Australia Bans All Arrivals From China [Updated]
An Anonymous Coward writes:
In the wake of the Coronavirus spreading across the world Australian airline Qantas has cancelled flights from China as the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced "new control measures" to prevent anyone traveling from China to Australia. The official advice is now that Australians "do not travel" to mainland China. This comes as the number of infected people rose to 12 on Saturday with three new cases across Victoria and South Australia.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced unprecedented new control measures that will see all non-Australians travelling from mainland China barred entry at the border in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus. The official advice is now that Australians "do not travel" to mainland China.
The tough new measures, announced on Saturday afternoon, come as the number of Australians confirmed to have contracted coronavirus rose to 12 on Saturday with three new cases across Victoria and South Australia.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today called for all flights to be banned from China while Qantas said it would suspend services to mainland China.
At a press conference late this afternoon, Mr Morrison said all foreign travellers who had left or passed through mainland China 14 days before arriving in Australia will now be denied entry to the country.
In recent days British Airways, United Airlines, American Airlines, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Air India, IndiGo, Lufthansa and Finnair have announced plans to slash the number of flights they are operating to China or stop flying to the country entirely. Other airlines are offering customers refunds.
[UPDATE 020220-07:14UTC: First death from coronavirus reported outside China in the Philippines. For those wanting more complete reporting of coronavirus outbreak, CBS News has a live update web page with news as it is reported. --JR]
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