Coronavirus: 400 Australian Citizens Register To Be Freed From Wuhan
AAP
2020-01-28T18:18:41+00:00
Australian authorities continue to search for ways to help hundreds of citizens locked down in the Chinese epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
About 400 Australian citizens have registered to be evacuated from Wuhan, the city in central China where the deadly virus first infected humans.
Australian embassy officials have met with Chinese authorities in Beijing to discuss the diplomatic options available to help citizens stranded in Wuhan.
The coronavirus death toll has jumped past 100 and there are now more than 4,500 confirmed cases of infection in mainland China.
"Right now, the Australian government, through our embassy, is looking to deploy, working with the Chinese government consular officials, into Hubei province, into Wuhan," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday.
Japan and the United States are among the countries reportedly planning to fly charter planes into Wuhan to evacuate their own citizens.
Five people are being treated in Australian hospitals for the virus, with four of those cases in NSW alone.
NSW school children have been told to stay at home if they've returned from China within the past 14 days - the incubation period of the virus.
Authorities are bracing for more infections to be confirmed in Australia, and are working to trace all human contact made by infected patients since they entered the country.
Four adult patients in Western Australia were cleared of the virus after undergoing tests on Tuesday evening.
