Australians stuck on Christmas Island for two weeks as part of COVID-19 quarantine to be sent home today

Australian evacuees from coronavirus-plagued Wuhan will have their first taste of freedom today when their two-week quarantine at Christmas Island’s repurposed detention centre draws to an end. More than 200 citizens and permanent residents will board three Federal Government-chartered planes this morning, with one wealthy Sydney couple and their two daughters the first expected to depart in a 10-seater private jet they have paid for themselves. It comes as more than 200 Australian passengers stranded for more than two weeks aboard the coronavirus-struck Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan are expected to be evacuated within days. The national security committee of cabinet met last night to discuss the issue after the US sent jets to Japan to rescue its citizens, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison considering implementing the evacuation plan later this week. On Christmas Island, the first government-funded plane expected to take evacuees home to several capital cities touched down yesterday. The Skytraders Airbus A319 landed about 2pm, with the crew members set to service evacuees stepping on to the tarmac in 70 per cent humidity and 28C. The first chartered flight is scheduled to depart at 8am, bound for Port Hedland where it will refuel before travelling to Sydney then to Canberra. The next is tipped to take off at 10am, bound for Adelaide and Melbourne. The last flight, at noon, will carry 60 evacuees bound for Perth before taking off again for Brisbane. Canberra evacuee William Toms told The West Australian that their departure seemed “very organised” and the AUSMAT team would be conducting medical checks two hours before they were released from the centre. “Right now everyone is cleaning up their rooms and collecting snacks for the flight,” he said last night. “We’re expecting a little more information on the smaller details then. As of right now everyone is very organised and no one is worried, judging from every-one’s attitude in my block.” Mr Toms said he was looking forward to getting back to Canberra for university as he had already missed classes. During their time at the temporary home within Christmas Island’s mon-soonal rainforest, three people had to be tested for the virus after they had showed flu-like symptoms. All returned negative results. According to a Department of Health spokesman, no further evacuees had been tested yesterday afternoon and all were on track for departure. Since the evacuees arrive on the tropical Australian Territory, 2600km north-west of Perth, tragedy has accelerated globally, with the first European death from the diseases claiming the life of a 80-year-old Chinese tourist in France on Friday. There are 15 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia and at least 16 infected citizens on the Diamond Princess, docked at Yokohama in Japan since February 3.