BREAKING NEWS: Coronavirus travel ban is extended to Korea as ‘tens of thousands are placed in quarantine’
- Prime Minister announced travel ban for Korea, which has high number of cases
- He also announced increased restrictions for travellers arriving from Italy
- It come as officials warn economic growth will be hit by 0.5 per cent due to virus
The government has banned anyone entering Australia from Korea as coronavirus spreads around the world.
The Prime Minister announced the ban in a press conference on Thursday afternoon and also revealed that tens of thousands of people have been placed into self-isolation since the crisis began in December.
The ban means anyone who has been in Korea will have to spend 14 days in a third country before returning to Australia. The ban starts at 9pm on Thursday evening.
The government has banned anyone entering Australia from Korea as coronavirus spreads around the world
Mr Morrison also announced that increased screening checks will be in place for travellers arriving from Italy.
He said these measures include travellers being quizzed before they board and being prevented from using smart gates when they land so they have to interact with a boarder guard.
It comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy warned that Australia was heading towards a ‘prolonged downturn’ with growth in the March quarter hit by at least 0.5per cent due to the coronavirus.
The impact on the economy will be ‘deeper, wider and longer,’ than the SARS outbreak of the early 2000s, Mr Kennedy told a senate estimates hearing on Thursday morning.
In the December quarter, the Australian economy grew by only 0.5 per cent.
Mr Kennedy said the coronavirus would hit growth by at least 0.5 per cent for the March quarter, pushing Australia towards static or negative growth.
He said that figure did not take into account disruption to supply chains, raising fears the hit to growth could be much higher.
Negative growth over the next two quarters would constitute a recession and would be Australia’s first since 1990-91.
‘The global economic impacts of COVID-19 are continuing to emerge but there is little doubt that they are serious,’ Mr Kennedy said.
The sectors most affected are education – due to foreign students being unable to travel – and tourism.
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday warned the impact will be ‘horrific’.
‘I’ve done a lot of engagement with business in Far North Queensland and North Queensland and they are expecting the impact to be horrific – on tourism, education, aquaculture and retail,’ he told the ABC’s Fran Kelly.
The coronavirus crisis in Australia has further deepened with confirmed cases climbing to 53 and the country recording its second fatality