The Federal Government's chief medical officer says there are several people in Australia who are being tested "every day" for the deadly coronavirus.

Key points: Two people in NSW and two in Queensland are being tested for the coronavirus

Two people in NSW and two in Queensland are being tested for the coronavirus Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says Australia is "well prepared" for any confirmed cases

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says Australia is "well prepared" for any confirmed cases The death toll in China has risen to 26

Health authorities in New South Wales were investigating four possible cases of the virus but confirmed two of those have been given the all clear.

Two people are being tested in Brisbane.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said there have been no confirmed cases in Australia.

"In Australia, we still have no confirmed cases. There are several patients who are being tested every day," Professor Murphy said.

"People who have had a relevant travel history and who have developed respiratory symptoms. None of those have turned out to be positive.

"But as I've said on previous occasions, should we get a positive case in Australia, we are extremely well-prepared to isolate and manage them."

NSW Health says it will not be disclosing the hospital locations of patients under investigation for privacy reasons.

Medical staff transfer a patient suspected to have the new coronavirus at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong. ( Reuters )

Professor Murphy said he was confident NSW Health would be able to cope with any confirmed cases.

"If one or more are eventually found to be positive, New South Wales Health has a very well-established practice," he said.

"They'll be quarantined and looked after."

Queensland's chief medical officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said two more people were being tested for potential infection in that state.

"We've already tested four individuals who were suspect cases — all four came back negative," she said.

The death toll in China has risen to 26 and nearly 850 cases of patients infected with the virus are globally confirmed.

The virus originated in Wuhan, which has since been placed in lockdown.

The virus has already spread to other Chinese cities, while abroad, Thailand has confirmed four cases, South Korea and Japan have two cases each while the United States, Singapore and Taiwan have each reported one.

A flight from Wuhan arrived in Sydney yesterday and passengers were screened individually for symptoms of the highly contagious bug.

Australian authorities took no chances when China Eastern flight 749 from Wuhan touched down, stationing biosecurity officers and border security staff at the terminal to interview passengers.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant confirmed none of the cases in NSW are from that flight.

Sydney is the only Australian city with direct flights to Wuhan.

The services, which were launched in 2017, run three times a week.

The University of Queensland (UQ) is confident it can develop a vaccine for the potentially deadly coronavirus in as few as 16 weeks.

Researchers from the university have been funded by an international organisation to use new rapid medical development technology to help create a vaccine for the new virus strain.