Two Australian citizens in China have been diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus, as the number of cases inside Australia hits eight.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Thursday that both nationals remain in China, and are receiving treatment in Guangdong province.

A Chinese woman in Melbourne was confirmed to have the virus on Thursday, the eighth case in Australia.

Meanwhile, concerns are growing over a Tiger Airlines domestic flight which an infected man boarded last week.

Authorities are seeking to track down passengers on board Flight TT566 from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, on January 27.

Daily life Wuhan,the Chinese city where the coronavirus is believed to have started earlier this month, and medical protection equipment is now in vogue

Australian authorities are trying to track down everyone who was on board a Tiger Airways flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast on January 27, as an infected man was a passenger

The man came from Wuhan - the Chinese city at the epicentre of the virus outbreak - and flew in to Melbourne via Singapore on January 22.

He spent five days in the city before flying north to the Gold Coast, where he became increasingly unwell at his accommodation and called an ambulance.

He is in isolation in hospital.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said authorities were trying to track down everyone on board.

He said anyone on the flight should contact Queensland Health immediately for advice, but there was no need for panic.

The government is examining eight members of that man's tour group. Four are unwell and are being tested today.

Meanwhile, in New South Wales, authorities fear as many as 16 other Australians in New South Wales may have contracted the disease.

Four people there have been diagnosed with the disease, and two in Victoria.

The Federal government is planning to quarantine Australians evacuated from Wuhan on isolated Christmas Island.

More than 162 people have died around the world from the virus. Above, a Wuhan courier has his temperature tested

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said two Australian citizens are fighting the disease in China's Guangdong province. His government will quarantine people evacuated from Wuhan on Christmas Island

The government currently it runs a detention facility which only currently shelters a four person Sri Lankan asylum seeker family.

The disease, which has killed at least 162 people around the world, is believed to have come from Wuhan, a city of 11 million people.

The virus is believed to have spread from the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market. Such 'wet' markets sell meat and seafood alongside live animals such as dogs, rats, snakes, civets and supposedly koalas.

The proximity of people to live and dead animals makes it easy for humans to contract viruses.

The SARS virus which broke out in 2003 also likely started in wet markets.

SARS was originally hosted by bats which infected other animals. Those animals transmitted SARS to humans.