State records its third case of coronavirus

A THIRD case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Tasmania — but how the patient contracted the virus was not immediately known.

Director of Public Health Mark Veitch last night said that Public Health Services had been notified of the case in Hobart.

“The patient has been admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital,’’ he said. “A further update will be issued as soon as more details are confirmed.”

No other details were released.

It comes after a 20-year-old Hobart man was diagnosed on Saturday amid revelations he ignored the advice of health authorities and failed to selfisolate while waiting for his results. The man had travelled to Tasmania from Nepal, via Singapore and Sydney.

The man’s actions prompted a strong response from authorities, who labelled them “unacceptable”, and said they were considering tough legal powers to fine people who failed to obey the advice.

Another man, aged 40, was diagnosed in Launceston last week, in the first confirmed case recorded in Tasmania.

He had travelled to the state from Iran, via Malaysia and Melbourne, and went shopping for groceries at a Launceston supermarket while infected.

News of the third case came after the State Government said it would unveil its own stimulus package next week to deal with the impact of coronavirus on Tasmania’s economy.

Premier Peter Gutwein said the virus would have a strong negative effect — but he stopped short of saying it would drive the budget into deficit.

The current surplus predicted for the 2019-20 financial year is $10.8 million, a buffer equivalent to just 0.36 per cent of government revenue.

A round table meeting between government and business representatives yesterday canvassed the likely effect of coronavirus on the economy and possible solutions.

“Tomorrow the Federal Government will release its economic stimulus measures,” Mr Gutwein said. “Next week we will leverage off that package and provide our own Tasmanian stimulus package.

“We’ve been working on this now for a number of weeks. What we want to ensure is that it is proportionate and it is scalable and — importantly — ensures that we keep people in work.”

Mr Gutwein would not say whether the combined impact of the virus and the cost of the stimulus would push the state into the red.

“Obviously our budget won’t be immune from the impacts of this,” he said.

“In terms of the budget position, though, we have a very strong financial position, we have a very strong balance sheet, and we go into this in a much stronger position than many of the largest states who were already in deficit and have been writing down revenues.

“Our economy remains the strongest in the country. It puts us in a very strong position to weather the storm, to do what we need to do to support business and industry. But there will obviously be an impact on revenues over time.”

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said there was no cause for alarm.

“National health advice remains that the risk to the general Australian population is low, the majority of confirmed cases being from returned travellers.

“The risk to Tasmanians from casual contact with a confirmed case is low.”

She said she was confident planning was underway to ensure enough intensive care beds and ventilators for the potential impact of the virus.

“This is part of the planning that takes place, both in terms of the clinical settings in terms of ICU beds and also making sure that we have sufficient capacity in isolation for our patients around the state, and also ensuring that we have contingencies in place for staffing,” she said.