Wiseway Logistics approved for Wuhan mercy dash

WISEWAY Logistics says it has received permission from the Chinese government to charter a freighter aircraft to fly humanitarian aid into the city of Wuhan.

Wuhan is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

The humanitarian mission is the result of efforts involving the Australian-Chinese business community.

For Wiseway, this is a first chartered flight to deliver cargo and it is a first direct flight from Sydney to Wuhan, since the virus outbreak.

Wiseway managing director Florence Lee said they were asking Australian manufacturers to donate products that might be helpful in fighting the outbreak.

“There has been a groundswell of support from the corporations and the community groups making donations to send directly to the centre of the outbreak and support Coronavirus relief efforts,” Ms Lee said.

“The donations include much-needed protective clothing for healthcare professionals, including surgical and N95 masks, along with medical equipment, decontamination products and medications.”

The first freighter aircraft is expected to leave Sydney between 22 February and 25 February.

“This Monday we collected 25 tonnes of goods but have capacity for 100 tonnes,” Ms Lee said.

“We will facilitate and welcome more donations.”

Donations can be made by noon on 21 February 2020 at Wiseway warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

Donations can include:

• Personal protective clothing and equipment (surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, gloves, gowns, goggles)
• Non-perishable foods (wellbeing improvement products, health supplements, powdered milk).

Coronavirus developments:

• Data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 80% of the cases have been mild with the sick and elderly most at risk
• The findings put the overall death rate of the virus at 2.3%.
• In Hubei, the worst affected province, the death rate is 2.9% compared with only 0.4% in the rest of the country
• On Tuesday the overall death toll was 1868 with 72,436 infections.