24 Jan 2020

Government agencies meeting over Chinese coronavirus

From Morning Report, 7:16 am on 24 January 2020

Government agencies are meeting today to discuss how to ramp up New Zealand's response if the coronavirus crisis continues to worsen.

The Government has triggered its official pandemic plan and set up an incident management team.

So far 18 people have died and nearly 650 have been infected by the virus which is stemming from Wuhan in China.

There have been cases reported in the United States, Australia, Japan, Thailand and South Korea, but no confirmed cases in New Zealand yet.

Philippa Tolley speaks to the Director of Public Health, Dr Caroline McElnay.