Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed the media at a press conference today where he announced that Australia would impose a universal self-isolation requirement from midnight tonight.
“All people coming to Australia will be required, I stress, to self-isolate for 14 days,” he said.
“This is very important.”
Coronavirus is most likely to spread from person-to-person through direct close contact with an infectious person, or in the 24 hours before their symptoms appeared, close contact with an infected person who coughs or sneezes, or touching objects or surfaces (such as door handles or tables) contaminated from a cough or sneeze from an infected person, and then touching your mouth or face
Mr Morrison called on Australians to use common sense during social interactions.
“Ensure that you refrain from that sort of physical contact, whether it might be a handshake or something a bit more intimate,” he said.
“It’s all common-sense.”
Mr Morrison also said that international cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australia for 30 days.
Meanwhile the Australian Government has advised that to help slow the spread, effective from Monday, March 16, organised, non-essential gatherings should be limited to 500 people.
Non-essential meetings or conferences of critical workforces, such as health care professionals and emergency services, should also be limited. This advice does not include workplaces, schools, universities, shops, supermarkets, public transport and airports.
To protect vulnerable Australians, the Government has also advised reducing visitors to all residential aged care facilities and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
As at 10.30am today there were 249 confirmed cases of coronavirus , including three deaths, in Australia.
Worldwide there have been more than 154,480 confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 5,700 reported deaths.
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