Coronavirus: Scott Morrison extends travel ban; two Diamond Princess passengers die
Scott Morrison has extended the travel ban for foreign nationals leaving China by another week, as 170 evacuated Australian cruise passengers land in Darwin.
Scott Morrison has extended the travel ban for foreign nationals leaving from China for another week.
The ban extension comes as 170 Australians arrived in Darwin for quarantine following the evacuation from the disease-ridden Diamond Princess cruise ship.
The Prime Minister said on Thursday that conditions in mainland China mean the ban needed to stay in place.
“The National Security Committee of Cabinet has today decided that the continuing coronavirus infections in mainland China make it necessary to continue the travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia for a further week to 29 February,” he said in a statement.
“This decision, as with all decisions taken by the Government with respect to the coronavirus outbreak, has been guided by the expert medical advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, made up of the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and chief medical officers from each state and territory.
“The committee has advised that there are signs the spread of the coronavirus in Chinese provinces outside Hubei province is slowing. We will need to watch closely whether this positive trend continues as people return to work after the holidays.”
Foreign nationals leaving from, or transiting through, mainland China must wait 14 days before they try to enter Australia.
The Australian revealed on Thursday that Western Sydney University is offering $1,500 payments to Chinese students to help fund travel packages to third-country transit destinations to get around the ban.
The ban is being reviewed every week. China has lashed out at the ban and business groups have called for the ban to be eased in coming weeks to dampen the economic fallout.
Two cruise ship passengers die
Two passengers from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that had been quarantined in Japan have died, the country’s public broadcaster has reported.
The passengers were a man and a woman in their 80s, NHK said on Thursday, citing an unidentified government source.
Earlier, 170 Australian and New Zealand evacuees from the coronavirus-hit cruise ship the Diamond Princess landed in Darwin, where the passengers are expected to spend two weeks in quarantine.
The Qantas 747 touched down at Darwin International Airport from Tokyo at about 8.15am local time (9.45am AEDT). A small group of plane spotters gathered to watch its arrival.
An ambulance was on standby and medical officers wearing blue protective suits were seen waiting at the foot of the stairs as passengers walked down one by one.
Some 180 citizens and permanent residents took up the federal government’s offer of a seat on the special Qantas evacuation flight, But 10 were told they have coronavirus and denied evacuation from the coronavirus-riddled Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
The citizens and permanent residents — many of whom are elderly — will be transferred by bus to the Manigurr-ma Village about 30km outside the Top End capital.
There they will undergo further screening for the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus and be quarantined in a separate part of the facility from 266 earlier evacuees from the Chinese city of Wuhan, who are due to be sent home on Sunday.
The Japanese flight left Tokyo in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed on Wednesday that around 15 Australian passengers aboard the Diamond Princess would not accept the government’s offer of repatriation, mainly due to having sick relatives in Japan.
Several of those who were planning to board the evacuation flight were reportedly unable to do so after testing positive for coronavirus at the last minute.
Among them was Melbourne woman Aun Na Tan, who discovered just hours before the flight was due to depart that her daughter Kaitlyn had tested positive.
“We will not be taking the flight tonight. Our family will stay together,” Ms Tan tweeted
She later explained in an Instagram post that while the rest of her family had tested negative, they would need to start quarantine again.
The Diamond Princess was put in lockdown a fortnight ago after a passenger tested positive after leaving the ship. However, isolation measures for the 3700 passengers and crew failed to stop the spread of the virus, with over 600 people now infected.
Around 36 Australians are believed to be among the infected cruise ship passengers and to be receiving treatment at hospitals in Japan.
Worldwide, there have now been over 73,400 coronavirus infections and more than 2000 deaths at the epicentre of the outbreak, China’s Hubei province.
Australian who stayed speaks about ship ordeal
Australian Kaitlyn Tan, 16, has tested positive for the virus and will stay in a Japanese hospital with family members who were also on-board the ship.
“When I first found out I was really shocked but I calmed down pretty quickly,” she told the Today show.
“My parents assured me because I’m healthy and show no symptoms that I should be able to get through this.”
The passengers will be screen upon arrival at the quarantine centre where they will have to wait two weeks before being permitted to return home.
Scott Morrison said Australians who had contracted COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess would remain in Japan and 15 healthy passengers had opted out of the evacuation flight.
“The predominant reason for that is that they are staying, in many cases, with family members who have actually contracted the virus and are receiving medical attention in Japan,” the Prime Minister said.
Erika Cretney’s mother, Lana Krasovskis, 68, was among the anxious Australians preparing to depart on Wednesday. She and others were told to pack their bags but struggled with other information. “It’s all a bit unclear. Every time we call DFAT, we get a different answer,” Ms Cretney said. “We just won’t believe she’s coming home until she’s actually on that plane.”
Ms Cretney’s 71-year-old father, Edgar, was removed from the Diamond Princess last Wednesday when he tested positive to the virus after developing a cough.
The evacuation flight will be the third to repatriate citizens and permanent residents caught up in the deadly virus outbreak. The first two flights brought people from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The evacuees will be quarantined at a workers’ village outside Darwin. Almost 270 Australians brought home from Wuhan are due to leave the facility on Sunday.
With Kieran Gair, Reuters
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