Wuhan coronavirus continues its global spread with more than 6,000 cases

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that his government will be evacuating Australian citizens from Hubei. Rohan Thomson/Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that his government will be "evacuating all Australians out of the Hubei province" amid the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

Morrison said they'll be "focusing on the young, especially infants and the elderly" for repatriation.

There are more than 600 Australian citizens in the province of Hubei, including its capital city of Wuhan, according to CNN affiliate Nine News.

"This will be done in a last in, first out basis," Morrison said, adding that they are looking into "those who have been there who do not have established support infrastructure in where they are living."

The operation, which will be aided by Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways, is still tentative, however.

"I want to stress that we cannot give a guarantee that this operation is able to succeed," Morrison said. "I also want to stress very clearly that we may not be in a position if we’re able to do this on one occasion to do it on another.”

The move comes as Australia raised its travel advice to "reconsider all travel" to China, due to concerns over the coronavirus. 

Controversy of Christmas Island used as a quarantine

Morrison said that "Christmas Island will be used as a quarantine area," for returning Australians from Hubei.

While the Australian citizens will wait out their quarantine on the Pacific island before heading home, the use of Christmas Island to house them has drawn uneasy comparisons with the plight of refugees who have been detained there.

Australia has a strict border protection policy and sends all asylum seekers arriving on its shores by boat to detention centers for processing -- Christmas Island houses one such facility.

There have been repeated allegations of abuse and even torture of those held in Australia's offshore detention centers.

Morrison said that Australian returnees who do arrive on the island, "would be there, we envisage, for up to 14 days. But that will be subject to the medical advice we receive."

He said that measure would be put in place to ensure support is "provided directly to the Christmas Island community completely separate and quarantined from the support that is being provided in the quarantine zone."

 

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