Victorian hospitals are preparing to treat potentially “tens of thousands” of patients as a tenth Queensland coronavirus case was confirmed, taking the total number of people in Australia testing positive to the deadly disease to 34.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said a 20-year-old man from China, living with a housemate in Toowong, was in a stable condition in isolation in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
She said the man had travelled to Dubai for at least two weeks before entering Australia and recently returned to Brisbane.
“We are working closely with relevant authorities to undertake contact tracing.
“We are in contact with the male’s housemate, who is undergoing assessment.
“Our contact tracing methods are tried and trusted and we will take every opportunity to raise awareness of this case in the community if there has been any community exposure.”
‘Tens of thousands’ needing care
Meanwhile, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, touring the Doherty Institute on Tuesday morning with state health minister Jenny Mikakos, said at some point the current containment strategy would end as the virus spread.
“If we get to what many believe to be an inevitable pandemic phase – so where containment no longer works and we finish up with more and more transmission at a local level – we’ll have tens of thousands of people who will need care,” Mr Andrews said.
“Some will be able to get that care in primary care settings, some may need because of underlying conditions or the severity of their case, they’ll need to be admitted to hospitals.
“That’s why we’re creating additional space, doing that detailed planning work, so that the inevitable large number of people who will be presenting to hospitals who wouldn’t normally be there can have every confidence that they’ll get the very best care possible.”
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged people to “go about their lives” as the country’s chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy there was no reason to “panic buy”.
“I am looking forward to getting to places of mass gathering, particularly if it involves my football team playing, or going to kids’ concerts or doing any of these things.
“Australians should continue to go about their lives and our normal way and just exercise commonsense,” he said.
Dr Murphy said the small numbers of cases were “controlled”.
“The community can be reassured that there is no reason to change normal behaviours, no reason to go and panic by and do things that are unnecessary. We are working very closely as a unified health system to deal with this issue,” he said.
Chinese students bypass China travel ban
A student accommodation business has told AAP Chinese students are bypassing the China travel ban by spending two weeks in other countries before entering Australia.
Student One CEO Tim Weston said it was working with more than 150 students with who were still in China and had deferred bookings.
“We have not had any students arriving directly from China, however a couple of Chinese students have arrived having spent at least 14 days in other countries,” Mr Weston said.
“We anticipate a very small number may arrive having spent 14 or more days outside of China in another country, however, we anticipate that the vast majority will arrive once the ban is lifted.”
There are now ten people in Queensland with the virus, including three people transferred last month from the Diamond Princess cruise ship which was docked in Japan.
A 63-year-old woman is in isolation in a stable condition at Gold Coast University Hospital.
The remaining eight patients have been cleared and discharged from hospital.
“The male has recently returned to Brisbane and we are working closely with relevant authorities to undertake contact tracing,” Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said in a statement.
“The male lived with one other housemate in Toowong. We are in contact with the male’s housemate, who is undergoing assessment.
-with AAP
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