Australia defends choice of remote detention center to house locals evacuated from Wuhan

This is the most sensible way to handle this situation.

They also need to halt tourism from infected areas until this virus is contained.

Any govt that cared properly for its people would.

Screw political correctness. We're talking about human lives here. Australia is doing the right thing!

Good on Australia.

Meanwhile in Japan: "Oh, you don't want to go for testing or to quarantine? Okay then. Please go home and make sure you spread your germs around as much as possible."

I believe that is what you would call, common sense. The only downside is, the residents of Christmas Island are in danger of contracting the disease.

This is the right way, these people surrendered their right to object when they decided to go to Wuhan. They should be interned for far longer than 14 days though and any resistors taken out the back. Well done to the conservative government in Australia, once again showing how incompetent Labour is by objecting to this policy

What happens to the locals of Christmas island? The Aussie government doesn't care about them?

A country with some common sense! All the whiny PC types should probably be sent for a 14-day stay too to clear up their illness.

Compare this to Japan where they aren't forcing evacuees into quarantine camps, absolutely ridiculous! Anyone with any contact to China should be in a camp, it's common sense

Christmas Island is already basically a prison island.  Don't think there are many locals to be affected by the disease who come into contact with inmates of the various detention facilities.

WakarimasenToday  06:28 pm JST

Christmas Island is already basically a prison island. Don't think there are many locals to be affected by the disease who come into contact with inmates of the various detention facilities.

Actually, it has a population of 1843, as of 2016.

GeeliezToday  06:05 pm JST

A country with some common sense! All the whiny PC types should probably be sent for a 14-day stay too to clear up their illness.

It's actually interesting how Westerners will happily accept people who all agree are innocent be deprived of 14 days of liberty for "health" reasons. But god, people arrested under reasonable suspicion (thus perhaps not innocent)? Not a single day mate! Bail bail bail bail bail!

No fan of the aussie govt but good move to isolate the returnees.

Good move.

Japan needed to do the same thing

Australian fascism at work.

And racism too.

The locals are overwhelmingly non whites, so it's all fine and dandy then.

As if a nation as wide as Australia requires an isolated island near Java, away from proper medical facilities to quarantine people not breaking any law with 2 people (2 Sri Lankan’s plus their 2 Aussie-born kids) who ostensibly did (?) defies common sense.

Quarantine is common sense - are there no medical facilities within hundreds of kilometres of an Australian international airport?

Royal Prince Henry Hospital is 10 kms from Sydney airport, and Cairns Hospital is 3 km. Other places like Townsville, Darwin and Brisbane have copious Defence space too.

The people going would be likely to have to pay for it too - just 14 days? Hahahahahahhh!!!

Government policy to feed naive public Xenophobia and distract from bad press from flawed bushfire responses and sports club pork-barreling. Responsive but a sad, bad decision all around.

Like several of the Aussies able to be returned, taking chances on the ground in Wuhan rather than trusting decisions by a flopsy prime minister’s department ironically also suggests common sense.

Isolation is good but you also need to take into account the local population of Christmas Island as well

Too little, too late.

This is the right way, these people surrendered their right to object when they decided to go to Wuhan. They should be interned for far longer than 14 days though and any resistors taken out the back.

Perhaps any sign of infection could be beaten out of them. I'd suggest taking their families and pets 'out the back' too. Preferably behind a chemical shed. Can't be too careful. How dare they visit a place before an infectious virus developed!

What happens to the locals of Christmas island?

Probably nothing. As the article says, the people from Wuhan will stay in the enclosure of a former detention center. That's well separated from the rest of the island. I guess they moved out the very few inmates (article says 1 family) for the time the center is used as quarantine.

A lot depends on the details of how the program is implemented, which details are not provided in the article. This operation could be either a very good idea, or a very bad one, depending on how it is done.

As a resident of California, I worry whether the proposed 72 hours of quarantine at March AFB will be sufficient to isolate anyone carrying the virus. Some countries are opting for 14 days of quarantine, and some are only quarantining those who already show symptoms. Not being in-the-know, I can only hope that 72 hours is long enough to keep the virus from entering the general population.

Australian fascism at work.

And racism too.

The locals are overwhelmingly non whites, so it's all fine and dandy then.

This, folks, is how the apocalypse happens.

What part of 'held in a detention center' don't you understand? The people in quarantine aren't going to be wandering around town, they'll be isolated in a walled compound.

Australian PM: "We need to stop this potentially deadly virus from spreading!"

Assistant #1: "Sir, if we quarantine potential virus carriers to stop a deadly outbreak, we might look like fascists!"

Assistant #1: "Sir, wait, even more important, what if we look like racists to some random person on the internet for no reason at all?!"

Australian PM: "Dammit you two are right! Let's house the evacuees in a hotel in downtown Sydney and make sure they mingle with the locals as much as possible as to not curtail their rights in any way! What could go wrong?"

If I were among those returning to Australia, the need for a 2 week quarantine would seem eminently sensible. It's not a long period of time and if it prevents the spread of the disease within a larger population. We need to be more mindful of our responsibilities toward others. Would it be inconvenient? Of course it would. However, that would be much better than the eventual strain of a medical system already struggling to cope.

Some health officials have criticized the decision to move those people to Christmas Island - about 2,600 km from Australia and that had been used to hold thousands of refugees between 2002 and 2018.

It appears that "Some health officials" are actually too stupid to be health officials. The people of many nations are trying head off a possible pandemic. Asking that people who had been exposed to this new disease should spend a few weeks in a detention centre seems like a small inconvenience.

@Peeping_Tom

Australian fascism at work.

And racism too.

The locals are overwhelmingly non whites, so it's all fine and dandy then.

What in the heck is this rubbish? Perhaps the evacuees could stay at your place? The evacuees are in quarantine. Do you know what this means? It means they are separated from the the locals to avoid the spread of the virus. Please explain how this constitutes fascism. Then, you can explain how this constitutes racism.

To all the oversensitive zealots making up rubbish like the above statement. This is a sensible move to contain the spread of this disease. These people are being housed in comfortable conditions (for free) during the incubation period of this deadly virus. It's difficult to believe people are calling it racism and fascism. They obviously have no idea what they are talking about.

It's actually interesting how Westerners will happily accept people who all agree are innocent be deprived of 14 days of liberty for "health" reasons.

They are not deprived. That's the basic of Human Rights that you don't get ?

Art. 4. - La liberté consiste à pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas à autrui :

(French Revo's declaration) : Liberty means being able to do whatever one wants as long as that doesn't harm other persons. Exposing the community to contagion is not enjoying liberty, it's causing nuisance. Human beings are good p: eople. For some, it's God. For others, it's Darwinism. We cooperate and are even able to sacrifice for the common interest because it's the only way our kind of nasty creatures can survive on long term.

Goose: Hey Rockatansky, do you remember how Australia ended up like this?

Max: No, mate, no idea. I heard a rumor it had something to do with random people on the internet crying about sick people being quarantined though. Sounds like BS to me. Who would be that stupid...?