The Defence force has been called in to manage Australians evacuated to Christmas Island, who will not be allowed to leave the detention centre, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed.
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A 24-strong Australian Medical Assistance Team, including two Canberrans, one an epidemiologist, would run the medical facility.
While details of how the detention centre would be converted into a quarantine centre were still unclear on Thursday, the government was still trying to get agreement from China for an evacuation of Australians from Wuhan.
And as the Christmas Island solution geared up, it also became clear that the virus is spreading apace on the mainland, with a seventh case confirmed. The man reportedly flew from Singapore to Melbourne and then on Tiger Air to Brisbane, and authorities were trying to contact about 170 passengers who shared the flight.
Mr Dutton said it was "hot contingency" on Christmas Island. The plan was for "a joint operation with defence and defence will provide those garrison-type services if you like, so catering, for example".
Other contracts would remain as they were now, Mr Dutton said. Serco has the contract to guard the centre, but said on Thursday it was not authorised to talk to the media.
In October, the head of immigration detention for Home Affairs Kaylene Zakharoff said there were 96 Serco staff on the island. The only detainees last year were a Sri Lankan family of four, who Mr Dutton said would remain there with the Wuhan evacuees but in a "completely separate area".
Mr Dutton said because the evacuees would be confined to the centre, the almost 2000 local residents on Christmas Island would be "completely safe".
Asked how authorities would stop staff and contractors in the centre coming into contact with both Wuhan evacuees and local residents, Mr Dutton said "the appropriate medical overlay will be in place" with advice from doctors. He did not give details.
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Mr Dutton did not answer questions on of the Wuhan cost on Thursday; nor has the government said how much evacuees would pay, but Australians in Wuhan told media on Thursday they had been asked to pay $1000 and would have to find their own way home from Perth once their quarantine was over.
In October, the Guardian reported CI Resources had been given a contract for "repairs, maintenance, cleaning and waste removal" at the centre. It is unclear how this fits with Mr Dutton's statement on Thursday that Defence would be responsible for "garrison" services the term typically refers not only to catering but to access control, cleaning, laundry, maintenance, transport and the like.
He did not respond to requests for clarification.
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While there was talk on Wednesday that Qantas would use a Boeing 747 for the evacuation, planes that large cannot land at Christmas Island. Mr Dutton said the logistics were still being worked out, including using other Qantas planes or landing the evacuees in Australia at Learmouth or Darwin, and possibly using Defence to take people from there to Christmas Island.
"The first question is how many people we are dealing with, therefore, what aircraft do we need," he said. "If we need to shuttle people or to provide that military response or refer the charter from the mainland up to Christmas Island, all of that is in the planning at the moment."
Asked how many defence and medical staff would be sent to Christmas Island, he responded, "Whatever it takes." A pre-deployment team would be on its way as quickly as possible, if not already, he said.
"There's a lot of work here, it will involve a number of staff," he said
Evacuees would be held under section 97 of the Biosecurity Act.
The section refers to medical facilities, saying, "An individual may be required by a human biosecurity control order to remain isolated at a specified medical facility."
His office did not respond to questions about whether the detention centre was classified as a medical facility.
The shire president at Christmas Island, Gordon Thomson, told the ABC on Thursday the government was creating "a convict settlement for innocent people".
"Now we'll be a leper colony. These ideas were abandoned in the mid-20th century", he said, having found out about the plans through the media.
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Mr Dutton said he had attempted to contact Mr Thomson on Wednesday but he had been holidaying in Malaysia with his phone off. He had spoken with the Christmas Island administrator, Natasha Griggs, he said.
The Australian Medical Association has called on the government to find an alternative, and suggested defence or quarantine facilities on the mainland.
"The repatriation to Christmas Island, to a place where has been previously the focus of populations under enormous mental and physical trauma and anguish, is not a really appropriate solution," association president Tony Bartone said.
"Ausmat teams are going into Christmas Island to provide the necessary solutions," he said. "We can do that in a number of other places much more humanely."
But Health Minister Greg Hunt said, "I'm not aware that any state has volunteered to clear out a hospital for 600 people."
Mr Dutton said there was no other facility that could accommodate many hundreds of people "and Christmas Island is purpose built for exactly this scenario".
He promised to release images of the facilities "because frankly I think a lot of people are so poorly informed their comments are embarrassing".
People would be kept in the centre until they had medical clearance to leave.
"My clear message to people on Christmas Island is we won't be using the medical centre or the health facilities on Christmas Island. We won't be utilising other areas, common areas, on Christmas Island."
National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre head Len Notaras said the Ausmat team would take hospital facilities to the island, including negative pressure facilities capable of looking after critically ill people. Arrivals would be screened then observed for up to 14 days. They would be separated "but not detained" and free to move around, he said. Mr Dutton's office clarified later than they would not be free to leave the detention centre's security fence.
The government is still trying to get permission from China to evacuate the Australians, Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed on Thursday.
Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said the new coronavirus seemed to be much more infectious than SARS and MERS but less dangerous. Mr Hunt said about 20 per cent of cases were serious and the death rate was about 4 per cent.