Nick Tsagaris - 'Life comes first' for Matildas heading for coronavirus ground zero in China

Nick Tsagaris - China's coronavirus ground zero at Wuhan the destination for Matildas' Olympic qualifiers

Matildas coach Ante Milicic faces a concerning preparation for the Olympic qualifiers in Wuhan, China, with Football Federation Australia (FFA) closely monitoring the city's coronavirus outbreak.

Australian health authorities are targeting flights from the Chinese province to Sydney to stop the deadly virus entering the country.

A Brisbane man was briefly quarantined in Australia on Tuesday after a recent trip to China. The virus originated in animals and can be spread from person to person.

The Matildas are scheduled to arrive in Wuhan next week for three games, but Milicic says he trusts the people making the decisions will not jeopardise the health and safety of his players.

Team doctor James Ilic is following the situation in-depth and will update the playing group and staff as needed, while correspondence flies between the squad, the FFA and relevant health authorities.

"I've got full confidence in the people that will be making these decisions," Milicic said on Tuesday.

"We're just really trying to focus on the football and trust that the appropriate steps have been put in place."

In the meantime, Milicic is trying to maintain business as usual for the Matildas during their week-long camp in Sydney as they prepare to try and qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

"We keep the focus on the football, that's all I can control," he said.

"Those things are out of our control in many respects because decisions will be made based on the safety of the playing group and all the staff, so we just focus on what we can do.

"Training has been great for the first few days."

His approach appears to be working.

Vice-captain Steph Catley said she was not completely across the situation in Wuhan, but trusted staff not to put the team in danger.

"They're going to be monitoring it and I'm sure that if it does get to that point then obviously life comes first, but if we're over there and we're safe, then it's obviously all about football," the 25-year-old said.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the team would receive the most up-to-date information before deciding whether to travel to Wuhan after the Australian Government upgraded its travel advice.

"In their case, they will have the best possible medical advice, so they will make decisions based on the advice from medical authorities," Mr Hunt said.

"At the moment they'll continue to follow the Australian Government and the medical advice. If the situation changes, the number one thing is the health and the safety of the players."

Catley was a part of the team knocked out of the Rio Olympics by Brazil in a penalty shootout in 2016, and said the devastating loss still forms part of the narrative of this year's build up.

"This is obviously the same tournament and those feelings do come back when you think about the Olympics and how disappointing that was.

"That was a long time ago, so it's quite different, but the feelings are still there."

The Matildas are scheduled to play Taiwan on February 3, Thailand on February 6 and China three days later.

By: abc.net.au