Foreign travellers who have left or passed through mainland China will be denied entry to Australia in an effort to contains the spread of the coronavirus.
Australia will deny entry to all travelers from mainland China unless they’re Australian citizens, amid growing fear surrounding the deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.
While citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, legal guardians and spouses will be excepted from the strict measures, Mr Morrison said anyone arriving from China will be required to self-isolate, as part of the
"As of today, all travellers arriving out of mainland China - not just Hubei province, as has been the case up until now - are being asked and required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days from the time they leave mainland China."
The US has declared a public health emergency to deal with the coronavirus crisis and will also bar entry to foreigners who have recently travelled to China.
The Trump administration, while insisting the risk to Americans from coronavirus is low, has nevertheless declared a public health emergency and announced the extraordinary step of barring entry to the United States of foreign nationals who have traveled to China.
Health Secretary Alex Azar said during a briefing at the White House, adding the directives would take effect on 2 February.
"Foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who have travelled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States for this time.”
The restrictions apply to people who have travelled to the designated areas in the two weeks prior to their attempted entry.
Singapore, which is home to one of the busiest airports in Asia, has moved to ban arrivals and transit passengers from mainland China.
Singapore has announced a sweeping ban on arrivals and transit passengers from mainland China as authorities toughened measures to prevent the .
Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong , who co-chairs the government task force leading the response to the virus said on Friday: "All new visitors with recent travel history to China within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter into Singapore or to transit through Singapore."
Meanwhile Qantas will suspend its direct services to Beijing and Shanghai as a result of international travel restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The airline said entry restrictions imposed by the United States, Singapore and other countries will impact the movement of crew who work across the Qantas International network.
It will suspend its Sydney-Beijing and Sydney-Shanghai services from 9 February until 29 March.
Qantas has suspended its direct flights to China. Source: AP
