Australia has three direct flights from Wuhan each week and while the risk of transmission in Australia remains low, the government has enacted a National Incident Response Centre, and biosecurity screening at the Sydney airport.
The federal government has upgraded its travel advice for China, warning Australians if they travel to Wuhan City to exercise a high degree of caution and if they develop a respiratory illness to seek medical advice.
Scientists at the University of Queensland remain on standby to assist in developing a vaccine should the virus reach emergency pandemic levels.
Molecular Virologist Dr Keith Chappell says they have developed a technology that allows them to create the vaccines very quickly to distribute in the population.
“Best case scenario - this will all blow over and we won’t need to respond at all. Worst case scenario - it will be a pandemic and we will need millions or billions of doses.”
The rapid spread of the disease also led some Chinese Australians to cancel their Lunar New Year travel plans.
