About 60 year 11 and 12 students will be welcomed back to Canberra after the federal government relaxed travel restrictions for school students stuck in China.
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ACT Minister for Education Yvette Berry confirmed on Saturday evening the education directorate was making arrangements to accommodate "a little more than 60 affected students in isolation for the required time so that they can get back to learning".
"The ACT has always been a place that welcomes people from near and far," Ms Berry said.
"We're a meeting place for people from across Australia but also for people from across the world. I am happy to see the Commonwealth make this decision after working with states and territories."
Ms Berry said the ACT government has reacted responsibly to work to limit the spread of coronavirus, but they would continue to welcome and include everyone in the community.
"When a health emergency, or any emergency comes, we're better when we respond with compassion and generosity," she said.
The federal government announced on Saturday it would relax travel restrictions for about 760 school students enrolled in Australian schools but stuck in China amid the virus outbreak.
The students would be able to apply to get back into the country as long as they are not unwell, and as long as they haven't come from the Hubei province at the centre of the outbreak.
But, the government said states and territories would have final say on whether to let students return.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said it was important to get some "normality" back into the international student market.
A similar relaxation of travel restrictions will be considered for university students this week, but no decision has been made yet.
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"No decision has been taken with regards to international tertiary students and no decision will be taken until we get the relevant medical advice," Mr Tehan said.
Six coronavirus cases have now been confirmed among the Australian residents evacuated to the Northern Territory from the Diamond Princess quarantined off the coast of Japan.
Two people from Victoria tested positive to the infection on Saturday and will be repatriated to their home state's health system.
Two Queensland women aged 54 and 55 who tested positive on Friday night have been flown to a Brisbane hospital for further treatment.
A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth on Friday, while a 24-year-old woman from South Australia has been transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital.
"This reaffirms the decision we made not just to conduct an airlift (from the cruise ship) but to ensure that these people were in supervised quarantine in a separate area within the Howard Springs facility," federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters on Saturday.
It brings the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country to 21, including 10 people who have recovered from the illness.
Health authorities have declared the coronavirus contained within the general Australian community.
"More broadly ... the advice received is COVID-19 has been contained in Australia with no new cases in the general population in the last week," Mr Hunt said.
More than 77,617 cases of the illness have been confirmed across the globe, with 2356 deaths.
It comes as the first lot of Australians evacuated from Wuhan prepare to leave quarantine at the Howard Springs camp near Darwin on Sunday.
- with AAP