A 95-year-old woman who died in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday night after developing a respiratory illness has been confirmed to have had coronavirus – Australia's second death from the COVID-19 strain so far.
An 82-year-old aged care resident from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge at Macquarie Park, where the 95-year-old woman had previously been, was also diagnosed with the virus yesterday.
The male resident is being treated in hospital. A 50-year-old aged care nurse who had been treating the man remains in hospital after testing positive to COVID-19 yesterday.
© 9News
The nursing home in Sydney where there are fears of a coronavirus outbreak.
Six more cases were confirmed last night, raising the number of NSW cases to 22.
The new cases include an elderly female resident at a Macquarie Park nursing facility, a female doctor who works at Liverpool Hospital, a female patient from the Northern Beaches, a male from Cronulla and a female who is believed to have returned from the Philippines.
"The female doctor who was diagnosed on March 4 had no history of overseas travel. We are immediately establishing which staff and patients may need to self-isolate and be tested for COVID-19 should they be unwell," NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said in a statement.
The national total of confirmed cases is now at 50.
© Macquarie University
A lecturer in the Science and Engineering faculty at Macquarie University is the latest person to fall ill with COVID-19.
Sixty countries have been impacted by the virus which emerged in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province in December last year. Since then there have been 88,000 confirmed cases of the virus, mostly in China.
Australia recorded its first coronavirus death on Sunday after a 78-year-old Perth man succumbed to the illness. Retired travel agent James Kwan died peacefully in the intensive care unit at Sir Charles Gairdner hospital after contracting the virus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Since the tragic death, Australian health authorities have updated their travel advice for Italy, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia, warning Australians to exercise a high level of caution.
© AP/AAP
The majority of new cases are individuals who have been outside Australia recently.
Qantas today cancelled a flight to London after a passenger aboard the plane tested positive to coronavirus.
The Sydney to London flight this evening was cancelled so the plane could be cleaned.
A Qantas spokesperson said the cleaning operation was in addition to the regular cleaning which takes place after each flight.
A lecturer at Macquarie University also today tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home from Iran.
The Science and Engineering faculty staff member became ill shortly after arriving back in Australia and is currently recovering in an isolation ward at Westmead Hospital.
The lecturer had not returned to Macquarie University campus and has had no contact with staff or students.
© 9News
A Sydney nursing home worker has been diagnosed with coronavirus.
"Our staff member became ill following their return from Iran and took immediate steps to seek medical attention," Vice-Chancellor S Bruce Dowton said in a statement to students.
"Our staff member has not been present at Macquarie University's campus since returning from Iran and has had no contact with either staff or students."
Despite Macquarie University being located metres away from Baptist Aged Care, there is no evidence that the lecturer contracted the virus from the aged care worker who also tested positive.
Pictures: Coronavirus (COVID 19) outbreak
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China has been battling an outbreak of a new SARS-like coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, which originated in Wuhan. The virus has claimed over 1,000 lives in mainland China – far surpassing the death toll during the SARS outbreak in 2003 – and infected over 43,000 people around the world. The Chinese government has allocated $144 million to combat the virus. The country and several of its cities are under a travel lockdown as other nations try to contain the spread of the virus, with major airlines suspending their service from and to the Asian nation. Outside of China, the Philippines reported the first death on Feb. 2, 2020, and Hong Kong on Feb. 4. The other 25 countries and regions infected by the novel coronavirus are Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, U.K., U.S. and Vietnam. On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global emergency.
(Pictured) A man in protective gear waits to evacuate residents from a public housing building in Hong Kong on Feb. 11.
Members of the media stand near the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, Japan, on Feb. 11.
People wear masks as a precautionary measure at the Seoul railway station in South Korea on Feb. 10.
A resident wearing a protective face mask looks on at Patan Durbar Square in Patan, Nepal, on Feb. 10.
A Malaysian Royal Guard wears a protective mask as he stands guard outside National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 10.
A woman walks past a sand sculpture depicting people wearing protective masks with a message reading 'Fight against coronavirus, we stand with China' made by Indian artist Sudarsan Pattnaik at Puri beach in Odisha, India, on Feb. 10.
Tourists wearing face masks visit Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 10.
People wear protective masks as they wait to cross the street in Hong Kong on Feb. 10.
A worker wearing a protective suit carries a fogging machine as others prepare to disinfect a business establishment in Shanghai, China, on Feb. 9.
A passenger wearing a mask walks outside the Shanghai railway station in China on Feb. 8.
Workers produce protective clothing at a factory in Wuxi, China, on Feb. 8. The factory, which previously produced suits and sportswear, switched to production of protective clothing as demand increased due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Family members of passengers from the cruise ship World Dream docked at Kai Tak cruise terminal, wave on shore in Hong Kong on Feb. 8. The cruise ship with approximately 1,800 passengers remained quarantined in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on Feb. 8. Several passengers from mainland China on a previous World Dream cruise were found to have the new coronavirus on returning home.
A Hindu devotee wears a mask as she carries a milk pot on her head at a shrine in Batu Caves during the Thaipusam festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 8.
French Health and Solidarity Minister Agnès Buzyn leaves after attending a meeting about the situation of the n-CoV 2019 coronavirus, in Paris, France, on Feb. 8. The minister said that five British nationals including a child have tested positive for the new coronavirus in France.
Tourists wearing face masks line up near a departure gate at the airport in Bali, Indonesia, on Feb. 8. Thousands of Chinese tourists are reportedly stranded in Bali following suspension of all flights to and from China.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the media during a press conference on the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong on Feb. 8. Lam said that the government has bought 48 million masks and received 17 million more from China to counter the shortage of masks in Hong Kong.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has his temperature checked during a visit to a clinic in Gyeonggi, South Korea, on Feb. 8.
People wearing masks walk in a subway station in Hong Kong on Feb. 7.
People look on from the quarantined cruise liner Diamond Princess, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 7. About 64 passengers from the ship have tested positive for the virus. Another ship, the World Dream, has been docked and quarantined at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong. It has 3,600 passengers and crew on board.
Flight attendants wearing protective clothing and masks serve snacks to Canadians, who had been evacuated from China due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus on an American charter plane, on another aircraft taking them to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton from the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, Canada, on Feb. 7.
Nurses check the temperature of visitors at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 5.
Joe Parisi, Dane County executive, discusses the first confirmed case of coronavirus in a Wisconsin resident as Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway looks on during a news conference in Madison, Wisconsin, on Feb. 5.
Workers in protective gear are seen on Japan Coast Guard boats in Yokohama, Japan, on Feb. 5, bringing patients from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant on a street at Namdaemun Market in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 5.
A public health ministry nurse measures the temperature of a passenger arriving from France, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Feb. 4.
Employees wearing face masks are seen at a hotel near Algiers, Algeria, on Feb. 4, where people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, are quarantined as a preventive measure.
Sylvie Briand, director of infectious hazard management department at the World Health Organization (WHO), attends a press conference on the coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 4.
Beds are set up at an exhibition center, which was converted into a hospital, in Wuhan on Feb. 4.
This handout photo released by Malaysia's Ministry of Health shows citizens being directed onto a bus by health officials as they arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia in Feb. 4.
People wear face masks as they go about their daily lives in Singapore on Feb. 4.
Medical workers hold a strike outside the office of Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, as they demand the closure of borders with China, on Feb. 4.
A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 3.
Police walk past signage before the arrival of Myanmar students, who were evacuated on a chartered flight from Wuhan, at the international airport in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb. 2.
Members of the Association for Sri Lanka and China Social and Cultural Cooperation (ASLCSCC) hold candles during a vigil to pray for people who are suffering from coronavirus across the world, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 1.
German Minister for Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (R) and German Minister for Health Jens Spahn give a joint statement in Bonn, Germany, on Feb. 1, on the evacuation of more than 100 German citizens from Wuhan following the coronavirus outbreak.
Arnaud Fontanet, director of global health department at Institut Pasteur, speaks during a news conference over the latest findings on coronavirus in Paris, France, on Jan. 31.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, and Didier Houssin, chair of the emergency committee, at the opening of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee for Pneumonia due to the Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV in Geneva on Jan. 30.
Medical staff with protective clothing are seen inside a ward specialized in treating people who may have been infected with the virus, at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General hospital in Chennai, India, on Jan. 29.
Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference at the United Nations, in Geneva, on Jan. 29.
Passengers arriving on flights wear protective masks at the international airport in Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 29.
Students disinfect their hands before entering class at a school in Phnom Penh, on Jan. 28. Cambodia's health ministry reported the country's first case of coronavirus on Jan. 27.
A woman wearing a protective mask prays at the Lungshan Temple on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 28.
Paramilitary officers wearing face masks stand guard at the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, on Jan. 27.
Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of Ontario (C), speaks as Dr. Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health for the city of Toronto (L) and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, during a press briefing on coronavirus at Queens Park in Toronto, Canada, on Jan. 27. The Ontario health officials announced the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in Toronto, along with a presumptive second case of the virus in the city.
Images captured by a thermographic imaging device to check the temperatures of arriving passengers at a quarantine station are seen on a monitor at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on Jan. 26.
A security force member stands in front of the pandemic center where a suspected case of coronavirus is under observation at Félix Houphouët Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Jan. 26.
A banner placed by Indian health workers is seen during a coronavirus information camp for travelers at an India-Nepal border crossing, near Siliguri, India, on Jan. 26.
(L-R) Sabine Hagenauer of the infection department at the 4th medical department of Kaiser Franz Josef Hospital, Michael Binder, medical director of the Vienna Hospital Association, and Judith Aberle of the department of virology, Medical University Vienna, address a press conference at Kaiser-Franz-Josef hospital in Vienna, Austria, on Jan. 26. A Chinese flight attendant was quarantined in the hospital with symptoms of flu, in what authorities suspected as the first coronavirus case in the country.
A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing, on Jan. 25.
Dozens of diggers work to build a new hospital in Wuhan, on Jan. 25. Due to the large number of infected people, the government decided to establish a temporary 1,000-bed hospital.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam addresses a press conference in Hong Kong on Jan. 25. Announcing a citywide virus emergency, Lam ordered the cancellation of all official trips to mainland China and school shutdown till Feb. 17.
Security personnel wearing hazardous material suits measure body temperatures of passenger at the entrance of a subway station in Beijing on Jan. 25.
A disinfection worker wearing protective gear sprays anti-septic solution in a train at SRT train station in Seoul, on Jan. 24.
Sanitation workers spray a disinfectant at Suseo Station in Seoul, on Jan. 24.
A passenger holds up an Australian Government document pertaining to the coronavirus as passengers arrive at Sydney International Airport in Australia on Jan. 23.
Locals wear face masks while browsing in a store ahead of the Lunar New Year, in Taipei, on Jan. 23, 2020. A day earlier, Taiwan stopped sending tour groups to, or receiving tour groups from Wuhan, China, due to concerns over the cornonavirus outbreak.
Passengers arriving from China are screened at Kolkata International Airport, India, on Jan. 22, 2020. Screening centers have been set up in the Indian cities of Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin apart from three airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to screen for the coronavirus.
People walk next to signage detailing hygienic practices to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 21.
The woman has not left Australia recently and is the third case of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 in the country.
It is feared she could have exposed dozens of elderly residents of the facility to the potentially deadly virus.
The woman tested positive on Tuesday, and the nursing home is working to make contact with visitors to the facility.
Australian Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, said the development is "of concern".
"Public Health New South Wales has been in there overnight and ensuring that all contacts have been traced and the staff members in contact have been in contact and patients will be isolated," he said.
"Obviously, this is a concern for the relatives and for those residents, but in it's in their best interests that they do that."
Australian coronavirus numbers
© AP Photo Vahid Salemi
People wearing face masks walk on a sidewalk, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2020
The investigation comes as six more people have tested positive to the coronavirus across NSW, bringing the total number of those infected in the state to 22 since the outbreak began.
Health Minister Greg Hunt also said if more aged care or hospital workers are needed, they might look at people on leave or who have recently retried who could go back to work.
Meanwhile a fourth South Australian coronavirus victim has been identified.
A 40-year-old woman is the fourth person to test positive to the coronavirus in South Australia after travelling home from Iran.
The woman is currently undergoing interviews at home to determine who she might have been in contact with before her diagnosis.
In Queensland, an eleventh case of coronavirus has been confirmed.
A 26-year-old man from Logan, who had recently returned from Iran, is in isolation in Princess Alexandra Hospital after testing positive to COVID-19.
The man is in a stable condition.
A 52-year-old tourist was confirmed as the Northern Territory's first case of coronavirus yesterday evening, and is being treated in isolation at Royal Darwin Hospital.
The man had recently arrived in Darwin via Sydney, and NT Health says he has had limited contact with the local community, but officials are undertaking contact tracing and will be reaching out to those who may have made contact with him.
Health workers isolated
© AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
Top contenders race during the Tokyo Marathon in Tokyo. Organizers of the Tokyo Marathon reduced the number of participants out of fear of the spread of the coronavirus from China. The general public was essentially barred from the race.
Forty health workers are in quarantine after a doctor at Ryde Hospital in Sydney was diagnosed with coronavirus.
The 53-year-old male doctor is in a stable condition at Westmead Hospital and "going quite well", NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told 9News.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said he had worked at Ryde Hospital and had been in contact with a "diverse range of patients".
Thirteen doctors, 23 nurses and four other health workers have been identified as close contacts of the doctor and are in home isolation.
A further eight patients of the doctor are showing no symptoms, while 29 other patients identified as casual contacts are being chased up.
"We are making sure we get in contact with them and make sure they don't have symptoms," Mr Hazzard said. "It's a bit of a worry."
Flight warning
© Justin McManus
Australians are being urged not to panic-buy after supermarket shelves were stripped of essential products.
NSW Health is alerting passengers who were on five separate flights from Asia in the past week after two men in their 30s, a man in his 50s and two women in their 60s tested positive following their arrival in NSW.
The men in their 30s travelled from Iran, the two women flew from Japan and South Korea respectively, and the man in his 50s was returning from Singapore.
Health authorities are advising passengers who sat near a coronavirus-infected woman on a Dubai-to-Sydney flight to immediately isolate themselves at home.
The woman in her 50s who flew into Australia from Iran on February 23 aboard Qatar Airways flight 908 from Dubai was in seat 43H.
Another locally acquired case in Sydney is a 41-year-old sister of an infected man who recently returned from Iran where the virus is rampant.
Iran traveller quarantine
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the cases in Iran will be "far higher" than is officially confirmed.
The government has asked passengers who have arrived in Australia from Iran to self-quarantine themselves for two weeks at home amid the outbreak.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has told anyone who has returned from the Middle Eastern country since February 19 to self-isolate at home and monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days.
Iran reported its first case on 20 February, and there have now been 1,501 cases and 66 deaths according to official figures.
Earlier this week Iran joined China on the list of two countries Australians should not travel to.
However, there are no further travel bans planned for Australia currently.
"It is not really about blocking people from 90 countries," Chief Medical officer Brendan Murphy said.
"It is about blocking people from the highest risk countries but also making sure that everybody who comes from the wide variety of countries with outbreaks is aware of the risk and takes the appropriate precautions."
Person-to-person transmission
© AP
Disinfecting streets in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak
Person-to-person transmission is the most common way that people get coronavirus.
A nearby cough or sneeze or physical contact with a coronavirus carrier is considered a person-to-person transmission.
If a carrier's cough or sneeze droplets are on a doorknob or table and another person touches it, then touches their mouth or nose, they can easily catch the virus.
The first case of person-to-person transmission in Australia was confirmed on March 2.
Before then, everybody in Australia who had coronavirus had caught it overseas.
In-home tests
NSW Paramedics have offered to conduct in-home tests for coronavirus to help combat the strain on medical centres and hospitals.
Health Services Union NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes made the announcement in a press conference today, while requesting the federal government release $100 million in funding.
"We are normally reluctant to suggest extra duties for the State's already over-stretched paramedic workforce. However, these are not normal times," Mr Hayes said.
"Coronavirus will add massive strain to the flu season by clogging up emergency departments and medical centres.
This also creates an environment for the virus to spread.
"Our paramedic members are prepared to do their bit by lifting their restriction on home diagnoses so they can test for Covid-19.
This will allow potential patients to at least be diagnosed at home and ease the strain on already clogged emergency departments.
"In a spirit of co-operation we also request Treasurer Perrottet release the funds our health system desperately needs.
An additional $100 million needs to be pumped into the health system to cope with this extraordinary state of affairs.
"Together we can overcome coronavirus."
– Reported with AAP
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