New coronavirus has hit Australia as it confirmed first case on Saturday, which claimed 41 lives in China; and becoming the latest country in a growing list the illness affected.
The government said the sick man arrived in Melbourne from China a week ago; from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Authorities in Victoria state have followed “strict protocols; including isolating the affected person,” said Professor Brendan Murphy, Australia’s chief medical officer.
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“I understand the patient has pneumonia; and is in a stable condition.”
The previously unknown 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) assumed its origination in a market in Wuhan; where exotic animals and bushmeat were sold.
It has infected around 1,300 people in China and spread to almost a dozen other territories; including France and the United States.
The virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome); which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Health experts say they recorded some human-to-human transmission; particularly in Wuhan, a city of 11 million now under lockdown in a bid to limit the spread of the disease.
Australian health minister Greg Hunt said they contacted passengers who travelled on the same Melbourne-bound plane; with the infected man “to provide them with information and advice”.
