Leave the masks at home: Aussies told there is no threat of deadly coronavirus in Australia as 15 people with the disease are in 'good condition'

  • Australia's Chief Medical Officer said people don't need to wear face masks   
  • CMO Brendan Murphy said there was no community transmission of the disease 
  • There are 15 cases of coronavirus in Australia but five have since recovered 
  • There are fears surrounding Indonesia who is yet to confirm a case of the virus

By Eliza Mcphee For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Australians have been told to leave the face masks behind as health experts say there is no threat from the deadly coronavirus.

Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, said that despite 15 people in the country contracting the disease, they were all in 'good condition'.

After the outbreak of the disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan, many Australians rushed to buy protective facemasks in a desperate attempt to avoid the virus that has killed more than 1,000 people.

Australians have been told to leave the face masks behind as health experts say there is no threat from the deadly coronavirus

Australians have been told to leave the face masks behind as health experts say there is no threat from the deadly coronavirus

Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Tuesday, Dr Murphy said that five people with coronavirus had recovered.

'There is no community transmission of this virus in Australia. We have not seen any case of sustained transmission at all in this country. There is no reason for people to be wearing masks,' he said.

Dr Murphy also stressed about racial profiling to people with Asian backgrounds.

'We are very concerned about xenophobia and any sort of racial profiling, which is completely abhorrent,' he said.

'There's no reason for people to avoid anybody of any particular background or appearance.

'We've still only got 15 cases in Australia, and all are clinically in good condition. They're all in stable condition. Five have recovered.'

Dr Murphy said all cases had been people who had come from China's Hubei Province or had been in contact with someone that had.

'I want to reassure the community. Our quarantine is working extremely well at the moment, and we're very, very pleased that the two facilities have had excellent medical support, and we're obviously actively screening everybody on a regular basis.' 

The Chief Medical Officer said there may be cause for concern as the disease continues to spread, adding 'we're clearly getting growth every day'. 

Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, said despite 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, these people were in good condition

Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, said despite 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, these people were in good condition

Fears have also emerged regarding Australians planning a trip to Bali as Indonesia is yet to report a single case of coronavirus.

Indonesia had direct flights from Wuhan in the early weeks of the outbreak and thousands of Australians travel to Bali every week.

A study by university researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health estimated that the number of cases should be much higher.

They suggested that due to the close proximity of Indonesia to the epicentre of the disease that more cases should appear. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he discussed the issue with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and would work together to 'contain the impact of the coronavirus between our two countries'. 

Dr Murphy said Australia would continue to watch Indonesia to see if there are any cases confirmed.

'Obviously, it is somewhat surprising that there are no cases,' he said.

Thailand has 32 cases of coronavirus reported, Cambodia has one and Singapore has 43. 

People wearing face masks stand in a line outside an office building in Singapore as 43 cases have been confirmed in the country

People wearing face masks stand in a line outside an office building in Singapore as 43 cases have been confirmed in the country 

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: 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: 4   

    February 10 

    • Four Australians are among 65 newly-confirmed coronavirus cases aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama.
    Advertisement

    Australians told not to wear face masks amid coronavirus outbreak

    Comments 0

    Share what you think

    No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

    Add your comment

    What's This?

    By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.