Queensland Government BANS children who have been in China from attending school

Do NOT go to school: Schoolchildren who have been in China are banned from attending classes

Students who recently travelled to China have been advised to skip school
QLD Government texted parents of those aged under 18 who recently travelled
Students should wait 14 days after arriving in Australia before going to school
The precautionary measure comes amid heightened fear about coronavirus

By Zoe Zaczek For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 05:40 GMT, 1 February 2020 | Updated: 05:40 GMT, 1 February 2020

Students and teachers who recently travelled to China have been advised to skip school until they’ve been back on home soil for 14 days amid coronavirus fears.

The Queensland Government on Friday acquired a list of Queenslanders under the age of 18 years old who recently returned from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the state government spent Saturday sending text messages to the parents of those on the list to reinforce the health advice about deadly coronavirus.

Students and teachers who recently travelled to China have been advised to skip school until they’ve been back on home soil for 14 days. Pictured: Young girls walk in front of the gated entrance of The Palace Museum on January 26

There are now 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia (pictured) with dozens more people undergoing tests

‘The advice is that children who have visited China (including Hong Kong) should not attend school, childcare or TAFE until 14 days after the date of their departure from China (including Hong Kong),’ Dr Young said.

‘This advice also applies to teachers, staff and anyone else who attends these facilities.

‘This is a precautionary measure following the most recent advice around the timeframe that people are contagious before showing symptoms.’

Dr Young said directly communicating with families who have travelled to China will help the state respond effectively to the coronavirus situation and to contain possible further spread.

The text messages, which were sent on Saturday, were in English and have also been translated into both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Queensland Health urges those who become unwell to visit their GP practice or the Emergency Department.

‘Please call ahead to inform them you may have been exposed to novel coronavirus,’ Queensland Health said.

A 10th case of coronavirus was confirmed in Australia on Saturday.

The woman, who is in her 20s, lives in Melbourne and is at home recovering. She returned from Wuhan, the coronavirus epicentre, on January 25 and fell ill two days later.

There are four confirmed cases of the virus in Victoria and New South Wales each, as well as two in Queensland.

The death toll has passed 200 in China, while confirmed cases of infection are edging towards 10,000.

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: 4

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

QUEENSLAND: 2

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.

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.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk