Coronavirus: China women's football team QUARANTINED in Australia ahead of match over killer virus fears
The Chinese women's football team has been quarantined in Australia ahead of an Olympic qualifying match over fears of coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, and has so far killed 132 people and infected nearly 6,000.
The team is currently in isolation in Brisbane, and will be required to spend their time inside an inner-city hotel until February 5, having arrived in the country on Wednesday for their AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament match against Australia on February 9.
It is understood the team had been in Wuhan on January 22 and in keeping with a new national protocol announced in Australia the same day, the team will be kept in isolation for a total 14 days, applying retrospectively from the date they left the city.
#BREAKING | A women's soccer team that arrived in Brisbane from China is currently in quarantine in a Brisbane hotel, @JohnpaulGonzo has more pic.twitter.com/QKMZ8TKa4S
— 10 News First Queensland (@10NewsFirstQLD) January 29, 2020
A depleted Chinese team had already traveled for their first Group B match against 'The Matildas' without two key players also due to the virus outbreak.
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Australia's own number of coronavirus cases has climbed to seven, following the latest outbreak in Queensland, where Brisbane is the capital city, and the northeast state's Health Minister, Steven Miles, claims staff are working to ensure "appropriate isolation" of the squad.
“The Department of Health is working closely with them and with the management of the hotel where they are staying to ensure that they are appropriately isolated from other guests as well as staff and to ensure that protocols are put in place to check their health and to keep them well,”Miles said, news.com.au reported.
China are drawn in their Olympic qualifying group with Australia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand.
On Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission updated the death toll of the virus to 132, most of them in Hubei province.
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