Relief as second Qantas rescue flight touches down in Darwin
Darwin: Australia’s second evacuation flight from Wuhan has landed in Darwin, ending a two-day ordeal for some support staff on board. The Qantas Boeing 747-400 took off from Sydney just before midday on Friday to fly to Hong Kong and then onto the Chinese city crippled by the coronavirus.
As well as pilots and cabin crew, the flight carried ramp and baggage handlers and some government officials who participated in the previous rescue flight.
But when the aircraft reached Hong Kong, they learned approvals from the Chinese government had not been granted, which meant it could not continue on to Wuhan. Although the pilots and cabin crew were able to go to a hotel for some rest, the ramp and baggage handlers and government officials were not allowed to leave Hong Kong Airport, because of restrictions on travellers who had recently visited mainland China.
When approvals finally came through late on Saturday, the flight was able to continue its journey to Wuhan to collect another 250 Australians.
Flight QF6032 took off at 4am local time, and landed in Darwin just under six hours later.
The passengers will now be transported to an old mining camp 30km from Darwin known as Manigurrma Village, for two weeks of quarantine to ensure they are not infected with coronavirus.
The same precautions used on the first evacuation flight were repeated on Sunday morning’s service, with cabin crew having limited contact with passengers who were required to change face masks hourly.
The 747 will now fly to Sydney for deep cleaning before being returned to regular service.
The news comes after health authorities confirmed an Australian child flown out of Wuhan on an earlier Qantas evacuation flight to Christmas Island on February 3 had fallen ill and was being tested for coronavirus.
The girl has been put in isolation. The Weekend Australian revealed on Saturday that the medical team on Christmas Island sent the sample from an evacuee in quarantine to the Australian mainland for a coronavirus test on Friday. While two evacuees were earlier tested for other viruses, this was the first time medical staff had called specifically for a coronavirus test. News that a test was deemed necessary for one of the evacuees has caused concern among others in the centre. Many have asked doctors and nurses for information about the case including whether they or their children are at risk. There are more than 270 people on the island for quarantine after they were evacuated from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
“The Australian Government is aware of a female returnee on Christmas Island who is being tested for novel coronavirus,” a spokeswoman for the Department of Health told The Weekend Australian.
“Doctors believe there is a low likelihood that this patient will test positive for novel coronavirus and are testing her as a precaution.”
The Qantas Boeing 747-400 will now fly to Sydney for deep cleaning before being returned to regular services.