Evacuation of Wuhan Kiwis ‘very difficult’
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says extracting New Zealanders from Wuhan, where the deadly coronavirus originated, will be ‘‘very difficult’’.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is exploring evacuation options, including assisted departure by the Defence Force.
Ardern confirmed there were 53 New Zealanders registered as being in Wuhan on SafeTravel, and about 20 of them had sought assistance. Officials were not aware of any Kiwis showing the flu-like symptoms, she said.
Evacuating New Zealanders would not be a simple, straightforward exercise due to militaryenforced lockdowns, but the Government was having ongoing conversations, Ardern said.
Chinese officials had made it clear that extracting Kiwis from the province would be ‘‘very difficult’’ – even if they were healthy, she said. This was because of the restricted measures put in place.
No decisions had been made by New Zealand’s consular partners in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to deploy charter or military assets to evacuate their citizens, she said.
She would keep in close contact, and had scheduled a call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who phoned during her post-Cabinet press conference.
The United States Department of State was making arrangements to relocate personnel stationed in Wuhan, but New Zealand had no officials working there, Ardern said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the Chinese government had put in place a total embargo on all travel in areas deemed to be high risk.
Following Ardern’s comments, a spokeswoman for MFAT said it was a challenging situation. The ministry had received a small number of requests for consular assistance from Kiwis in Wuhan City and Hubei Province.
‘‘MFAT is actively exploring evacuation options in consultation with our partners. Options include the possibility of places being made available for New Zealanders on charter flights leaving Wuhan, or assisted departure by NZDF ... The US is the only partner country as this stage to deploy charter or military assets, to assist US citizens.’’
The New Zealand embassy in Beijing was closed over Chinese New Year. However, embassy and consulate staff remained on duty working throughout the holiday period, in order to respond to the coronavirus, she said. The embassy would reopen today.
Earlier, National Party leader Simon Bridges criticised the Government for leaving Kiwis stranded in Wuhan. ‘‘A responsible government would be looking after its people. Countries around the world are evacuating their citizens and putting them in quarantine for 14 days,’’ he said.
The total number of coronavirus deaths had climbed to 106,
China’s National Health Commission said yesterday. The number of confirmed cases in mainland China soared to 4515, from
2744 on Monday.
Cases of infection have been reported throughout Asia and Australia, as well as in the US, France and Canada. Germany has also confirmed its first case.
New Zealand was remaining vigilant, Health Minister David Clark said, while announcing that coronavirus would be officially notifiable from January
30. The status makes it compulsory for every case of the disease to be ‘‘notified’’, which means that any case discovered by health practitioners must be reported to government health officials. It gives medical officers of health the power to quarantine people suspected of infection, issue restrictions on movement and travel, and apply for court orders, such as for treatment.
Fifty-three New Zealanders are registered as being in Wuhan.