Victorian coronavirus outbreak ‘very likely’
Victoria’s chief medical officer says a local outbreak of coronavirus is ‘very likely, if not inevitable’. But his comments are in direct conflict to his national counterpart’s, who says there is ‘no risk’ of contracting the disease in Australia.
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Victoria’s chief health officer says a worldwide coronavirus pandemic is “very likely, if not inevitable.”
Dr Brett Sutton made the comments on Sunday, stating he was “hoping for the best, and planning for the worst.”
“It’s clear that with local transmission in several countries that a pandemic is very likely, if not inevitable,” Dr Sutton said.
“We are working rapidly on planning and surge with our health sector.”
The chief doctor confirmed Australian authorities were working on containing anyone with symptoms or who test positive in a bid to contain the outbreak.
“This is critical — pandemics challenge all sectors with effects on supply, workforce and business continuity,” Dr Sutton wrote on Twitter.
“I’m confident we’re well placed to meet the challenges ahead, whatever they might be. Hoping for the best, and planning for the worst.”
He said around 1300 Victorians had so far been screened for the virus.
The claims were in direct conflict with Australia’s national chief medical officer, who had hours earlier reassured the country there was “no risk” of contracting the disease in Australia — despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) fearing the “window of opportunity is narrowing” for containment.
“We’ve been concerned the whole way along about the spread of this virus, in China, in other provinces of China and now Japan and Korea. But there’s no suggestion at the moment that containment has been lost,” Professor Brendan Murphy said on Sunday.
“There is no community transmission of this virus in Australia.
“There is no risk to people walking around the streets.
“Don’t wear masks, go about your normal business.”
It comes as Prof Murphy warned a vaccine being developed to stop the spread of coronavirus was still “months” away.
Professor Brendan Murphy on Sunday said there was “no realistic prospect of a vaccine in the short term”, despite researchers from Victoria and Queensland working around the clock.
“It’s still months away,” Prof Murphy said.
“Generally speaking to get a vaccine from candidate molecule to test it would be more than a year. It’s still a long way away.”
Almost 300 Australian’s were released from a quarantine facility in Darwin on Sunday.
Victorians Brian Leong and Zilong Long said they missed having control of their lives.
“For me it was the mentality of security and control,” Mr Leong said.
“You lose a lot of that when you’re under quarantine. Having that freedom will be really reassuring.
“Work’s given me a few days off, so (I’ll) definitely have a drink, eat some good food – not that the food here has been that bad – but yeah, go shopping, do things that I expected to do on a holiday.”
“If I didn’t take this flight, I didn’t know when I could get back to my home,” Mr Long said.
“I’m missing my home.”
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Fresh outbreaks were confirmed in Japan, Korea and Iran — where four people have been confirmed dead — at the weekend, with no known direct connection to the Hubei Province, the epicentre of the virus.
The travel advice warnings for Japan and South Korea were raised on Sunday night due to
coronavirus fears.
Australians visiting either Asian country is advised to exercise a high degree of caution.
“We now recommend Australians exercise a high degree of caution in Japan due to an increased risk of sustained local transmission of coronavirus,” the federal government’s Smartraveller website read.
Australians were urged to reconsider their need to travel to Daegu and Cheongdo in South Korea.
A seventh Australian, who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, was also confirmed to have the virus on Sunday.
They will be medevaced to Brisbane, Prof Murphy said.
“I’m advised they’re in good health and stable at the moment,” he said.
A man was also confirmed to have died from the virus in Italy, sending towns into lockdown.
Fashion designer Giorgio Armani reportedly closed the doors to his Milan Fashion Week runway show on Sunday, instead streaming the event to “safeguard” guests.
A total of 78,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, with most of the growth still in the Hubei province.
Globally, 2356 people have died from coronavirus.