Coronavirus: Australia bans travellers from Iran

Iran has joined China on Australia’s banned list, as hunt begins for up to 40 people who may have been infected by a Gold Coast beautician.

The federal government has banned foreign nationals from entering Australia from Iran, where officially at least 43 people have died from coronavirus as of Saturday night, in a bid to curb the spread of the flu-like disease.

Iran now joins China on the government’s ‘do not travel’ list. The Iran travel ban comes just days after the government extended the ban on people coming from China for a further week.

From Sunday, Australian citizens and permanent residents who have travelled to Iran will be required to self-isolate, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced on Saturday.

The travel advisory was being raised to “do not travel” following a case of a 63-year-old Gold Coast woman whose coronavirus was undetected on leaving Iran.

The 63-year-old beautician returned to Australia on Monday, but began feeling ill on Thursday while at work.

She saw up to 40 people at the Hair Plus salon at Australia Fair at Southport.

Queensland’s chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young said because most of the contact the woman had with each customer was less than 15 minutes, the risk she had passed on the virus was “incredibly low”.

But customers are being urged to come forward after the beautician became the ninth Queenslander — and 25th Australian — to contract coronavirus.

“Our advice is please proceed with your lives as normal,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said after announcing the ban on foreigners coming from Iran.

“The travel advice on Iran will be lifted to level four, which is do not travel.”

He would not rule out further travel bans, saying the government would follow the guidance of medical experts.

“Our advice is clear, categorical and medically based.

“The general community in Australia is safe … but we are not immune.

“We are as well prepared as any country in the world.”

Iran is preparing for the possibility of “tens of thousands” of people getting tested for the new coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases spiked again Saturday, an official said, underscoring the fear both at home and abroad over the outbreak in the Islamic Republic.

The virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes have killed 43 people out of 593 confirmed cases in Iran, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said.

He disputed a report by the BBC’s Persian service citing anonymous medical officials in Iran putting the death toll at over four times as much. But the number of known cases versus deaths would put the virus’ death rate in Iran at over 7 per cent, much higher than other countries.

That has worried experts at the World Health Organisation and elsewhere that Iran may be under-reporting the number of cases now affecting it.

Meanwhile Queensland’s chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young said while health officials were in the process of contacting the Southport salon customers, not everyone was accounted for.

“We know that they haven’t got records of all of these clients because a lot pay by cash,” she said.

Dr Young asked anyone who visited the salon from 11am on Thursday to contact Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH).

She said because most of the contact the 63-year-old had with each customer was less than 15 minutes, the risk she had passed on the virus was “incredibly low”. The woman, who returned to Australia from Iran on February 24, went home from work on Thursday as soon as she developed symptoms.

She then got tested at GCUH, where she remains in isolation. Dr Young said the beautician was to be commended for her actions. “This is what we need everyone to do,” she said.

“If you’ve been overseas and you come back to Queensland and feel unwell with any symptom, then go and get that advice.” Dr Young said given the increasing number of countries where Covid-19 had been found, people couldn’t know which places were at risk and which weren’t.

“We know that we’ll be seeing a pandemic result through the world,” she said. “It’s not been declared yet but we know that we’ll be seeing an epidemic here in Queensland eventually.” However, both Dr Young and Queensland Health Minister Steve Miles said coronavirus remained contained across the state.

Elderly people, particularly those over the age of 80, as well as those with health issues like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease are most at risk of developing Covid-19.

The total number of Australians who have contracted coronavirus now stands at 25.

According to the federal health department there are 84,117 cases worldwide and 2872 reported deaths.

Overnight, the World Heath Organisation increased the risk of the spread of the disease to “very high”, with the number of countries now infected rising to 55.

With AAP