My heart goes out to Australians and all those caught up with the coronavirus outbreak that is gripping China and increasingly, other parts of the globe.
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We seem isolated from it here in North West Queensland but it only took a weekend visit to Brisbane and the Gold Coast to see people wearing surgical masks on the street to remind you of its effect.
The death toll from COVID-19 (to give it its new proper name) in mainland China has passed 2000 although the number of new cases fell for a second day, as authorities tighten already severe containment measures in the worst-hit city of Wuhan in the province of Hubei.
The latest figures bring the total number of cases in China to over 74,000 with 2004 deaths, three quarters of which have occurred in Wuhan. The city of 11 million people, where the virus first appeared last year, is under virtual lockdown.
Chinese officials said the slowdown in infection rates is evidence the virus is being brought under control but global health officials say it is still to early to predict how the epidemic will play out.
Meanwhile, Australian researchers trying to develop a vaccine for the virus can share in a new $2 million federal fund designed to speed up the work.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the grant scheme at the Peter Doherty Institute in Melbourne, where experts were the first to grow COVID-19 in a laboratory outside of China.
"We are going to be putting that money into a competitive program to find a vaccine," Mr Morrison said.
"There are many research projects that are going on around the world to do this very task, and Australia is going to play its part. We want to get the brightest and smartest minds working on this task."
Researchers from across the country will be able to apply for money from the Medical Research Future Fund in the hope of developing a coronavirus vaccine.
The cash adds to the work already being undertaken by the institute, CSIRO and University of Queensland.
Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne last month grew the virus in the lab, which may lead to an antibody test for detection in humans.