Health authorities ramp up coronavirus advice as seventh Australian case confirmed

Health authorities have ramped up advice to help stop the spread of coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases in Australia rises to seven.

Anyone who has recently returned to Australia after visiting Hubei province is now asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

It’s an escalation on the previous quarantine advice, which recommended only those in direct contact with people with confirmed cases of coronavirus, or those showing symptoms who had travelled to the province, need be isolated.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the change has come as a result of evidence that infected people can spread the disease before showing symptoms.

“We had gone into this with an expectation that it wouldn’t be contagious before symptoms,” he said.

The stronger health regulations come after a second confirmed case of coronavirus was detected in Victoria.

Health officials said a man in his 60s tested positive on Wednesday.

He had travelled to Wuhan.

The man attended a Glen Waverley restaurant called The House Of Delight on Saturday, January 26.

Health officials are trying to contact other diners.

Mr Sutton said the chance other diners were infected is “very, very low”.

A Queensland man has also tested positive for coronavirus. The 44-year-old Chinese national is in isolation at Gold Coast University Hospital.

The man was aboard Tiger Airways flight TT566 from Melbourne to the Gold Coast on January 27.

Anyone aboard that flight is urged to contact health authorities.

The confirmations bring the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia to seven.

It comes as the number of confirmed cases in China has also risen sharply, to almost 6000.

Chinese authorities say 132 people have died from the virus.

The World Health Organisation is meeting today to reconsider whether the coronavirus outbreak meets the threshold for a global health emergency.

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Image: Mark Ralston / Getty