Australia has initiated an emergency plan to deal with the global coronavirus outbreak.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the move late on Thursday.
“Based on the expert medical advice we have received, there is every indication that the world will soon enter a pandemic phase of the coronavirus,” he said.
“As a result we have agreed today and initiated the information of the
coronavirus and emergency response plan.”
The plan means the government can move quickly if the World Health Organisation declares the escalating outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic, as is expected within days.
As part of the new plan, the government has extended the travel ban on people coming from China for a further week.
“We believe the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us and as a result as a government we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic,” Mr Morrison said.
The emergency plan includes preparations for extra controls at airports and ports, further quarantine measures and detailing how schools should react to any widespread outbreak.
“There is no evidence before us that children are at any greater risk,” Mr Morrison said.
“But we do believe, to take care of our kids, that we needed an even greater abundance of caution to ensure that should the coronavirus
move to a extreme level … that we have the preparedness and arrangements in place.”
The federal government’s move comes as more than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed around the world. They include the first diagnosed case in the US of a patient who has no travel pattern related to COVID-19, nor any contact with anyone who has.
Mainland China still accounts for the vast number of cases, and deaths, but the outbreak is now spreading faster outside China than inside it. There are more recent outbreaks of growing concern in Italy, Iran, France, Germany and Brazil.
-more to come
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