside of Darwin.

Wuhan facing 'wartime conditions' as global coronavirus deaths reach 719 Read more

But as they waited to board on Friday passengers were informed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that the flight had been delayed because Australia had “not received official clearance” from Chinese authorities to land in the city.

“You should return to your homes or places of accommodation and we will send you more information when it is available,” am email sent to passengers from Dfat read.

“We are working with Chinese authorities in order to reschedule the flight for tomorrow.

“As you had a previously confirmed seat/s on the aircraft this evening, your seat is confirmed for the next flight departing Wuhan which we anticipate will depart on Saturday February 8.

“We know that this unexpected delay will cause stress and inconvenience, which we regret.”

The ABC has reported that on Saturday passengers received an update from Dfat informing them the plane was now scheduled to leave in the early hours of Sunday morning eastern Australian time, but subject to conditions.

In an email to passengers obtained by the ABC passengers have been told that Chinese authorities will check temperatures before allowing passengers to board and that they may not be able to leave if their temperature is above 37.3C.

“If a fever is detected at a checkpoint, it is possible they will be directed to a Chinese medical facility and not allowed to board the flight,” the email read.

“The Chinese authorities consider 37.3 degrees temperature as the point you will require medical assistance.

“Your temperature will be tested by Chinese officials, likely at a checkpoint prior to arrival at the airport and during check-in process.”

Passengers have also been told they must wear face masks, which will be supplied to them, and change masks every two hours, and that they should sneeze or cough into their elbows if they need to.

Earlier in a statement Dfat confirmed the flight had been “prepositioned” in Hong Kong and was “awaiting approval from the Chinese authorities to fly to Wuhan”.

“Many flights out of Wuhan have been delayed. We are engaging closely with the Chinese authorities to ensure our flight can proceed as soon as possible,” the statement said.

“We are in contact with all passengers on the manifest about the status of the flight.

“The assisted departure is a complex operation under difficult circumstances. Any such departure is always subject to operational requirements and to Chinese government final approval.”

Australia’s deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said Australia was working with Chinese authorities to get clearance “as soon as possible”.

Asked whether he was confident of an airlift, he told reporters on Saturday: “Yes, I am confident, but I can’t absolutely guarantee it because it is indeed on Chinese soil.”

Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday that a vacated former construction workers’ village outside Darwin would be used as the quarantine site for the evacuees. More than 300 Australians remain trapped in Wuhan – which has been quarantined by Chinese authorities – and the flight was expected to be the last out of the city that the Australian government would be able to charter.

Globally, the outbreak has infected almost 35,000 people and killed 724, the vast majority of those in Hubei province.

'A hard and sad decision': fleeing coronavirus in Wuhan for Christmas Island Read more

The first Qantas flight evacuated 243 Australian citizens and permanent residents to Christmas Island on Monday. Thirty-six Australians who left Wuhan on a NZ-government chartered flight on Wednesday were also eventually taken to Christmas Island.

A young evacuee has been tested for coronavirus after developing an illness, but Kelly says her sickness isn’t serious.

“It could be all sorts of other things, we don’t have a test positive at this point,” he told reporters in Canberra on Saturday.

“That person is well, it is certainly not a serious illness at this stage. They have been further isolated from the other people that are on the island, and the appropriate steps in infection control and indeed clinical care are being taken.”

The centre on Christmas Island can house more than 1,000 people, but its capacity is significantly reduced because of the medical necessity to isolate coronavirus evacuees from each other to minimise the impact of any possible outbreak.

Subsequent evacuees will be taken to the Manigurr-ma village in Howard Springs, 30km outside Darwin­, which was built in 2012 by Japanese energy giant Inpex as accommodation for its workers. At the peak of construction work on Inpex’s $55bn gas plant on Darwin Harbour it housed around 3,500 workers.

The facility has swimming, cycling and indoor cricket facilities, as well as a medical centre, industrial kitchen, dining hall, cinema, library and gym.

The chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said those staying at the Howard Springs facility were unlikely to become infectious and their health would be closely monitored.

“It is important people living in and around Howard Springs know the novel coronavirus can only be transmitted by close contact with an infectious person and cannot be spread through the air,” he said.

“The health and safety of the Howard Springs community is of paramount importance and I am confident the security and public health measures put in place will prevent any risk to the community’s health.”

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report.