Wuhan evacuation on the cards for Aussie children

AUSTRALIAN authorities are probing the possibility of repatriating more than 100 children from coronavirus-hit Wuhan in central China.

A fifth Australian case of the potentially fatal virus, meanwhile, has been confirmed in NSW.

A 21-year-old woman has tested positive to the virus.

She arrived into Sydney Airport on Thursday on the last flight to Australia from Wuhan before Beijing banned all outbound travel.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday said more than 100 young Australians are in Wuhan, which has been locked down by Chinese authorities. The government is working to extract those children from the city.

But Mr Hunt said the government would not yet suspend flights from China, nor screen every passenger on board.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said closing Australia’s borders due to coronavirus “would be a very significant step”.

It needs to be how Australians established would be evacuated and whether they need to be quarantined upon their return, Ms Payne said.

“We don’t have a definitive number on the number of Australians in Wuhan or in Hubei province because it will include a significant number of dual nationals, some of whom may not have travelled on Australian passports, they’ve travelled on Chinese passports for example,” she told 3AW yesterday.

More than 3000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide while at least 80 people have died.