Coronavirus quarantine camp at Whangaparāoa: What life is like inside

The quarantine site for returnees from China after the breakout of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Photo / File

Everyone inside New Zealand's coronavirus quarantine camp at Whangaparāoa, north of Auckland, is "quite happy", a Wuhan evacuee says.

Henk Schotsman is one of 160-odd people rescued from China last week who are now living in campervans at a military facility in Whangaparāoa.

"Everybody is quite easy going, everybody is quite happy [and] seems to be settled in," he told Newshub this morning.

"The team here is really amazing, they're really trying to do everything they can to make us as comfortable as they can and meet our needs.

"There is a little shop here where they provide toys for kids, they provide us clothing, basically all the needs that we have to have."

However, there was the occasional scare from time to time when people coughed - with people immediately thinking they were sick.

Henk Schotsman spoke to The AM Show. Photo / Newshub

Several people had been tested for the virus but so far, everyone had come back negative.

Those in quarantine would be forced to spend 14 days at the facility to ensure they did not have coronavirus, which had killed more than 800 people.

New Zealand had placed a temporary ban on flights from mainland China in a bid to stop the spread of the infectious virus to the country.

And while two Kiwis had tested positive for the virus on a cruise ship near Japan, there were currently no cases in New Zealand.

Although contact between one another was allowed in the camp, Schotsman said most people tried to stick to themselves just to be safe.

"There's a possibility that people are infected, therefore we can pass the disease on to each other, so it's best not to make as many friends as you normally do in a caravan or a camper."

Schotsman, who was with his partner and their child, earlier told Newshub that living in Wuhan at the time of the lockdown was a "nightmare".

"We have no medical supplies here for my baby," he said.

"If our baby gets any form of sickness we really don't want to take him to the hospital."

Schotsman is Dutch but has permanent residency in New Zealand, with his son being a New Zealand passport holder.