The highly populated city is also on internal lockdown with all transport networks halted to stunt the spread of the deadly virus. News
"This is an evolving and complex situation," he added. "Our team in China is working with local experts and officials to investigate the outbreak." He was speaking after the WHO held a day-long meeting of an independent panel of experts in Geneva on Wednesday.
In Australia, health professionals will check passengers as they arrive in Sydney from Wuhan after number of deaths has risen to 17 - nearly doubling in the last 24 hours. A number of Australians have been tested for the virus and cases have also been confirmed in Japan, Thailand and South Korea. Biosecurity measures have been ramped up for flights arriving into Australia from China and Wuhan in particular. The sprawling capital of central China's Hubei province is the epicentre of the coronavirus which is thought to have started in animals before spreading to humans. The three flights Sydney receives from Wuhan each week will be closely monitored, starting today when biosecurity staff at Sydney Airport will assess any arrivals who feel unwell.The crack team will include four NSW Health doctors and nurses experienced in public health and infection control alongside virology experts from Westmead Hospital and elsewhere. The team will wear masks and gloves when examining anyone with symptoms, NSW Health protection executive director Jeremy McAnulty said. "If it looks like they may have an infection ... we can arrange for testing and management of that person right away," Dr McAnulty said. Experts at Westmead Hospital can rapidly diagnose patients although if someone is very unwell they could be taken to a hospital closer to the airport. Dr McAnulty says identifying potential carriers at the airport is "not foolproof by any means" because people who've been exposed to the virus may not display symptoms for days. Queensland Health yesterday confirmed a man who had been isolated after returning from visiting family in the Chinese city of Wuhan does not have the virus. Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says it's possible the virus will reach Australia, but insists the nation is equipped to respond. Australia's foreign affairs department says anyone travelling to Wuhan should "exercise a high degree of caution" while in the city. Health Minister Greg Hunt said authorities had powers to take those who may be suffering from symptoms directly to hospital. "But we expect that any passengers that do have issues will self-report because it's in their own interests," Mr Hunt said.The city on Tuesday said it had installed infrared thermometers at airports, railway and bus stations and was disinfecting public transport vehicles daily. Chinese authorities have urged people in Wuhan to avoid crowds and public gatherings, after warning that a virus that has killed at least 17 could spread. The virus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, was discovered in the metropolis of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, in late December. Chinese officials had earlier counted 470 people infected across the country, with concerns that the number could spiral in the days ahead. Hundreds of thousands are expected to travel from major cities to family homesteads for the Lunar New Year celebration. Incidents of the disease have also been reported in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the US, as well as in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau. Chinese authorities have confirmed a new strain of coronavirus that originated in the nation can be transmitted between humans. Several countries increased border health checks to guard against the disease's spread, including Australia, the US, the UK and Russia. North Korea has temporarily closed its border to all foreign tourists in response to the outbreak, according to a travel agency that operates tours to the country. The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome , a disease that killed 800 people globally in a 2002-03 pandemic that also started in China. Scientists in China said the new coronavirus may have been transmitted during the illegal trade of wild animals. China's Disease Control and Prevention Centre director Gao Fu said the virus is believed to have originated at a market in Wuhan, from where it mutated and became transmissible from person to person. "From what we know, the source was the wild animals sold at the seafood market," Gao told journalists on Wednesday.
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