Man diagnosed with coronavirus after travelling from Iran to Tasmania

Tasmania has confirmed its first coronavirus case after a man was diagnosed with the illness after catching a flight from Iran to Launceston.

Tasmania has recorded its first coronavirus case after a man who travelled from Iran tested positive for COVID-19.

The 40-year-old man tested positive for the virus after flying from Iran to Launceston via Melbourne last week.

Tasmanian Premier, Peter Gutwein, said the man left Iran before the travel ban was put in place on Sunday.

“He has had limited movement within the community and has taken all necessary precautions including self-isolation and on presenting symptoms contacted the public health hotline,” he told reporters.

Anyone who was on the same flight as the man will be contacted by health authorities and may be instructed to self isolate.

Premier Peter Gutwein, Minister for Health Sarah Courtney and Director of Public Health Mark Veitch speak at the press conference on the coronavirus update. Picture: Richard Jupe

“Obviously, our thoughts are with the gentleman concerned who will now be cared for and supported at the LGH (Launceston General Hospital) under appropriate circumstances for his condition,” Mr Gutwein said.

“I want to reassure Tasmanians that this case does not present as evidence of the disease spreading within the Australian or the Tasmanian community.”

After the man arrived at his accommodation after arriving in Launceston it was noticed he had a mild cough and he noted he had a fever a few weeks earlier while in Iran.

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He called the public health hotline and was tested for the coronavirus yesterday, with the positive results coming through today.

Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch said the man was “very mildly unwell but he was being cared for at the hospital.

“Our initial understanding is he had very little movement through Launceston in between the airport and reaching his residence,” he said.

“We don’t believe there is any wider risk to the Launceston community.”

The man is being interviewed in an attempt to identify all his movements since leaving Iran.

PASSENGERS EXPOSED ON FLIGHTS

This comes as passengers who were on a flight from Bali to Melbourne on Friday may have been exposed to the coronavirus after a woman on the flight was diagnosed with the illness.

A woman in her 30s, who was on her way back from Iran via Kuala Lumpur and Bali, was on the Malindo Air OD 177 flight that arrived at Melbourne Airport at around 6am on Friday.

She travelled by private car from the airport directly to her home before going to the hospital the following day after developing symptoms of the virus.

The woman was immediately isolated and tested for COVID-19, returning a positive result on Sunday.

Victorian Chief Health Minister Brett Sutton urged all passengers who were on the flight to call the Victorian Department of Health’s COVID-19 helpline on 1800 675 398.

Heath Authorities are requesting all passengers who were sitting in the same row or two rows either side of the woman to self isolate.

International passengers arrive at Melbourne airport from Asia wearing masks to try and avoid the spread of coronavirus. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian.

“It’s really only very close contact for a relatively prolonged period of time that puts someone at risk and it was at the very beginning of this case’s illness and so I think it’s unlikely that many people on that flight will be at risk,” Dr Sutton said.

He said they were working on getting the flight manifest as “urgently as they possibly can” in order to contact passengers but in the mean time people on the flight would need to get in touch.

This comes after anyone who was on a specific Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Sydney last week was being urged see a doctor or an emergency department as soon as possible.

It’s feared passengers on flight QR908, who were sitting near a woman later confirmed as the sixth case of coronavirus in NSW, may be at risk.

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NSW Health said the woman in her 50s flew from Iran to Sydney via Qatar on February 23.

Her symptoms began within 24 hours of landing, but the woman did not visit hospital until six days later.

In a press conference this morning NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said the government will contact the various people sitting near her.

Anyone on the Qatar Airways flight is being urged see a doctor or an emergency department as soon as possible. Picture: AP Photo/Michael Probst, File

“Anyone on that flight, QR908, that arrived on February 23 at 6:50pm at Sydney Airport, should be very aware that there was someone on the flight who had the coronavirus and if they do have any of these symptoms, then, flu-like symptoms effectively, then you should get along to your doctor,” he said.

“If you have any doubts or thoughts it may be the coronavirus, please ring ahead to your GP or go to the local emergency department so they are aware and can take the appropriate steps to keep everyone safe.”

COMPULSORY QUARANTINE

This comes as the South Australian government prepares to propose legislative amendments that would allow for coronavirus patients to be compulsory quarantined.

“My number one priority is the safety of all South Australians,” Premier Steven Marshall said.

“This is about getting on the front foot and making sure we have the legislative necessities in place as soon as possible.

“There is no need to be alarmed. Part of strengthening our State’s protection is to make sure that our public health experts have the powers they need to protect South Australians.”

Under the current law there needs to be written directions to quarantine someone but the changes would mean only oral instructions would be required.

Health minister Stephen Wade said there would be a process in place to ensure the changes weren’t abused and that “human rights are protected”.

The warning comes amid news that hospital operating theatres will remain open over weekends and during Easter to ensure they can cope with any major outbreak of coronavirus after the first Australian dies from the illness.

Australia’s economy is also expected to be one of the most at-risk across the globe in the face of the crisis and faces recession if China doesn’t start to recover this month.

This morning, the Australian share market has tumbled more than 2 per cent at the open.

Queensland’s health minister Steven Miles said they needed to ensure any outbreak, which the state’s chief health officer said was likely, did not put a strain on the hospital system.

“We will be running theatres through weekends and through the regular Easter shutdown to make sure as many people get treatment as soon as possible,” Mr Miles said.

“We know that our hospitals and intensive care units will be very busy if a coronavirus outbreak occurs … particularly around our usual peak activity in flu season in the middle of the year.”

James Kwan, 78, has been named as the first person to die from the coronavirus. Picture: Supplied

Mr Miles also said two of the three patients repatriated off the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, who had tested positive for coronavirus had been discharged.

However, a 78-year-old man who contracted the virus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship has died.

Western Australia’s chief health officer Andrew Robertson on Sunday confirmed James Kwan died at Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the early hours of the morning.

Mr Kwan was diagnosed with COVID-19 about 10 days ago while in isolation at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory after being quarantined aboard the cruise ship and then flown out of Japan.

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Queensland’s chief health officer Jeanette Young said that anyone who had been overseas in the last two weeks and “have become unwell” should immediately see their GP.

She said the state has already tested 2700 people who had returned from China and they had all been negative but warned that an outbreak was inevitable.

“I expect we will see an outbreak of the epidemic in Queensland,” she told reporters on Sunday.

She added that staff at a Gold Coast beauty salon did not also need to go into quarantine after their colleague was confirmed to have coronavirus after returning from Iran.

The woman returned to Australia from Iran on February 24.

“I’ve got no concerns about the people who were on the plane with that lady who returned from Iran because she was thoroughly well and she only developed full symptoms at 3pm on Thursday,” she said.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young says an outbreak is inevitable.

“I’m very, very comfortable that there is no risk for anyone on the plane she travelled back to Australia with.”

This comes as the virus has spread to 33 new countries in the past nine days — bringing the total number of affected countries to more than 60.

It has wreaked havoc with the global economy and now it has been warned that Australia is one of the nation’s most at-risk.

Donald Trump’s former top economics adviser Kevin Hassett said he predicts the Chinese economy will contract 10 per cent in the first quarter, in annualised terms, pushing Australia’s economy towards recession.

“If the coronavirus is contained relatively soon then China goes back to normal and Australia accumulates some inventories, but they send those inventories to China in April,” Dr Hassett told The Australian Financial Review.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Morrison government has a national coronavirus plan with health authorities anticipating more cases.

“With the international spread of this virus, it is almost inevitable that we will see more cases of COVID-19 in Australia in coming weeks,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

In a further effort to prevent the spread of the virus, the government announced on Saturday that foreign nationals who have been in Iran will be banned from entering Australia for 14 days.

Four new virus cases were confirmed on the weekend involving people who had return to Australia from Iran, before the ban was imposed.

NSW Health confirmed the state’s fifth and six cases as a man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s who both returned to Sydney from Iran.

The two cases are not connected as they arrived on different days and on different aircraft but authorities are asking anyone on the flights to seek an immediate health assessment if they develop any flu-like symptoms. The woman flew back to Sydney via Qatar, arriving on Sunday February 23 on Qatar Airways Flight QR 908.

She developed symptoms the following day and her illness was confirmed on February 29.

The man diagnosed with COVID-19 arrived in Sydney from Iran on February 22 but did not show any symptoms until two days later and was taken to hospital. New cases in Victoria and Queensland were also people who had travelled from Iran.

A Victorian woman was confirmed as testing positive on Sunday after landing in Melbourne on Friday.

“We are particularly concerned about Iran at the moment,’ Chief Medical Officer of Australia Professor Brendan Murphy said.

“It would seem to be the highest risk outside of China and cases from Iran have been exported to a number of countries.” The government is also considering an update to its current travel advice for Italy, where the coronavirus has impacted Lombardy in the country’s north.