'Scared' passengers' extreme behaviour on Whitsundays flight

A pair of airline passengers appear to have gone to great lengths to protect themselves from coronavirus on an Australian domestic flight.

The pair were filmed wearing plastic sheets and facial masks while seated on the plane with video of it uploaded to Twitter.

According to News Corp, the flight was from Sydney to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays.

On Twitter, people were surprised at the lengths the pair went to to avoid becoming sick.

“That’s just going a bit too far,” one man tweeted.

“Sir, can I get you anything? Drink? Pillow? Shower curtain?” another man tweeted.

Other people questioned how practical the protection is.

“Where is the air hole?” one man tweeted.

Some other people added they were concerned the passengers could “asphyxiate” themselves.

It’s an unusual approach to coronavirus protection - particularly in Australia.

Last month, some people were pictured wearing plastic bottles on their heads to protect against coronavirus.

There have been 15 confirmed cases of the disease in Australia. Eight people recovered and the rest are in stable conditions.

So far there have been more than 75,200 cases worldwide and 2009 people have died. Almost all of the deaths were in China.

A large group of Australians quarantined on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Japan for two weeks are back on home soil after arriving in Darwin on a special Qantas flight.

Some 180 citizens and permanent residents had taken up the federal government's offer of a seat on the evacuation flight, which left Haneda Airport near Yokohama in the early hours of Thursday morning.

But 10 were told they could not leave because they had tested positive to the deadly disease, known as COVID-19, meaning only 170 could board the flight.

One Australian family preparing to leave the quarantined received the 11th-hour news that their 16-year-old daughter had tested positive for the virus.

Another 15 had already chosen to stay behind in Japan to be near family members who have been hospitalised after contracting the virus.

The Qantas Boeing 747 jet landed in Darwin at 9.41am AEDT.

Once they disembark, the Australians will be screened for symptoms of the virus five times before being taken to a facility at Howard Springs, 30km southeast of Darwin.

The evacuees have already spent more than two weeks quarantined on Diamond Princess in Yokohama port and will now face another 14-day isolation period at the former Inpex workers camp.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus on the ship, which was carrying 3700 passengers and crew, has topped 620 and includes 36 Australians.

Australia's deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said while the ship's quarantine methods had worked to stop the virus spreading onshore, there had been a recent spike in cases onboard.

"It just demonstrates the infectiousness of this particular virus and how it can spread very easily in a closed setting like a cruise ship," he said.

• The drastic new measures being taken in the coronavirus epicentre

• 'Deep regret': China blasts Australia's 'overreaction' to coronavirus outbreak

• Aussie tourists on notice after man diagnosed with coronavirus following Bali trip

The cruise ship evacuees will be kept separate from hundreds of people already in quarantine at Howard Springs and who were evacuated from the epicentre of the virus at Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province earlier this month.

Meanwhile, all of the evacuees on Christmas Island have now left the detention-centre turned-quarantine-facility.

None have tested positive for the coronavirus.

With AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.