In the last few days, the situation in China seemed to be under control, but the virus has quickly spread to over 90 countries, especially Korean, Italy and Iran. Of a total of 43,700 active cases, 22,000 (or 50%) are outside China.
Over 3,500 people have died, more are dying and even more suffering in a way or another. We have to be on guard with the greatest concern.
Following are the official statistics of the COVID-19 outbreak as at 8th March, 2020:
| Country/Region | Total infected | Recovered | Deaths |
| China | 80,652 | 55,521 | 3,070 |
| South Korea | 7,041 | 118 | 48 |
| Italy | 5,883 | 589 | 233 |
| Iran | 5,823 | 1,669 | 145 |
| France | 949 | 12 | 18 |
| Germany | 800 | 18 | 0 |
| Total | 105,965 | 58,628 | 3,569 |
(Sources: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/)
The Australian responses
- Australian Emergency Health Response Plan – Amid fears the coronavirus outbreak will soon be declared a global pandemic, the Government has activated its Emergency Health Response Plan.
The Plan has three levels: Low, medium and high. Currently, it is at low-to-medium level.
If the situation reaches the high level, the following actions will be taken place:
- Large gatherings cancelled
- People have to work from home
- Aged care homes locked down and childcare centres closed
- Economic stimulus package – Last week, the Government has announced an economic stilulus package worth nearly 10 billion dolar to deal with the coronavirus breakout.
- Chinese Travel Ban – The Australian Government has extended travelling ban of non-Australian residents from China to 14 March, 2020.
- Iranian and Korean Travel Bans – The Government has imposed a travelling ban on non-Australian residents from Iran effective from 29 February, 2020 and Korea on Thursday 5 March 2020.
- Restricted travelling from Italy – The Government also added additional precautions for travellers from Italy.
- Highschool closure – The first major domestic institute casualty of the outbreak is Epping Boys’ Highschool. The 1,200 pupils of the school had to stay home for 14 days from Friday 6th March after a 16-year-old boy was diagnosed as having the virus on Thursday night.