(Bloomberg) -- Canada will evacuate an undisclosed number of citizens from the Wuhan area as soon as China gives it permission to land a plane, and will quarantine them at an armed forces base upon their arrival.

Canada’s foreign ministry sketched out the evacuation plan in a statement, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened a meeting of his response team. The move comes days after the U.S. and other countries evacuated their citizens and imposed travel bans on the Asian nation.

The timing of Canada’s plan remains unclear. The government has a plane standing by and will land in Hanoi, Vietnam, before flying to Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, once the Chinese government gives the necessary authorization for it to land, according to a statement late Sunday from the country’s global affairs department. The Public Health Agency of Canada will provide another update on the coronavirus at around noon Monday in Ottawa.

Canada has been slower than other countries to issue an evacuation plan, prompting the Chinese government to praise the North American country for remaining calm. The U.S. and Australia -- key trading partners to China -- are barring entry to all non-resident travelers from the mainland as the virus spreads.

Canada’s relationship with China has been strained since the detention in Vancouver of a top Huawei Technologies Co. executive on a U.S. extradition request in late 2018.

Once the passengers arrive back in Canada, they will be subject to a 14-day holding period at a military base in Trenton, Ontario to be monitored for further medical observation, according to the statement, which didn’t include the number of citizens who would be evacuated. A Jan. 28 statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said 126 Canadians currently in the Wuhan region have requested consular services for assisted repatriation.

The outbreak, which is drawing parallels to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic, continues to worsen despite global efforts to contain it, with the death toll rising past 360. Total confirmed cases have reached almost 17,400. Canada has four confirmed cases of coronavirus and zero deaths. SARS killed 44 Canadians.

The global health emergency is already having wide-ranging economic impacts. Trade in almost every commodity is at risk with oil demand plunging and oil refineries curbing operations. Canada won’t be immune to the shocks. China is the second-largest importer of Canadian products and is also the country’s largest source of tourist arrivals.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in ottawa at shagan9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier, Jacqueline Thorpe

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.