Prime Minister Scott Morrison declares a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’
Scott Morrison declares a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’ as he launches an emergency response plan
Scott Morrison has declared a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’
By Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
Scott Morrison has declared a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’ as he declared an emergency.
The Prime Minister has instructed Health Minister Greg Hunt to identify ‘capability gaps’ in Australia’s state-based health services to combat the disease.
‘We believe that the risk of a pandemic is very much upon us,’ he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
‘We need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic.’
Scott Morrison has declared a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’ as he declared an emergency
Mr Morrison said the during the past 24 hours, the ‘rate of transmission the virus outside of China is fundamentally changing the way we need to look at how this issue is being managed here in Australia’.
‘As a result, we’ve agreed today and initiated the implementation of the coronavirus emergency response plan,’ he said.
More to come
CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA
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 were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital
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.
VICTORIA: 7
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 was quarantined 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.
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
Third passenger take off the cruise ship tests positive
QUEENSLAND: 8
January 29
Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was 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
February 21
Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.
A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tests positive for the virus
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 3
February 1
A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.
A 24-year-old woman from South Australia has been transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 1
February 21
A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth
JAPAN/DARWIN: 22
15 Australians were among 219 confirmed cases of the coronavirus contracted on board Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama.
Seven passengers who were on board the Diamond Princess then tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving at the Manigurr-ma Village Howard Springs facility in Darwin
