Wait for killer virus to arrive
IT is “quite likely” a virus that has killed at least nine people in China will reach Australia, according to the country’s chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy.
He said despite the risk, Australia was prepared to deal with the new and mysterious novel coronavirus.
It is from the same family of viruses as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds of people across the globe in 2003.
“We do have a lot of traffic from China and I think it’s quite likely that we will get some cases here, but I’m very confident that we’re well prepared to respond if we do,” Prof Murphy said of coronavirus.
His warning came after a man was rushed to hospital from Melbourne airport with respiratory issues.
The man, in his 40s, had recently travelled to China, sparking concern from biosecurity officers.
Test results later cleared the man of the killer illness.
The virus from the Chinese city of Wuhan was detected at the end of last year and has spread to the US, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
China’s National Health Commission said the virus was adapting and mutating, making it harder for authorities to control the outbreak.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) was due to hold an emergency meeting overnight to determine whether the outbreak constituted a global health emergency.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Prof Murphy yesterday for a briefing on the threat posed by the virus.
He was shown a new campaign that will be rolled out at airports today, urging people travelling from Wuhan to wash their hands and cover their mouth when coughing.
Mr Morrison said he understood people were “somewhat anxious about this outbreak”, but said Australian health agencies were “leaning forward”.
“The states and Commonwealth are working together to stay ahead of this,” he said.
A Brisbane man who was suspected of contracting the SARS-like disease while visiting China was cleared yesterday.
The man was held in isolation at his Brisbane home until authorities confirmed he was not infected.
A Queensland Health spokesman said laboratory tests showed the man had not been infected with the new virus.