There is growing uncertainty about the government's plan to evacuate Australians trapped in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
The federal government remains locked in negotiations with Chinese authorities about how to execute its stuck in the locked-down city of Wuhan to Christmas Island.
Despite announcing its plan on Wednesday, the federal government is yet to receive approval from China to launch the operation and several of those trapped in Hubei province have said they would rather stay than go to Christmas Island.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday that talks were still underway, but said Australia had been “acting in advance” of the decision.
"All of the issues - isolation, case management, contract tracing, prevention of onward spread, active surveillance, early detection - Australia has been doing,” he said.
Several countries, including the United States and Japan, have already flown some of its citizens home from the virus epicentre.
On Thursday, the , after officials revealed a second member of a Chinese tour group in Queensland had contracted the disease.
The most recent case was identified as a 42-year-woman from Wuhan, who was travelling in the same tour group as a 44-year-old man who was confirmed to have contracted the virus on Tuesday.
She was quickly isolated in the Gold Coast University Hospital, authorities said.
The diagnosis followed the four confirmed cases of the virus in New South Wales, three in Victoria and two in Queensland.
Two of those in NSW have since been released from quarantine.
Thursday also saw the global death toll from the virus jump to 170 after an extra 7,678 cases were confirmed.
Medical staff in Wuhan, China take a patient suspected of carrying the coronavirus into a hospital. Source: EPA
On Friday morning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an international emergency – a rarely used designation that could lead to improved international coordination in tackling the disease.
"Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems.... This is not a vote of no confidence in China," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing in Geneva.
Dual-citizen uncertainty
Meanwhile, some dual Australian-Chinese citizens trapped in Wuhan are facing the prospect of being forced to stay there or have their families split up.
There is mounting concern some dual citizens may not be able to access Australian assistance, should it receive approval, unless China eases its assisted departure laws.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Thursday told trapped Australians that if they arrived on their Chinese passports, local authorities might prevent them from accessing Australia’s assisted departure, Nine newspapers reported.
Chinese authorities have imposed the same evacuation restrictions on other countries, including the United States and Britain.
A worker wearing a face mask sprays disinfectant along a path in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Source: AP
China does not recognise dual nationality, meaning any citizen who wants to get a passport from another country is required to rescind their Chinese one.
Additional reporting by AFP
