Two passengers who contracted the coronavirus onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan have died.

According to reports from Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese couple was an 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman who were taken off the ship last week.

Professor Robert Booy, Immunisation Expert at the University of Sydney tells Ben Fordham less than one percent of people who get the disease will die.

A decision is soon to be made about whether to extend the travel ban on Chinese nationals entering Australia.

Professor Booy says the extended ban isn’t an over-reaction saying, “there’s still a great risk of cases coming to Australia and spreading it like wildfire”.

“We gotta keep up the efforts.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview