MELBOURNE: An 81-year-old woman died in Australia’s New South Wales after contracting coronavirus, becoming the seventh victim in the country as the confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped to 785, health officials said on Friday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced closing borders to all non-citizens and non-residents.
“The entry ban takes effect from Friday, March 20, 2020, at 9 PM (local time) with exemptions only for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family including spouses, legal guardians and dependants,” he said.
On Friday, Morrison said Australians should “reconsider the need for unnecessary travel”.
He said that further advice is being taken to the national cabinet next Tuesday night and will be available before people go on school holidays.
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“I am just flagging that for next week, when we consider those issues on a broader scale,” he said.
In a bid to minimise the spread of the virus, Morrison also announced all non-essential activities in venues including cafes, pubs and clubs to be subject to a restriction of one person per every four square metres.
“If you’ve got a room, if you’ve got a premises that’s 100 square metres, then you can have 25 people in that room.
“Now in addition to that, you should continue to practise wherever possible the 1.5 metres of healthy distance between each of us,” the prime minister said.
Morrison said the measures would be in place for at least six months. Urging Australians to “keep going”, the prime minister said there was a “way through this”.
“All Australians have a role to play. There is a bridge over this,” he said, adding that “if we continue to work together in the way we are, all around the country, then Australia will bounce back strongly”.
In New South Wales, 75 new cases were reported on Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 382.
NSW Health said the 81-year-old woman became the state’s sixth coronavirus fatality on Thursday.
The other coronavirus death was in Perth.
In Victoria, the confirmed cases so far reached 150 after 29 news cases reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, schools across the country would continue to run until further advice from the health authorities.
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