WHO declares global emergency over coronavirus as Beijing evacuation deal nears

The World Health Organisation has declared an international emergency in the face of an ‘unprecedented outbreak’.

The World Health Organisation has declared the coronavirus a global health emergency as the death toll reached 213 and cases leapt to almost 10,000.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision on Friday morning after a meeting of its emergency committee in Geneva. The decision came amid mounting evidence of the virus’ spread to some 18 countries, with 9692 cases confirmed in China the biggest one day leap so far..

Dr Ghebreyesus told reporters that recent weeks had witnessed an unprecedented outbreak that needed a global response.

“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries,” Dr Ghebreyesus told reporters.

“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”

The announcement came as Rome cancelled all air traffic between Italy and China, the UK increased the risk level of the virus from low to moderate and the US announced its first person to person transmission. Experts have noted with concern human to human transmission in several other countries, including China, Japan, Germany, Canada and Vietnam.

The US case was the husband of a Chicago woman who got sick from the virus after she returned from Wuhan.

A declaration of a global emergency typically brings greater money and resources, but may also prompt nervous governments to restrict travel and trade to affected countries. The announcement also imposes more disease reporting requirements on countries.

The crisis has hit the cruise industry, with 7000 people being held on board a locked down cruise ship at an Italian port due to a suspected case of the virus.

The Costa Smeralda, owned by Carnival, has been blocked in the port of Civitavecchia after a 54-year-old Chinese national and her husband were isolated after the woman displayed symptoms which sparked concerns she had possibly contracted the deadly virus.

People rush to buy masks in Hong Kong as a preventative measure after a virus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Picture: AFP

Virus evac deal with Beijing close

The Morrison government on Thursday night was close to reaching a deal with Beijing to evacuate up to 600 Australians from the coronavirus epicentre of Hubei province to quarantine them on Christmas Island.

Preventive measures within Australia tightened on Thursday as it emerged that more than 170 passengers on a flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast had been exposed to a 44-year-old Chinese traveller infected with the deadly virus.

All 172 passengers aboard the Tigerair flight will be contacted by health authorities and warned about the threat while passengers seated within two rows of the man could be forced into ­isolation by Queensland’s Health Department.

The World Health Organisation has urged the “whole world to be on alert” over the deadly new strain that has now spread to every province of China.

Victoria recorded its third case of coronavirus and Queensland its second late on Thursday, taking the number of people infected in Australia to nine.

The plan to send Australian evacuees from China to Christmas Island continued to attract controversy after it was revealed passengers would be expected to pay $1000 each for their flights.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne spoke on Thursday to her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and government sources said they were optimistic the deal would “not take days and days”.

“I have spoken with my Chinese counterpart, State Councillor Wang,” Senator Payne said in a statement. “I conveyed our readiness to help at this difficult time and thanked him for China’s co-operative approach.

“We covered numerous issues (and) I advised him of our request to assist in the departure of Australians from Wuhan.”

A Chinese woman aged in her 40s is now in isolation at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She had been holidaying in Victoria for about a week before being struck down by the virus. As of Thursday, there were two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Queensland and four in NSW.

Two Australian citizens in China have also been infected.

Health authorities in Queensland on Thursday tested 41 people for the coronavirus, including eight people travelling in the same group as the Chinese man confirmed to be infected with the disease on the Gold Coast. All 41, who were spread throughout Queensland, had been to China in the past 14 days and ­reported respiratory issues.

NSW Health said a further 20 cases were under investigation in the state and 50 had been cleared.

A national incident room has been set up in Canberra to co-­ordinate the states’ approach to dealing with the issue.

The Morrison government on Thursday defended its plans to send Chinese evacuees to Christmas Island for 14 days and make them pay up to $1000 to get out of the quarantine zone in Hubei.

Australian Medical Assistance Teams from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre will be sent to Christmas Island to process repatriated Australians arriving from Wuhan. The centre’s executive director, Leonard Notaras, said all evacuees would be monitored at a demountable hospital for two weeks and those found to be particularly ill could be transferred to Western Australia or their home cities.

Christmas Island administrator Fiona Griggs said the quarantine centre was “quite a distance from the township” on Christmas Island. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said it was normal procedure for evacuees to cover their own costs. “People have to pay for the flight from China back to Australia. That’s, as I’m advised by DFAT, the normal way in which these things occur, and that will be the limit of the contribution,” Mr Dutton said.

Anthony Albanese, the Australian Medical Association and Labor-aligned Christmas Island shire president Gordon Thomson have all blasted the Christmas ­Island plan. The Chinese women’s soccer team remains in isolation in a Brisbane hotel after arriving on a flight from Singapore on Wednesday. The team had visited the city of Wuhan, where the virus originated. Dr Young said the players and staff were “all fine” and being kept in isolation as a precaution.