The Aussies left behind: More than 100 trapped in Wuhan including CHILDREN issue a desperate plea for a third evacuation flight out of coronavirus ground zero - as death toll climbs to 811

  • Australians remain stuck in Wuhan after missing selection for evacuation flight
  • 266 evacuees arrived in Darwin on a second chartered Qantas flight on Sunday
  • Those desperate to get home to Australia calling for another evacuation flight 

By Kylie Stevens For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press

Published: | Updated:

Desperate Australians still stranded in the Chinese coronavirus epicentre have begged for another evacuation flight home as the death toll rises to more than 800.

Up to 100 Australians still remain in Wuhan after 266 'clinically well' evacuees arrived in Darwin on a chartered Qantas flight on Sunday. 

A further 243 Australians who were on the first rescue flight from Wuhan are almost halfway through a 14-day quarantine on Christmas Island after landing on Tuesday.

There are growing calls for the federal government to put on a third evacuation flight after many of those trapped missed out on selection for the second flight which departed Wuhan early Sunday morning.

Around 266 evacuees flown from Wuhan arrived in Darwin on Sunday afternoon

Around 266 evacuees flown from Wuhan arrived in Darwin on Sunday afternoon

Among those still stuck in Wuhan desperate to return home are Lily and her two teenage children.

'One is in grade 12 and the other in grade 8. If we can't go back to Australia by April, [the elder one] will have to re-study at grade 12,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'The children are very anxious, hoping to return to school as soon as possible. We are currently in good health, but we are worried about being infected.'  

Another woman added: 'I have been very upset for not being chosen in the first two batches [to be evacuated]. I hope the Australian government can rescue me.'

The death toll in China has risen to 811, surpassing the toll from the 2002-03 SARS epidemic. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for further comment.  

Two groups of Australian citizens or permanent residents were evacuated to Christmas Island last week, with 241 leaving on a Qantas flight and 35 departing on a later Air New Zealand flight. 

Many Australians are still stuck in Wuhan after missing out on selection for the second evacuation flight (pictured) which has arrived in Darwin

Many Australians are still stuck in Wuhan after missing out on selection for the second evacuation flight (pictured) which has arrived in Darwin

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy told reporters on Sunday night there are no further plans to evacuate any more Australian citizens and permanent residents still stuck in Wuhan. 

'I know that the Department of Foreign Affairs is in contact with people on the ground in Wuhan; we've certainly brought off the people at greatest risk,' he said,

An estimated 100,000 Chinese students who study in Australia will not be able to return while the strict travel bans and quarantine measures are in place. 

While travel bans could be reviewed later this week, federal education Minister Dan Tehan acknowledged extended bans could disrupt universities, where classes will resume within weeks.

Some Australian universities have already delayed the start of the semester.

'It's very much wait and see what happens,' Mr Tehan told Sky News on Sunday.

But my hope is that we will see some sort of a breakthrough and we will be able to get students here for the first semester, but we will have to wait and see.'

Evacuees who arrived in Darwin on Sunday (pictured) were transported to Howard Springs, where they will spend the next fortnight in quarantine

Evacuees who arrived in Darwin on Sunday (pictured) were transported to Howard Springs, where they will spend the next fortnight in quarantine

More than 90 children were among the evacuees who arrived on Sunday.

After undergoing four health screenings that confirmed all passengers were 'physically well', they were sent to the Manigurr-ma Village, a former mining camp at Howard Springs, 30km from Darwin.

The evacuees were initially expected to be quarantined on Christmas Island but were redirected to Darwin because the island facility was unable to accommodate another couple of hundred people.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs is in contact with people on the ground in Wuhan and we have certainly brought off the people at greatest risk,' Professor Murphy said.

'They will review that situation and if there were any further flights, there is more capacity at Howard Springs but Christmas Island also may become vacant again.'

The Qantas flight left the Chinese coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan early Sunday morning

The Qantas flight left the Chinese coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan early Sunday morning

AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 

January 25

  • Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.
  • Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.
  • They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition.

January 27 

  • A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.
  • The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.
  • She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital.

VICTORIA: 4

January 25

  • A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.
  • The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.
  • He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29

  • A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.
  • He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. 
  •  The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home.

January 30

  • A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus. 
  •  She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.
  • She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.          

    February 1

    • A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus

     QUEENSLAND: 5

    January 29

    • Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus.
    • He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

    January 30

    • A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.  

    February 4

    • An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from    

    February 5  

    • The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast

    February 6

    • A 37-year-old woman has been diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27

    SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2

    February 1

    • A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

    CHINA: 2

    January 30

    • Two Australians have been confirmed as having the virus in Wuhan itself. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province.
    • Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern.

     

     

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    Australians trapped in Wuhan plea for a third evacuation flight out of coronavirus ground zero 

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