The coronavirus outbreak could cost Australian taxpayers about $1 billion in health spending - an indication of just how widespread the federal government fears it might become.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison released the estimate on Friday, as he threw the states a financial lifeline to help them cope as the virus spreads.
Mr Morrison still would not say how many cases authorities are expecting in Australia, with the current number sitting at 56.
But a special funding deal to help states and territories shoulder hospital, health service and other response costs gives some sense of that.
Collectively, federal, state and territory governments could be looking at $1 billion, to be split down the middle under Friday's deal.
"This is demand driven. We are estimating ... this could be as much as about $1 billion - $500 million each - that we would at least have to be allowing for," Mr Morrison told reporters.
"I hope it's not that much. It could be more."
Friday's deal is separate from other hospital funding agreements, with hospitals to account separately for costs associated with coronavirus cases.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the agreement also meant other costs typically born by the states would be shared with the Commonwealth.
"As an example - in talking with the West Australian government today - say there was a remote community which they would normally have to evacuate for health reasons if there was an outbreak in that community," he said.
"They would (normally) pick that up 100 per cent. Now, we will pick up 50 per cent of that."
NSW had another case confirmed on Friday - an aged care worker at Sydney's Dorothy Henderson Lodge, where a 95-year-old woman died from the virus earlier this week. The worker is the second from the facility to be infected, and two other residents also have the virus.
The state's tally is now double what it was a week ago, and there are cases of person-to-person transmission, possibly including another of the latest cases - a Year 11 Epping Boys High School student.
NSW Health says the student is the son of a Ryde Hospital healthcare worker who was a contact of a 53-year-old male doctor who has coronavirus.
However, the student's parent isn't ill, so authorities are unsure how he contracted the disease.
Talks on epidemic planning are being held on Friday for the aged care sector, and Queensland was pressing on with what it called "war gaming", where they look at a range of scenarios to decide the threshold for drastic measures like the closure of schools.
Meanwhile, four more Australians have been caught up in yet another cruise ship emergency, this time off the coast of California.
Test kits are being dropped onto the Grand Princess with dozens of people having shown flu-like symptoms. A passenger on a recent cruise died.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says consular officials are in San Francisco ready to support the four.
Australia has already lost one person to a cruise ship outbreak. Perth man James Kwan, 78, was the first Australian to die from coronavirus after travelling on the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off Japan.
Australian Associated Press
