Asylum seeker family being held on Christmas Island WILL be kept away from hundreds of evacuees flown in from coronavirus-infected Wuhan
- Hundreds of evacuees from Wuhan, China, will be flown to Christmas Island
- They will be kept there until its clear that they do not have the killer virus
- A Tamil asylum seeker family on the island will be kept away from the evacuees
Evacuees flown from the coronavirus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan to Christmas Island will be kept away from a family held there while fighting deportation.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says common areas in the detention centre on the island will not be used.
He said those taken to the island will be kept away from the Tamil Biloela family being held there as they fight deportation to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan couple Priya and Nades Murugappan, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa have been in detention on the island since mid-2019
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a plan on Wednesday to evacuate Australians trapped at the epicentre of China’s deadly virus and quarantine them on the remote island (pictured) for 14 days
Sri Lankan couple Priya and Nades Murugappan, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa, are being held in detention on the island.
‘Completely separate area from that which we’re talking about now,’ Mr Dutton told media on Thursday.
He said each person would be assessed individually by the hazardous materials team on the island.
‘People will stay within the centre until we get medical clearance for them to come out,’ Mr Dutton said.
If people are isolated they will be kept away from others for 14 days.
‘People who have come from China from the province will be restricted to the isolation area … so people won’t be coming or going.’
‘My message, very clear message, to the people on Christmas Island is that we won’t be using the medical centre or health facilities on Christmas Island, we won’t be using other areas, common areas, on Christmas Island.’