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Kiwis celebrating Lunar New Year mindful of those battling coronavirus in China

France and Australia confirmed cases of the deadly virus today.

One of the most important dates on the Chinese calendar was celebrated today in New Zealand, the Lunar New Year, but the coronavirus outbreak was front of mind for those attending events in Wellington.

Dragons Restaurant’s Eric Kong said he was wishing for good health for everyone in the Year of the Rat.

“I think the situation over in China’s quite sad because during this annual celebration all those that are in Wuhan, they're quite stuck in the situation that they have… we are praying for those that are over in China at the moment.

“Quite a lot of them have stuck to New Zealand but those that have gone back, it’s a situation where we’re not sure if they can get out of that in time for school,” he said.

Emily Jin, whose family live in northern China, said they are all “very concerned.”

“They’re wearing the face mask and that’s the basic precaution, other than that it’s not too bad in my part of China for now but we just still keeping in mind to be careful,” she said.

A 1000-bed prefabricated hospital is expected to be built in under 10 days in the city of Wuhan, where medical facilities are currently overwhelmed due to the outbreak.

A dozen cities have been quarantined, affecting more than 30 million people.

There are 1287 cases confirmed in China so far, with the death toll rising to 41 people currently.

Auckland parent Hannah Boshoff said she wants to see her son’s primary, Willowbank School, require students that have travelled to places the virus has spread to over the holidays to stay away for two weeks, not just a week.

“Just in case they have any flu symptoms. I think the best will be if the administration, teachers and everybody can work together and get in place to see who actually have been travelling, maybe check passports.”

Ms Boshoff said she is scared her kids and school teachers will catch the virus, after hearing how quickly it has spread overseas this week.

“Everybody’s just asking when are the kids going back, what are the schools going to do, are we going to check other kids, how are we going to tell our kids what to look out for at school, just to make them aware of it as well but in a friendly matter,” she said.

Auckland Hospital’s Mark Thomas explained to Breakfast how the deadly illness has spread.

Botany Downs Secondary College Principal Karen Brinsden said the school nurse is ready to carry out preliminary health checks on any international students from affected areas that have been able to travel to New Zealand next week.

“If we have any concerns we’ll be asking them to see a local doctor and we’ll take it from there,” Mrs Brinsden said.

“We’ve got a significant Asian domestic community and we have had a communication from a family on Friday to say that they’ve recently returned and they’re going to be keeping their child at home for the seven days, as suggested.

"He was actually asking us to contact other parents to do likewise however with the domestic community, we don’t know at the moment who has travelled to those regions.”

Parents of domestic and international students have been advised by the school to delay travel back to New Zealand if their child has a high temperature or other flu symptoms.

Those that have been in affected areas over the holidays have been asked to notify the school so a database can be created and information can be passed on to them.

University of Auckland association professor for biological sciences Siouxsie Wiles said while there is a lot of unknown factors about the virus, the chances of an outbreak in New Zealand are still low.

Ms Wiles said people need to put the outbreak in perspective with other outbreaks New Zealand has recently experienced and that there was “no need for hysteria.”

She said people should trust in the approach of authorities such as the Ministry of Health but be mindful of viral symptoms, and isolate people if they’re presenting with symptoms.

The outbreak has now spread outside Asia to the United States, France and Melbourne, Australia.

Jenny Mikakos, health minister for the Australian state of Victoria, said the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Australia is of a Chinese national who had been in the city of Wuhan for two weeks prior to the onset of his illness.

“He’s in a stable condition with a respiratory illness,” she said.

Australian chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy refuted claims that China is downplaying the scale of the outbreak when asked by Australian media.

“I don’t believe that there’s any evidence that they’re not being open and transparent,” he said.

The Ministry of Health took part in a teleconference with Australian authorities today, director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay said in a statement.

"At this point, it's important to stress the risk to New Zealand from this first case in Australia appears very low as the patient has had very limited contact with anyone in Australia since arrival and followed advice that was given at the border regarding to seeking medical attention if unwell," she stated.

She stated that the situation in New Zealand remains unchanged and the Ministry of Health will remain in close contact with Australia, as authorities contact passengers on the same flight as the man who spread coronavirus to Melbourne.

People who become sick within a month of their arrival in New Zealand are asked to seek medical advice and share their travel history, Dr McElnay said.

"It is important to mention recent travel from Wuhan and any known contact with someone with severe acute respiratory illness who has been in Wuhan," she stated.

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