Any person arriving in Australia from overseas must self-isolate for 14 days, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday.
The mandatory quarantine will begin at midnight as the latest measure to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. On Friday the federal government announced an advisory against non-essential public gatherings of more than 500 people beginning Monday March 16
Foreign cruise ships will also be banned from docking in Australian ports for 30 days.
“The first meeting of the national cabinet ... agreed to legislate offences for people who breach the self-isolation rule and escalated advice to others to undertake social distancing, including refusing handshakes and keeping a distance of 1.5 metres away from people,” the Guardian reported.
“If your mate has been to Bali and they come back and they turn up at work and they are sitting next to you, they will be committing an offence,” Morrison said in a press conference. On Friday the government also advised against all non-essential international travel.
