Coronavirus: Global emergency declared

Brian from New Lynn

It's been revealed that it only takes 15 minutes for the deadly coronavirus to pass from one person to another – as a ninth person has been diagnosed in Australia. According to NSW Health advice, people are now at risk of catching the virus if they spend a quarter of an hour in close contact, such as a face-to-face conversation, or two hours in the same confined space with an infected person. And now Chinese health authorities have confirmed that, contrary to earlier belief, patients are contagious even before they develop symptoms. This means that potentially thousands of people could have been exposed to the coronavirus in Australia by the country's nine confirmed patients alone.
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No New Zealand patients have been diagnosed and there are no suspected cases, according to the Ministry of Health.
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Four people in Sydney, three in Melbourne and two on the Gold Coast have contracted the deadly virus in recent weeks. NSW Health has so far tested 50 people that have returned negative results, and 20 more are under investigation. In Queensland 44 people are being tested. At least a day passed after they arrived before they developed flu-like symptoms and went to hospital. So far it is believed to be spread by a droplet in a cough or a sneeze, similar to how influenza is passed on. "Coronavirus may not be the easiest infection to get but it can be transmitted in several ways," he said. It could also be spread via contaminated surfaces if someone touches their nose or mouth after touching a surface that has been coughed or sneezed on by an infected person.
The disease has killed 170 people and infected more than 7500 in China.
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