Four people are being tested for the potentially deadly coronavirus in Western Australia, health authorities have confirmed.

Key points: The four possible cases are adults who "meet specific travel criteria"

The four possible cases are adults who "meet specific travel criteria" WA's Health Department says the risk to the public remains low

WA's Health Department says the risk to the public remains low There are five confirmed cases in Australia, including four in Sydney

Western Australian chief health officer Andrew Robertson said the four cases were under investigation.

"These adults all meet specific travel criteria," he said.

"The risk to the Western Australian community remains low."

Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said it was possible at least one person being tested in Perth may return a positive result.

"I'm advised that one of the people being tested in Perth may be positive and the others look like they may be negative, but that's still to be confirmed," he said.

WA's Health Department said there were no confirmed cases in the state to date.

The department said results for three low-risk possible cases who were previously tested had all returned negative.

The virus is continuing to spread, with more than 2,700 confirmed cases worldwide. ( Reuters )

Information packs have been issued to staff at public hospitals, advising them how to triage patients suspected of having coronavirus.

There are five confirmed cases of the virus in Australia so far, with four of them in Sydney — the latest case involving a 21-year-old woman.

A Melbourne man in his 50s who recently spent time in Wuhan was diagnosed over the weekend.

Eighty people are now dead worldwide as the virus continues to spread, with more than 2,700 confirmed cases.

The department said it would continue to test people in the state who have been exposed to the disease and have a "clinically compatible" illness.

"Due to the rapidly evolving nature of this situation, possible cases could arise at any time and the number of tests underway is expected to be fluid," the statement said.

"The Department of Health has issued updated advice to hospitals, emergency departments and community-based GPs to help them identify any potential cases and apply appropriate infection control measures.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation very carefully and there is no need for alarm.

"The Western Australian health system is very well prepared to manage infectious disease situations and has well established systems and processes in place to protect the health of our community."

Guidelines expected for return to school

WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said her department was developing coronavirus guidelines ahead of the start of the school year next week.

She said she had discussed the issue with Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan, and said all state health and education departments were working closely with the Commonwealth.

But Ms Ellery said it was not yet clear whether the guidelines would apply to all students who have recently travelled to China.

Education Minister Sue Ellery says coronavirus guidelines are likely for WA schools. ( ABC News: Marcus Alborn )

"I expect that we will have some guidelines to issue about the return to school. I expect that will happen in the next 48 hours," she said.

"We will follow the advice of the Department of Health."

The headmaster of Scotch College, a boys school in Perth's western suburbs, has written to parents asking them to keep their children home from school if they recently visited mainland China.

Headmaster Alec O'Connell said children in that predicament should not attend until they have been back in Australia for at least 10 days.

"We're not restricting it to the province because we have international students from China," he said.

"We don't know how many of our students have been to mainland China — we know we have 12 international students from China, and we presume they've been home.

"There's nothing else we can really do other than have a sound policy and ask people to support us in what we're asking them to do."



Dr O'Connell said the school did not have any international students from the Wuhan district.

Meanwhile, Curtin University said 30 new students from Wuhan were due to start studying at its Bentley campus at the end of February, but they will now have to stay in China because of the travel bans.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Federal Government was exploring "all opportunities" to help evacuate Australians trapped in the Chinese province of Hubei and at risk of coronavirus.