some people that the chinese are covering up... i don't see that at all. i see science these days in china, high—quality science, interacting well with the world health organization, and have done ever since the sars outbreak. it is not a bad place to be working with at all. a pretty high—powered scientific community. there there any bit of a scramble and we are all ina any bit of a scramble and we are all in a scramble and we are all inevitably scramble, but nevertheless, i don't see this virus developing to anything huge, but it still needs attention at this stage. better to give attention at this stage while the numbers are exceedingly low and to just wait around for them to increase. heavy rain and thunderstorms have lashed parts of eastern australia dousing some long—burning bushfires, but bringing a new threat of flooding. there have been downpours in the states of queensland, victoria and new south wales, where wildfires have scorched millions of hectares of land since september. it's been described as a once—in—100—year event. earlier i spoke to our correspondent, phil mercer who's in sydney.