Queensland’s Premier has said all flights to and from China should be suspended as the death toll from the coronavirus continues to rise, as does the number of people infected with the virus in Australia.
On Saturday afternoon, Victorian health authorities confirmed a fourth case of coronavirus in the state, bring the total number of cases nationwide to 10.
A woman in her 20s, who is a resident of Melbourne, is recovering at home with the respiratory illness.
She became ill two days after returning from the Chinese ground zero city of Wuhan last Saturday. She was not infectious on her flight back to Victoria.
Thirteen people in Victoria are awaiting test results with 149 people given the green light.
Nine people have tested positive for the virus in Australia.
New South Wales Health said on Saturday that there are four confirmed cases in the state and 12 cases under investigation. Of the four confirmed cases in the state, three people have now being discharged – a 53-year-old man, a 35-year-old man and 21-year-old woman. A 43-year-old male remains in hospital.
No new patients were confirmed overnight and 86 people who underwent tests for the virus have been cleared.
In Queensland the Courier Mail has reported that eight boarders from a prestigious Brisbane school are in lockdown for a fortnight after they returned from either Hong Kong or mainland China.
John Paul College principal Karen Spiller said the move was a precaution and none of the boys had shown symptoms of the virus.
BAN CHINA FLIGHTS CALL
On Saturday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called on the federal government to stop arrival flights from China in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
ABC’s David Speers reported that the Premier said that while she doesn’t often agree with Donald Trump, on this matter she does.
A Qantas jet is reportedly now on its way to the Chinse ground zero city of Wuhan to evacuate Australians.
The plane will head to the autonomous Chinese territory of Hong Kong first before then heading to the mainland.
Up to 600 people are expected to be evacuated from the city.
This comes after Scott Morrison announced the government’s plan to take evacuees from Wuhan to Christmas Island where they would be detained for 14 days.