New Zealand PM Ardern: Wuhan evacuation flight 'complex' process

The evacuation of New Zealanders from the virus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan is a "complex process", New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday. She was speaking after a government-chartered plane left New Zealand bound for Wuhan, where it was to pick up evacuees and fly them back home.

A total of 263 people have registered for the flight, which is due to return to Auckland on Wednesday afternoon. Ardern said passengers would be taken directly to a military facility where they will be quarantined for two weeks. She defended the decision to charge each passenger 500 New Zealand dollars (325 dollars) to offset some of the flight costs. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand.