Fake warnings fan coronavirus panic in Sydney
Fake warnings about avoiding certain areas and foods in Sydney due to the coronavirus have been slammed by NSW Health, with people urged to only follow official advice.
NSW
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Fake warnings about avoiding certain areas and foods in Sydney due to the coronavirus have been slammed by NSW Health, with people urged to only follow official advice.
NSW Health said it had been made aware of a social media post that was being “widely circulated” warning people not to consume certain foods or visit particular areas in the city on Tuesday.
“This post has not originated from NSW Health or any entity relating to us,” a statement said.
“Further, there is no such entity as the ‘Department of Diseasology Parramatta’.
“NSW health would like to assure the community that the locations mentioned in this post pose no risk to visitors, and there have been no ‘positive readings’ at train stations.”
NSW Health is currently testing six people for the coronavirus — up from five people as of Monday.
The state’s health authorities also cleared six people of the disease yesterday.
Meanwhile, Coles supermarkets are experiencing a shortage of hand sanitisers as customers rush to buy up the product to protect against the spread of coronavirus.
A spokeswoman for Coles confirmed the shortage on Tuesday.
“Coles is currently experiencing a shortage of some antibacterial handwashes and hand sanitiser products due to extremely high customer demand,” she said.
“We are working closely with our suppliers to improve availability and hope to recommence full supply shortly.”
UNSW Professor of global biosecurity Raina McIntyre said there had been no human to human spread of the virus in Australia and urged the community not to panic.
“If you’re in China it might be reasonable to wear a mask and use hand sanitisers but I don’t think there’s a substantial risk for people to be panicking about transmission in the community in Australia at this stage,” she said.
Australia this morning declared the deadly new coronavirus as having “pandemic potential” with more cases expected to be diagnosed across the country in the coming days.
Four people in NSW and one person in Victoria have been diagnosed with the virus, which has killed at least 82 people in China, with Health Minister Greg Hunt warning more patients in Australia could test positive for the disease.
“We do believe there is the potential for further cases to be identified and therefor to be announced,” he told Sky News.
“Following the World Health Organisation (WHO) advice, the advice of the medical experts in Australia who are working together, Australia declared this to be a disease with pandemic potential.”
Mr Hunt said Australia was moving as “fast as possible” to track down anyone potentially exposed to an infected patient due to the risk of the disease spreading.
“What they’re doing at the moment is tracing back all contact with these patients, so the National Incidents Centre as well as border officials are working with state and territory authorities to trace back all contacts with those people who have presented and been identified, including … people on the same flights as those who’ve identified,” he said.
Mr Hunt rejected the suggestion Australia should have acted sooner to stop direct flights to Sydney from the city of Wuhan, where the disease first broke out.
“What we have is a situation of a contagious disease which has cases around the world and we have some of the strongest border protection measures in place around the world ourselves,” he said.
“We have bioscieroity officials boarding all planes from China, providing information, also speaking with passengers, looking for signs, looking for symptoms.”
Mr Hunt said the five patients were being cared for in isolation insisting Australia had one of the world’ “most prepared health system” for a contagious disease.
“At this stage the latest advice from … the National Incidents Centre is that all five of the patients are in isolation and all are stable and being well cared for,” he said.
“Our tracing, our treatment, our testing, our identification and our care of patients, not just within Australia but our care and support for people overseas in China is underway and every possible step that can be taken is being taken.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison chaired a National Security Committee meeting on Monday to discuss coronavirus preparedness.
Mr Hunt attended the meeting and said wherever medical experts indicated more was required the government would provide it.