Australia on coronavirus alert

China’s disclosure that the new coronavirus discovered in Wuhan can be spread through human-to-human contact adds urgency to the need to prevent it from reaching our shores. A Brisbane man returning from China was placed in quarantine but deemed on Tuesday not to be a public risk.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy’s announcement that passengers on the three direct flights from Wuhan to Sydney each week will be subjected to triple health checks is a sensible start. With 160 flights landing in Australia each week from China, and authorities revealing the severe acute respiratory syndrome-type pathogen has spread from Wuhan to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen since December 31, vigilance is essential.

Cases also have been reported in Japan, Thailand and South Korea, all involving travellers from Wuhan, where the fish and meat market is the outbreak’s epicentre. Qualifying rounds for the 2020 Olympic women’s football tournament are to be held in Wuhan, with Australia’s Matildas to play on February 3, 6 and 9. At this stage Chinese authorities say they have no intention to move the tournament, a decision that should be reviewed.

Chinese figures put the number of people infected at 218, with four deaths. But researchers at Imperial College London suspect the number infected could be as high as 1700. About 700 people died and 8000 were infected in the 2002-03 SARS outbreak. With the World Health Organisation meeting to consider declaring an international emergency, the full extent of the outbreak is likely to emerge from Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations starting on Saturday. With an estimated 400 million people leaving Chinese cities to visit their families for the holiday, there are fears that, as with SARS in 2002, the mass migration could accelerate the virus’s spread.