Man tested for coronavirus landing in Melbourne from Hong Kong

A cargo ship crew member who arrived into Victoria from China has returned a negative result for coronavirus while an airline passenger who landed from Hong Kong at Melbourne Airport is being tested for the virus.

An airline passenger who arrived in Melbourne from Hong Kong this morning is being tested for coronavirus.

The man was assessed on arrival having shown mild respiratory symptoms.

He was transferred to hospital and will undergo testing.

Health authorities stressed the chances of the man testing positive were extremely low.

A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP

He was not from mainland China and had not been in contact with anyone who has the virus.

Test results are expected this evening.

A crew member from a cargo ship arriving from China has tested negative to the virus.

The crew member’s vessel today docked at the Port of Hastings and he had shown “mild illness”.

A man wears a protective mask in Wuhan, China. Wuhan is the epicentre of the global health scare. Picture: Getty

But authorities this afternoon confirmed he’d been given the all-clear.

An ambulance transported the patient to an undisclosed hospital.

Four cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Victoria, with the most recent diagnosis occurring two weeks ago.

Passengers stand on balconies on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Picture: Charly Triballeau/AFP.

The news comes as four Australians tested positive for the virus on cruise ship the Diamond Princess in Japan. 66 people in total have tested positive on the ship.

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Last month the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus to be a global health emergency.

More than 900 people have been killed by the deadly virus.