‘Cease handshaking’: Coronavirus precaution urged

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard has asked residents to stop shaking hands with others - and instead greet people with a “pat on the back” – after confirming Australia's first person-to-person coronavirus transmissions.

An aged-care worker has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Source: AAP

Hazzard confirmed on Monday afternoon three new cases of COVID-19, two of which had a "high likelihood of transmission” in the state.

One of those cases was a sister of a man who had returned from Iran with the disease, while the other was a 53-year-old male doctor who hadn't left Australia in the past three months.

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