Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced travel ban to all non-residents at a press conference on March 19, 2020 in Canberra, Australia in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. (Photo credit: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
A travel ban for all non-residents coming to Australia will be effective from Friday night. Australian citizens will be able to return with a mandatory 14-day self-isolation.
CANBERRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- All non-residents will be banned from entering Australia as COVID-19 is spreading globally, according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday afternoon.
To be effective from Friday night, the ban followed declaration of an unprecedented human biosecurity emergency on Wednesday.
Australian citizens will be able to return, but will be subject to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation.
According to the Department of Health of the Australian government, there have been 565 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of 6:30 a.m. local time Thursday, a 24 percent increase from the day before.
Of those cases, 259, or 45 percent, were considered to be overseas acquired.■
