Last modified on Sat 16 Jan 2021 21.03 EST When Australiaâs first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Victoria on 25 January, the virus didnât even have an official name. The case was a man from Wuhan, China, who flew to Melbourne from Guandong on 19 January. On 26 January, Australia Day, the federal health secretary Prof Brendan Murphy held a press conference, his comments revealing how little was known about the virus that was only reported in Wuhan in December 2019. âWe donât know exactly how long symptoms take to show after a person has been infected, but there is an incubation period and some patients will have very mild symptoms,â Murphy said. At the time, there was no hotel quarantine. International arrivals were just told to alert the airline, or a biosecurity officer, if they had symptoms.