Coronavirus evacuee plane touches down in Hedland

The first plane carrying Australian evacuees from coronavirus epicentre Wuhan, who have spent two weeks in quarantine on Christmas Island, has touched down in the Pilbara town of Port Hedland.

More than 200 citizens and permanent residents will be brought home from Christmas Island today on three different Federal Government-chartered planes.

None of the people on board were allowed off the plane during the refuelling stop, with the plane now back in the sky bound for Sydney, then Canberra.

Canberra evacuee William Toms told The West Australian that their departure seemed “very organised” and the AUSMAT team would be conducting medical checks two hours before they were released from the centre.

“Right now everyone is cleaning up their rooms and collecting snacks for the flight,” he said last night.

“We’re expecting a little more information on the smaller details then. As of right now everyone is very organised and no one is worried, judging from every-one’s attitude in my block.”