Michael Woodhouse - Health

29 January 2020

The Government is acting far too slowly on bringing New Zealanders stranded in Wuhan home, National’s Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says.

“There are 53 registered New Zealanders currently stuck in limbo, and this number is growing as more register, yet the Government cannot confirm if and when they will be evacuated.

“While other major nations are either actively evacuating citizens or making serious plans to do so, the Prime Minister is making excuses saying it would be ‘very difficult’ to evacuate New Zealand citizens, and would not confirm whether the Government would do so.

“It is understood the USA is close to a successful evacuation and other major nations are not far behind. But the Prime Minister’s response has been to put it in the too-hard basket.

“The New Zealanders stuck in Wuhan are desperate, scared and struggling to get consular assistance, the Government has a duty of care to act quickly for their sake.

“The Government is failing to act while the rest of the world is taking this situation seriously. They need to take action and get these Kiwis home.”

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