Prof Kurt Krause, the inaugural director of the university’s Webster Centre for Infectious Diseases, said there was no need to panic about the situation, or to spread limited border protection resources too thinly.
New Zealand authorities have ramped up measures to combat the fast-spreading flu-like virus, which has already killed more than 80 people in China and infected at least 2750 more.
Public health workers are now meeting flights from China and assessing passengers for anyone feeling unwell or with a temperature higher than 38degC.
Five flights from China were due in Auckland over the course of the day, and one in Christchurch, but none from the Wuhan region.
Prof Krause said there was little chance unwell travellers arriving in New Zealand from anywhere other than China had the coronavirus illness.
It would be a mistake and a waste of scarce resources to have public health workers making inquiries about every ill passenger at our international airports, irrespective of their origins, he said.
A top health official said yesterday there was every likelihood coronavirus would arrive in New Zealand, but the likelihood of a sustained outbreak in New Zealand remained low.
Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said 98% of the confirmed cases were in China.
There were four cases in Australia, but the situation in New Zealand remained unchanged.
He said the risk to New Zealand remained low.
"As in Australia with their first case, the person that was subsequently diagnosed had in fact travelled and was asymptomatic when they came into the country and developed symptoms a few days later.
"We may well find ourselves in a similar situation.
"The likelihood of transmission — if we do get a case — to another person, is low to moderate because we are prepared and ready and at this stage."
A national health co-ordination centre will be up and running today, he said.
A New Zealand citizen trapped at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak is pleading with the Government to do more to get New Zealanders out.
Joanna — who works as a software engineer in New York — travelled to Wuhan on January 20 to visit her father for the Chinese New Year.
She is now stuck in the locked-down city and has not left the house for five days.
Joanna, who only wanted her first name used, told RNZ she had tried to seek assistance from the New Zealand embassy in Beijing, but was told they were on holiday until tomorrow.
After calling an emergency hotline, she was directed to register online at SafeTravel.govt.nz and to wait for further details, she said.
"I feel a little disappointed since many other countries are taking action already, but it seems like the New Zealand government is falling behind."
Joanna said she was "very worried" for herself and her elderly father’s safety.
"It’s quite scary here. There’s all kinds of rumours online and there’s a shortage of medical supplies.
"If we go outside, we cannot buy masks anywhere.
"There’s also a shortage of food. A lot of shelves are empty."
Her father was a New Zealand permanent resident, but did not want to leave the country at this stage, she said.
A spokesman said that for privacy reasons, Mfat did not comment on individual cases.
There are 21 New Zealanders registered as being in Wuhan City on SafeTravel.
"We are working closely with our China posts and consular partner countries regarding how best to assist New Zealanders in Wuhan," Mfat said in a statement. — additional reporting RNZ
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