The Australian government on Wednesday included Italy in the list of nations facing travel bans, following a spike in coronavirus cases in the country.
According to news.com.au, Australia has so far reported 135 cases of coronavirus. More than 9,000 people have been tested in New South Wales (NSW) alone, the country's worst affected state with 65 cases. Three Australians have died so far.
In Victoria, 21 cases have been confirmed, 18 in Queensland, nine in Western Australia, seven in South Australia, two in Tasmania and one in Northern Territory.
Italy joined China, Iran and South Korea as countries facing an Australian travel ban.
The virus has so far killed 631 people in the European nation, with more than 10,000 infected. The Italian government has enforced an extraordinary, sweeping lockdown to combat the spread of the viral infection in the country.
"Italy has effectively put itself into lockdown with travel now, and this largely closes that loop," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Canberra.
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He said the ban for Italy will be effective from 6 pm (local time) on Wednesday.
The decision to add Italy to the travel ban list is a reversal from last week, when Australia added extra screening for passengers from Italy but stopped short of a travel ban, state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
Foreign nationals who have been in Italy, China, Iran and South Korea will not be allowed into Australia for 14 days from the time they left those countries. However, Australian citizens and permanent residents travelling from those countries will be able to enter Australia, but need to isolate themselves for a fortnight, the news.com.au report said.
Prime Minister Morrison on Wednesday announced a fund of 2.4 billion Australian dollars to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
The fund will include setting up of about 100 pop-up respiratory clinics for faster coronavirus testing.
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