Australia’s national coronavirus count has increased to six after a second person in the state of Victoria tested positive for the deadly disease.
The man tested positive on Wednesday morning but doctors at the Monash Medical Centre assessed him as well enough to stay at home.
The state’s health department said the man in his 60s became unwell on Jan. 23 after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Although he had isolated himself after feeling unwell, he visited The House Of Delight restaurant in Glen Waverley with his family between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 26.
The department urged anyone who was at the restaurant during this time to be aware of symptoms.
“That restaurant is OK to go to now, people don’t need to avoid the area or indeed anywhere else,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Brett Sutton said.
“For anyone else in the restaurant at a further distance and for a period of less than two hours … the risk of transmission, although not absolutely excluded, is very low.”
Dr. Sutton said health authorities had followed up with the restaurant, as well as patrons who were there on that evening.
The department said there is no current evidence that passengers or crew on the flight the man took to return to Melbourne are at risk.
Five of the man’s family, three adults and two children, visited the restaurant with him and are also in home isolation.
One of them has tested negative to the virus, while the children are being kept from school.
The Victorian department of education confirmed they will ask children returning from the Hubei province to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.
Travelers returning from other parts of China are advised to be aware of symptoms, but are excluded from quarantine recommendations.
“As new evidence comes in we will make changes that affect policy. We make no apology for that,” Dr. Sutton said.
Up to 14 people in Victoria await results of their tests, while another 61 have tested negative.
The first Victorian coronavirus case, a man in his 50s, was confirmed on January 25 and he remains in isolation at the Monash Medical Centre in a stable condition.
By Ulises Izquierdo
