Residents of remote Christmas Island, 1,650 kilometres off the north-west coast of Western Australia, have reacted with surprise their home will soon become "quarantine island".

Key points: Scott Morrison has announced the Government would attempt to evacuate "isolated and vulnerable Australians" in Hubei to Christmas Island

Scott Morrison has announced the Government would attempt to evacuate "isolated and vulnerable Australians" in Hubei to Christmas Island As many as 600 Australians have registered as being in the Chinese province caught up in the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus

As many as 600 Australians have registered as being in the Chinese province caught up in the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus The Shire President reacted by saying it further labels Christmas Island as a "convict settlement for innocent people, now we'll be a leper colony"

News that Australians caught up in the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China will spend two weeks in quarantine on Christmas Island caught many in the 1,400-strong community off guard.

Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson has previously been critical of the Federal Government's decisions regarding the island.

In a text to the ABC, he indicated local authorities again had not been consulted over the move.

"Saw PM's announcement via SBS. Regressive colonial era ideas since 2001. Create convict settlement for innocent people, now we'll be a leper colony," the text said.

"These ideas were abandoned in the mid-20th century. Get lost Scotty."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the Government would attempt to evacuate "isolated and vulnerable Australians" caught up in the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China.

As many as 600 Australians have registered as being in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

Evacuees will be transferred to the detention centre on Christmas Island, which has been home to a Tamil family from Biloela since last August.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds 1 m 10 s Prime Minister announces Christmas Island will become a quarantine centre for coronavirus evacuees

Lisa Preston, the chairwoman of the Christmas Island Tourism Association, heard details of the plan via the ABC.

"I've only just heard the news," she said.

"It kind of makes a little bit of sense as we have a big facility here, as everyone is aware Scott Morrison opened it … last year.

"The facility is there and ready to go. And look, I think the families who have relatives stranded over there will think that this is a very workable solution."

Christmas Island lies off WA's north coast and is closer to Indonesia than Australia. ( AAP: Mick Tsikas )

She said the evacuees would be well-looked after on the island, with the detention centre equipped with its own medical centre.

"It will nice for Christmas Island to play a nice role for a change," Ms Preston said.

State Government not advised

WA Premier Mark McGowan said he was not advised of the Federal Government's plan but said the state would support the move.

"I'm not going to second guess the Federal Government's decision making around this issue," Mr McGowan said.

"We obviously want to keep people safe and we want to work constructively and cooperatively with the Commonwealth Government on this issue."

Owner of eco retreat Swell Lodge, Chris Bray, said the move could be positive for the island.

"It would be kind of great to actually help Australians at risk, instead of it [the detention centre] just sitting there wasting taxpayer's money," Mr Bray said.

"It is a surprise of course, but it does make sense. People will just be here for two weeks, give or take."

He said he was not concerned about any impact on tourism given it is the off-season.

"The detention centre and facilities are away at one corner of the island where the tourists don't even [visit]," Mr Bray said.

"I guess it'd be interesting to see how many people come through and how long they stay.

"Hopefully they'll all fall in love with the island just like everyone else has, and then maybe they'll come back and have a holiday."

Christmas Island has an impressive food culture courtesy of its Indonesian and Malaysian communities. ( Supplied: DIAC images )

Fears of 'quarantine island' moniker

One resident has questioned whether the detention centre staff have had adequate training in disease control.

"If it's going to turn into an infectious disease centre, do SERCO staff have infectious disease training?" the resident said.

Another resident called for the Federal Government to account the range of roles the island was called upon to help assist the mainland.

"There has got to be better facilities on the mainland to deal with this," said the resident, who also asked not to be named.

"Christmas Island has previously been thought of as a jail and now it's going to be a quarantine island.

"How will this affect our ability to market tourism?"

Ms Preston of the Christmas Island Tourism Association said it would be good for local businesses which have experienced a downturn following the closure of the phosphate mine.

"People have been saying how quiet the island is business-wise at the moment," she said.

"Certainly the local businesses will see this is as a bit of an injection at what is usually a very quiet time of the year, for us anyway."

A boat with 20 people aboard was recently intercepted near Christmas Island. ( AAP: Lloyd Jones )

But she said the island would be split, with many worried about the potential spread of the virus locally.

"People will be worried about how its managed, or how the people are managed on the island," Ms Preston said.

"It's fair enough to say that people will be quarantined away from the community, but you still have staff coming and going from the community and mingling with the locals.