* 15 cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia: five in Queensland; four in New South Wales; four in Victoria; two in South Australia

* Eight of the earlier cases have recovered, the other seven are in a stable condition

* All of the cases in Australia have come from Wuhan except one in NSW who had contact in China with a confirmed case in Wuhan

* 75,000 cases worldwide

* 2009 deaths

* 36 Australians left Christmas Island at 11am and are on their way to Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne

* 542 people have so far tested positive on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently locked down in Japan

* A Qantas flight with 180 Australian cruise passengers is due to leave Japan for Darwin later on Wednesday, to arrive early Thursday morning.

* No passengers will board the plane if they have any symptoms or test positive, and go through five screenings: one before flight, two during flight, one at the RAAF base and one at the Howard Springs camp, near Darwin, where they will spend 14 days in quarantine

* 16-person health team is travelling with cruise ship evacuees

* No positive virus detections have been recorded at the Howard Springs camp in the group of previous evacuees

* Those on the cruise ship who do not take up the flight offer will not be allowed to re-enter Australia for 14 days after eventually leaving the ship

* China travel ban will be reviewed by national security committee of cabinet later this week.

Australian Associated Press