Australia confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus on Saturday in Melbourne, with many pharmacies in the city's centre running out of protective masks despite health officials saying they are not recommended. Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said that there might be more cases of coronavirus, giving significant travel from Wuhan city to Australia in the past. The news spread quickly in Melbourne and by midday Saturday many people rushed to pharmacies to buy masks for protection from the newly discovered coronavirus. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday that Australia had a national stockpile of over 10 million protective masks in the event of an outbreak of coronavirus. "Face masks are not recommended for use by members of the public in Victoria for the prevention of infections like novel coronavirus," Victoria health department said in a statement.

Source: The Star January 25, 2020 07:41 UTC