Almost a dozen infants and nearly 80 children are among hundreds of Australians on board an evacuation flight from Wuhan to Darwin today.
A spokesperson from the Health Department confirmed that 266 passengers are on board the flight, which is scheduled to arrive in Darwin just before midday.
Of those, 178 are adults, which include a 90 year old, who requires a wheelchair. Eleven are infants and 77 are children. Eight Pacific Island nationals are also on board.
The flight will land at the Darwin RAAF base, where the passengers will undergo health checks and screening by medical officials, a process which is expected to take between 1 to 3 hours.
They will then be transported to the old Inpex workers camp in Howard Springs for a two-week quarantine period.
Meanwhile, the death toll in mainland China from coronavirus has risen by 81 to 780 in the latest figures, passing the 774 deaths recorded globally during the 2002-2003 pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
(Source: 9news)