"We did not take this decision lightly," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday, after a national security committee meeting.
"We are very mindful of the disruption and economic impacts of these arrangements, but I note Australia is one of 58 countries that has introduced some form of travel restrictions."
The Chinese embassy in Canberra responded to the move.
"We express our deep regret and dissatisfaction over the Australian government's announcement," a spokesman said.
"The World Health Organisation has repeatedly stressed that it does not recommend putting travel and trade restrictions on China.
Live Updates
A sharp increase in reported coronavirus cases in the Chinese outbreak epicentre overnight is mostly due to more than 13,000 earlier cases that were added to the tally, according to the World Health Organisation.
The confirmed number of cases in China rose to 59,804 after diagnosis rules were changed for the hardest-hit province of Hubei so that lung screening results are allowed as the basis for confirming infections instead of laboratory tests that are used in the rest of China and abroad.
Mass-testing of individuals in China, Hong Kong and Singapore has not revealed a great number of additional hidden infections beyond the reported numbers, according to WHO.
Here's what we know …
- Rockets were launched Rocket attack on US base
- Iraqi media reporting that two rockets were fired by Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah at the K1 Base in Kirkuk
- The K1 base was attacked in December 2019. One US contractor was killed and several US and Iraqi soldiers were injured in the attack.
- There are no reports of casualties as yet
Today's forecast: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower in the morning and early afternoon. Winds S/SE 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the late evening.
