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Wuhan evacuees set to leave Whangaparaoa quarantine as coronavirus cruise ship passengers prepare to return home

February 19, 2020

A fresh batch of coronavirus evacuees are due to arrive at the Auckland military base from Japan.

The coronavirus evacuees from Wuhan who've been quarantined at a military base in Whangaparaoa for two weeks are expected to leave isolation today.

A new batch of evacuees are expected to take up residence at the base later this week, with New Zealanders who've been confined to the Diamond Princesss cruise ship in Japan set to be quarantined at the base in north Auckland.

The two week quarantine period for the 157 New Zealanders evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan has ended this morning and they're expected to leave the Whangaparaoa base today.

Speaking on TVNZ 1's Breakfast today Health Minister David Clark said the group are "generally in good heart".

"As you might expect, they have been well looked after and I want to say thank you to the health officials, Defence Force and everybody else who has been involved in the effort to make their stay as comfortable as it could be in this situation.”

Eleven New Zealanders are onboard the cruise ship docked in Yokohama, while another two who've contracted the virus are in hospitalised in Japan.

Eight of the 11 people are taking up the Government's offer of returning to New Zealand will fly with 200 Australians from Tokyo to Darwin before being transferred to New Zealand for two weeks in quarantine at Whangaparaoa.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has strongly advised those onboard the ship to take up the offer from Australia for evacuation.

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