We've had some scares in the past such as AIDS, Ebola, SARS and avian flu but the latest outbreak coronavirus is one of the most worrying yet.

On the weekend came the news of the first death due to coronavirus outside China when a 44-year-old Chinese man from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, travelled to the Philippines and died there on Saturday.

Inside China a total of 304 people have died in China and infections in China jumped to 14,380.

At least another 171 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, including the US, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

Beijing is facing mounting isolation as countries including Australia introduce travel restrictions, airlines suspend flights and governments evacuate their citizens.

As well as the health impact there are the economic impacts to the world's second largest economy.

China's central bank said it would inject a hefty 1.2 trillion yuan ($A258 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repurchase operations on Monday, as the country prepares to reopen its stock markets after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Even if the issue seems far away from Mount Isa, the impact will be felt as Chinese economic activity dissipates and commodity prices plunge.

Since January 20 when the outbreak in China entered a new phase of severity, copper has tumbled 11%, making it the hardest-hit by the spreading pandemic among all the major commodities.

The metal has tumbled for 12 straight sessions in London, the longest retreat in more than three decades of data.

Zinc too is falling.

The only good news is that the level of deaths is less than SARS.

Let's hope authorities quickly get this under control and coronovirus just becomes another colourful health phrase from our past and not a harbinger of doom.