A travel ban will be placed on all non-residents and non-Australian citizens coming to Australia, effective from 9pm on Friday.

In making the announcement on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison explained the delay was to enable people currently preparing to arrive in Australia to make other arrangements, while not trapping travellers currently mid-flight.

In the video above, March 19 coronavirus update.

“We believe it is essential to take (this) further step,” he said.

“I have been consulting with the New Zealand Prime Minister on (this) ban.”

New Zealand placed the same ban on non-residents entering its country on Thursday.

“These arrangements will enable over the next 24 hours or so for people to make other arrangements, if they were intending to come to Australia,” Morrison said.

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“For Australians, of course, they will be able to return and they will be subject, as they already are, to 14 days of isolation upon arrival back in Australia.”

Morrison repeated the call for Australians to return home from overseas countries as soon as possible, and was working with Qantas to facilitate this.

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“Those in remote parts of the world, that can prove challenging but for those in other places, it is our intention to ensure we can maintain flights to enable them to come home as soon as possible.”

Morrison said most of the Australian COVID-19 cases had stemmed from overseas.

“We have about 80 per cent of the cases ... in Australia that are either the result of someone who has contracted the virus overseas or someone who has had direct contact with someone who has returned from overseas,” he said.