Queenslanders are being urged to remain calm as the state government intensifies its efforts to protect the community from the coronavirus.

February 3, 2020

The Queensland government has ramped up efforts to combat the coronavirus threat while urging concerned people to remain calm.

All flights from China and Hong Kong are now being met by health staff, who are screening passengers for symptoms.

“A team of nurses (will) assess every single individual to make sure they are well,” Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young told reporters.

“They will check their temperature to make sure they don’t have a fever.”

The passengers will then be required to quarantine themselves for 14 days if they were in mainland China on February 1.

Flights from China are expected to begin “significantly” decreasing after the federal government imposed a travel ban on people from the mainland.

Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members will be permitted to enter the country, however.

“Fever clinics” have also begun opening to test people concerned they may have contracted the virus from other patients.

Despite this, Dr Young urged the public not to be anxious.

She said people will not contract the virus unless they have been to mainland China or come into contact with a person who has contracted it.

There have been 12 coronavirus cases diagnosed in Australia. Two of those are in Queensland.

A 44-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman from Hubei Province who were confirmed to have the virus are recovering in a stable condition in Gold Coast University Hospital.

The Chinese Women’s Football Team, which is in quarantine in The Westin Brisbane hotel, have not shown any symptoms.

Schools across Queensland will open as normal on Monday, however, every person under 18 who returned from China in the past 14 days has been contacted and told to stay away.