Dutton insists he was not contagious in cabinet

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who is in isolation with his family after he was diagnosed with coronavirus, says has been advised he posed no risk to others during his recent trip to the White House and at a cabinet meeting this week.

Mr Dutton said on radio Saturday that he is "feeling much better" and is receiving "excellent care" at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital after testing positive to COVID-19.

He says his fever is gone and his temperature is down and his throat "probably still a bit sore".

"I have had asthma since I was a child, so they were a bit worried about that, but they think my lungs are clear. So all pretty good at the moment," Mr Dutton told Sydney radio 2GB.

He said he was immediately conscious of coronavirus because of the briefings he had received through the National Security Committee and through media reports.

Mr Dutton said his wife Kirrily and children were self-isolating but had thankfully not shown any signs of having contracted the virus.

He had provided names and contact numbers of people with whom he had been in close contact in recent days and said authorities were "most concerned" about people with whom he had spent more than two hours since the morning of March 11.

He said he had "very clear" medical advice that during his recent trip to the White House and Tuesday's cabinet meeting he had posed no harm to others.

"I woke up in the early hours of Friday morning with a fever and a sore throat and a slight shortness of breath, but ... probably nothing more than I would have with a change in weather as an asthmatic," he said.

"Everybody's experience will be different, but that is mine."

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy on Saturday said Mr Dutton was very unlikely to have been contagious with COVID-19 during the cabinet meeting, meaning others who came into contact with him would not need to isolate themselves.

Professor Murphy told reporters that no members of cabinet were in close contact with Mr Dutton within 24 hours of him becoming infectious.

"I can assure you that Minister Dutton developed his symptoms yesterday morning. A long time after the Tuesday cabinet meeting," Professor Murphy said.

"Our case definition across the board is you are only a close contact if you have been in close contact 24 hours of someone becoming symptomatic or after they've become symptomatic. No members of cabinet were in contact with Minister Dutton within 24 hours of him becoming symptomatic," he said.

"If you've been in contact with them two or three days before they're symptomatic they are very, very, very unlikely to be infectious so we don't believe that you need to quarantine."

His comments came as Australia recorded its 200th case of COVID-19 on Saturday morning.

Professor Murphy also said school closures were not warranted at present.

"At this stage we don't think school closures are on the horizon. They are certainly something that could be considered if there's a community outbreak," Professor Murphy said.

"The interesting aspect about schools is that children don't seem to get much in the way of infection and if they do, they get very mild infection. At this stage we don't feel that school closures are warranted."

Updated health advice for Australians

The symptoms of coronavirus include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath; and
• Breathing difficulties

If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.

Authorities would continue to focus testing for the virus on specific groups, he said.

"I want to emphasise that because community transmission is so low at the moment, we are focusing our testing on returned travellers or contacts of confirmed cases who are symptomatic," he said.

"We don't want people with an ordinary cold getting tested. We are working very hard to ensure that we have enough testing equipment.

Hospitals were planning for sufficient critical care capacity if a number of people get a severe disease, he said.

"We've got plans to stop elective surgery, expand and open beds, find extra workforce. All of those plans are well advanced," Professor Murphy said.