New suspected coronavirus case on Christmas Island

This photo confirms another Australian has been isolated in quarantine on Christmas Island and is suspected to have the coronavirus.

A second Australian has been isolated in quarantine on Christmas Island and is suspected to have the coronavirus.

The Australian took photos of two female army personnel delivering the adult’s test sample at about 3.30pm local time (7.30pm AEDT), marked with the words “diagnostic specimen”.

A Caronavirus test sample is taken to a waiting RAAF Hercules at Christmas Island airport. Picture: Colin Murty/The Australian

A spokesman from the Australian Border Force told the outlet that the specimen was being sent to the mainland for a coronavirus test.

He said it came from an adult who was isolated in their room at the detention centre until the test result came back.

He noted the test was “precautionary” and the likelihood that the person had the coronavirus was low.

It is the second known test ordered since the first Australians were rescued from the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan, in Hubei province, on February 3.

There are 544 Australian citizens and permanent residents in 14 days of quarantine on Christmas Island and in a former workers’ camp outside Darwin.

One girl was isolated in the centre last Friday after she developed flu-like symptoms, prompting a coronavirus test to be ordered by the Australian Medical Assistance Team. The test was negative.

RELATED: Follow updates on the coronavirus outbreak

DEATH TOLL CONTINUES TO SOAR

China’s national death toll from the virus rose by 97 to 908 on Sunday, with another 3062 new cases reported. That was up 15 per cent from Saturday and broke a string of daily declines.

On Friday, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was “good news” the number of reported cases had been declining.

But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned not to read too much into the data, saying the numbers “could go up again”.

More than 40500 people have now been infected with the virus globally, including 15 in Australia.

China’s national death toll from the virus rose by 97 to 908 on Sunday. Picture: Dale De La Rey/AFP

In the United Kingdom, the virus was declared a “serious and imminent threat” by the government on Monday after its number of cases doubled from four to eight amid fears of a “super spreader” who may have infected many with the disease.

The declaration means anyone with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined and sent into isolation if they are deemed to pose a public health threat.

The new patients who tested positive in Britain are all known contacts of a previously confirmed case – who is believed to have caught the virus at a work conference in Singapore.

He then travelled with five Britons, including a 9-year-old boy, to the French Alpine ski town of Contamines-Montjoie for a holiday

A medical centre in Brighton said Monday it had temporarily closed for “an urgent operational health and safety reason”.

The BBC and Sky News said one of the centre’s staff members had tested positive for the virus, although this was not officially confirmed.

Meanwhile, French medical authorities tested 45 children and their families from the area on Sunday and temporarily closed three schools.

— with wires