AUSTRALIA'S RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS
* 15 cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia: five in Queensland; four in New South Wales; four in Victoria; two in South Australia
* Eight of the earlier cases have recovered, other seven are in a stable condition
* All of the cases in Australia have come from Wuhan except one in NSW who had contact in China with a confirmed case in Wuhan
* Across 29 countries, there have been 72,436 confirmed cases, with 12,552 recovered
* 1868 deaths
* 242 Australians who were quarantined on Christmas Island returned to their homes on Monday
* 36 Australians will leave Christmas Island quarantine on Wednesday
* Evacuation of about 200 Australians on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently locked down in Japan, on Wednesday
* Evacuees will have five virus checks: one before flight, two during flight, one at the RAAF base and one at the Howard Springs camp, near Darwin, where they will spend 14 days in quarantine
* 16-person health team is travelling with cruise ship evacuees
* No positive virus detections have been recorded at the Howard Springs camp in the group of previous evacuees
* Those on the cruise ship who do not take up the flight offer will not be allowed to re-enter Australia for 14 days after eventually leaving the ship.
(Sources: Australian Health Department; China People's Daily)
Australian Associated Press
