Despite his federal counterpart’s message of calm, Victoria’s chief medical officer is bracing for a ‘very likely, if not inevitable’ COVID-19 world pandemic.
Dr Brett Sutton took to Twitter on Sunday to say the state had been working on its pandemic preparedness for weeks.
Australia’s chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy has waved off the nation’s concerns over the China-based outbreak, asking people not to wear masks and to go about their normal business.
Mr Sutton has pushed a more urgent line.
Victoria’s chief medical officer said the state was preparing for a coronavirus pandemic – after the federal government waved off concerns and urged people not to wear protective masks. Pictured: People wearing masks at Brisbane airport
Dr Brett Sutton took to Twitter to say a pandemic is ‘very likely, if not inevitable’
Saying he was ‘hoping for the best and planning for the worst,’ Mr Sutton on Sunday put out a message to remain alert.
‘Australia absolutely has world-class health care but even the best health care in the world is challenged during pandemics,’ he wrote.
‘So everyone will need to work together to ensure that should a pandemic eventuate, our services can function as effectively as possible.’
After outbreaks in Japan and South Korea raised the alarm on whether the World Health Organisation can declare a global pandemic, Dr Sutton wanted to reassure Victorians.
Australia’s chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy (far right) waved off the nation’s concerns over the China -based outbreak, asking people not to wear masks and to go about their normal business
‘Victoria and Australia nonetheless remain completely in containment mode – identifying any possible case; isolating those who are infectious, and quarantining contacts,’ he said.
‘Regardless of developments internationally, this gives all of us time and space to plan and prepare.’
Globally, nearly 78,000 people have been infected in 29 countries.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia is 23, after the confirmation of seven positive cases among the group of 164 evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
This includes 10 people who have recovered from the illness.
AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS
NEW SOUTH WALES: 4
January 25
- Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.
- Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.
- They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition.
January 27
- A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.
- The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.
- She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital.
VICTORIA: 6
January 25
- A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.
- The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.
- He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne’s east.
January 29
- A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.
- He became unwell on January 23 – two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
- The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home.
January 30
- A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.
- She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.
- She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
February 1
- A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus
February 22
- Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive
QUEENSLAND: 5
January 29
- Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus.
- He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.
January 30
- A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.
February 4
- An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from
February 5
- The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast
February 6
- A 37-year-old woman has been diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2
February 1
- A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.
CHINA: 2
January 30
- Two Australians have been confirmed as having the virus in Wuhan itself. Australia has raised the travel alert level to ‘do not travel’ for the city of Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak – and for the entire Hubei province.
- Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern.
JAPAN: 15
- As of February 15, 47 Australians are among 219 confirmed cases of the coronavirus contracted on board Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama.
- Two more Australians who were on board tested positive after they were evacuated to Darwin on February 22
QUEENSLAND: 4
- Four Australians test positive for coronavirus after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship
- Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.
- Earlier a 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth . His wife will travel with him but then be isolated at home for two weeks.
