Queensland issued travel warning for Wuhan and Chinese-populated areas in Australia.
The text in the screenshot reads, in part: “Department of Health media releases | Queensland Health, “QLD issues level 3 health warning for coronavirus, advises against nonessential travel to Wuhan, China, Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hill, Runcorn, Eight Mile Plains and all populated areas with Chinese nationals of ratio of 1 to 3 non-Chinese Australians.”, Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:, Sunnybank, along with its neighbouring suburbs Sunnybank Hill, Runcorn and Eight Mile Plains, is described as “home to Brisbane’s biggest Asian community” by Australian real estate website Domain.com.au., As of January 30, 2020, the novel coronavirus has killed at least 170\xa0people and infected thousands others in China since it first emerged in early December 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, AFP reported here. The\xa0World Health Organisation\xa0notes that the\xa0virus, officially known as "2019-nCoV,"\xa0\xa0is in the "family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS.", The same misleading\xa0image was also shared here, here, here and here on Facebook, and in other languages, such as here in Korean and here in Vietnamese., This claim is false; Queensland Health confirmed that no such warning was every issued., “The only accurate health information regarding coronavirus in Queensland will come directly from Queensland Health," a\xa0Queensland Health spokesperson told AFP in an email on January 28, 2020., The spokesperson also urged people to visit the Queensland Health official website for information about the virus, as well as guidelines for the general public, health professionals and various industries in face of the outbreak., "A keyword search on Queensland Healths website also found no suburb-specific warning over the new virus.", "Queenslands Chief Health Officer Dr. Jeannette Young also\xa0announced on January 29, 2020 the states first confirmed\xa0coronavirus case involving a Chinese national from Wuhan.", Below is a screenshot of a section of the statement:, Queensland health minister Steven Miles also tweeted about the news on January 29., Queensland has confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus - a 44 yo Chinese national, who is isolated in the Gold Coast University Hospital.\n\t\tThe Chief Health Officer and I will have more information tomorrow. For info: https://t.co/zIqJOHRxNx #qldpol #auspol @qldhealthnews, Including the new Queensland case, the total number\xa0of confirmed cases of\xa0coronavirus in Australia has reached\xa0seven, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on January\xa030., "The outbreak also led Australias\xa0Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade\xa0to issue a travel advice on the Smarttraveller website.", For China\xa0as a whole, the agency issued a\xa0level three “reconsider your need to travel” advice, the second most severe on the government’s four-tier warning system. The most serious “do not travel” warning was\xa0handed down to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located., Duncan Pegg, the Labor Member of Parliament for Stretton, Queensland, also\xa0tweeted about the fake Queensland Health warning on January 27, 2020., "The tweet reads: “This media release is 100% FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! I dont normally like to give any credence to ppl who seek to malign our community but wanted to make things clear this time. To get latest updates go to the Queensland Health website & FB page. Any questions call 13HEALTH.”", "This media release is 100% FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! I dont normally like to give any credence to ppl who seek to malign our community but wanted to make things clear this time.\n\t\tTo get latest updates go to the Queensland Health website & FB page. Any questions call 13HEALTH. pic.twitter.com/mIW2XVKTH7", Fears sparked by the new coronavirus have prompted hoaxes about “contaminated” foods and locations in Australia, as debunked by AFP\xa0here., , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
Novel coronavirus: Australia refutes claims that a travel warning was issued for Queensland suburbs | AFP Fact Check