Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A question for the Minister for Health: will the minister update the House on what actions the Morrison government is taking to protect Australians' health from the outbreak of the coronavirus?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bowman, who has been a great advocate for public health and a practitioner of public health all of his life. Earlier today we were provided with the latest figures that there are 44,754 cases of coronavirus worldwide. Sadly, there are now 1,112 people who have lost their lives to coronavirus. In Australia the number of cases remains at 15. As I said previously, five have now cleared the virus, which is a very positive development. In addition to that, there is ongoing testing around the country, where there are any cases which might be suspected or in many cases which are merely possibilities. At the facility at Howard Springs, 13 cases have been tested and found negative. It was a low probability from the outset, but the AUSMAT team, in conjunction with NT Health, was not taking chances. Their view is that they would rather test every single possible case than put anybody at risk of not being treated early. Equally, on Christmas Island we have now had three cases tested. All have been found to be negative. Two have been double-confirmed on that; the third is waiting the double confirmation from the reference laboratory.

The real point here is that we have in place a system in Australia which, at this point—and I stress: at this point—is containing the spread. We have seen in Hubei province some extraordinary human hardship, as well as the loss of life, where it has not been contained. Chinese authorities have moved to contain it to Hubei. We as a country have moved to ensure that we have the strongest containment practices in place. Part of that has been what we have done with our border arrangements, and I thank everybody involved for their work on that front—in particular, our medical professionals, who have acted early. As part of that, we have made available today an additional 300,000 surgical masks to GPs, to medical professionals and to chemists, not for sale, but for their use and for the use of any of their customers whom they believe might be at risk.

For that reason, we've had a great national task, with support from states and territories, with support from medical practitioners and with support from people on all sides, so I thank everybody. I'm also aware that there are those on board cruise ships abroad. With the foreign minister and DFAT we have agreed to set up support for some who may have mental health challenges in this circumstance. Being confined to a small situation can be deeply distressing. They could be fearful about their health. They could be suffering from anxiety or other conditions. So, over the course of the next 24 hours, to get ahead of any risks, we are setting those facilities up. I thank everybody and say that our job is to protect Australians, and we're doing that. (Time expired)

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—On behalf of the opposition I thank the minister for organising the comprehensive briefing we had yesterday with the Chief Medical Officer, myself and the shadow minister for health. The shadow minister for health has had regular briefings on this matter. This is a critical national interest matter, and I thank the minister for the professional way in which he has conducted himself and his office.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.