Chartered plane carrying Canadian evacuees from Wuhan lands at CFB Trenton

A plane chartered by the federal government to evacuate Canadians from the quarantined Chinese city of Wuhan has landed at CFB Trenton.

Global Affairs says 176 Canadians boarded the flight although the manifest listed over 200.

Evacuees will now be quarantined for two weeks at the military base.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said while 211 Canadians were on the manifest, some people changed their minds at the last minute and decided not to travel to the airport, but he did not provide any further details about those evacuees.

Champagne says another flight scheduled for Feb. 10 will bring the remaining evacuees home.

About 50 other Canadians arrived in Vancouver early Friday morning after they were able to board a flight chartered by the American government. The federal government planned to fly them to CFB Trenton also to be quarantined.

Media were kept well away as the passengers deplaned and stepped onto waiting buses in frigid weather.

Richard Fabic, the father of 15-month-old Chloe, hoped to be joining his daughter in quarantine later Friday.

Fabic, of Mississauga, said Ottawa had reached out to ask him if he wanted to join his daughter.

“I said yes before they even finished the sentence,” Fabic said. “It’s very considerate, very thoughtful, I was really blown away from being given that option.”

The 14 days in quarantine will be “bonding time” with his daughter, Fabic said.

Fabic said his wife had mixed feelings about him being in isolation with Chloe, because she wanted to be the one in there.

“I just want to spend time with my daughter and also help with taking care of her,” Fabic said.

The past few weeks have been stressful, he said, adding he was excited at the prospect of the reunion.

His daughter has all the entertainment she needs in quarantine, Fabic said, but just in case he planned to load up his tablet with movies and shows.

Weather events forced a one-day delay in the operation.

Myriam Larouche, a 25-year-old student from Quebec who is in Wuhan, said the flight began to board just past midnight Friday local time.

Kate Schellenberg said she received a text message from her twin brother Michael as he was waiting to board. He is set to leave China with his wife Summer Wu and their one-year-old son Felix.

He told her that he could see the plane, and people wearing yellow hazmat suits.

Those who aren’t able to get to the airport or who have decided not to make the trip are being urged to contact consular officials.

Wuhan has been the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, which has now sickened more than 28,000 and killed 563 in China.

In Ontario, medical officials issued an update on the coronavirus. Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, says 169 people have been tested for the virus and 104 of them have been confirmed negative. Another 62 are currently under investigation and the confirmed cases remains at 3.