New cases of coronavirus have been reported across Australia and 63 people have been quarantined in Cambodia after a British cruise passenger tested positive during a luxury holiday.

This morning, the Federal Health Department confirmed more than 110 COVID-19 infections had been detected across the country, but that number later rose, with new cases reported in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

This story is no longer being updated. For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow this story.

Wednesday's updates

'Not taking any risks', says Spanish football club boss

The president of Spanish soccer club Getafe says his team will not travel to Italy to play Inter Milan in the Europa League and does not care if the decision costs them elimination.

Angel Torres also said he was concerned the team would not be able to return to Spain because of travel restrictions.

"If we are eliminated because of that, so be it," Mr Torres said late on Tuesday.

"I'm not going to be the one taking any risks. I'm not going to go to a place where I don't want to go."

Mr Torres' comments came after a joint statement by the Italian and Spanish players' associations asking UEFA to suspend matches featuring clubs from those countries.

They said the games should be played only when safety conditions are more appropriate.

Spanish authorities closed schools and halted direct flights to and from Italy, though charter flights apparently could be used by teams.

Mr Torres said he spoke to Inter officials and was told the Italian club recognised it didn't make sense for Getafe to play the match in Italy.

In Spain the number of deaths rose to 47 with over 2,000 people now infected, the second-highest number in Europe, behind Italy.



Iran death toll passes 350

Another 62 people are dead in Iran as a result of coronavirus as the death toll in the nation rose to 354.

There have been 9,000 confirmed cases in Iran, where the virus has spread to all of the country's provinces.

Across the Middle East, the vast majority of the 9,700 people who have contracted the coronavirus and the COVID-19 illness it causes are in hard-hit Iran or had recently returned from there.

In Bahrain, authorities said their number of confirmed cases have spiked by nearly 70 per cent to 189.

The 77 new cases were all on a returning flight of Bahraini evacuees from Iran.

Merkel prepared for 70 per cent infection rate

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says up to 70 per cent of the country's population could end up being infected with coronavirus.

"When the virus is out there, the population has no immunity and no therapy exists, then 60 to 70 per cent of the population will be infected," Ms Merkel said.

"The process has to be focussed on not overburdening the health system by slowing the virus's spread — It's about winning time."

Health Minister Jens Spahn has previously led the nation's response, and said earlier that sealing Germany's borders to prevent the virus spreading would not work, rejecting calls to follow neighbour Austria in denying entry to visitors from Italy.

Germany has reported 1,296 cases of the virus, and three deaths.

New cases in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania

South Australia on Tuesday opened a drive-thru testing clinic. ( ABC News: Haidarr Jones )

New cases of coronavirus were been confirmed across Australia on Wednesday.

In Queensland, a 32-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man were both in isolation at the Gold Coast University Hospital.

Two more people tested positive to coronavirus in South Australia — a man in his 60s and a man in his 70s.

One of the men had recently returned from South-East Asia and the other had visited Austria and Italy.

Meanwhile, a third case was detected in Tasmania.

The patient is being treated in the Royal Hobart Hospital.

River cruise boat passengers quarantined in Cambodia

The luxury cruise boat is moored on the Mekong River. ( Flickr: Travolution360 )

Dozens of passengers and crew aboard a river cruise boat are being held under quarantine in eastern Cambodia after a British passenger tested positive for the coronavirus.

The vessel belonging to Viking River Cruises is under police guard as it remains moored on the Mekong River outside the town of Kampong Cham, north-east of Phnom Penh.

The 65-year-old woman from the United Kingdom is being held for observation and treatment at a nearby hospital while the remaining 63 passengers and crew will be tested and quarantined for 14 days.

The woman is Cambodia's third confirmed case.

The luxury cruise originated in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and visited the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, before arriving at Kampong Cham.

F1 team members in quarantine

The Australian F1 Grand Prix starts on March 12 and could attract tens of thousands of spectators each day. ( AP: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake )

Two members of the Haas Formula One team and one from McLaren are in quarantine as a precaution ahead of Sunday's opening race in Melbourne.

A spokesperson for Haas said its team members started showing symptoms of a cold, while McLaren was expecting test results overnight on Wednesday.

It comes after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews defended allowing the race to go ahead, saying he was following advice from the state's chief health officer.

"It is about proportionate responses. The advice is that it is not proportionate to cancel that event, or any other event at this stage," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Australian Grand Prix chief Andrew Westacott said organisers were taking "prudent sensible measures", including having more hand sanitisers and four warm water hand-washing stations around the venue.

Coronavirus has disrupted sports events around the globe.

All sport in Italy has been suspended until at least April 3 and matches in Spain's top soccer league will be played without fans for at least the next two rounds.

Meanwhile, members of Arsenal's playing squad have gone into two weeks of self-isolation, forcing the immediate postponement of the London soccer team's Premier League game against Manchester City.

Bank of England announces emergency rate cut, ASX ends day lower

The Bank of England has slashed interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 0.25 per cent.

It is the fourth central bank to announce an emergency rate cut due to the coronavirus outbreak, following similar moves by Australia's Reserve Bank, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada last week.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump's promise of a new economic stimulus package to combat the impact of coronavirus led to a surge on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones index jumped nearly 5 per cent, or 1,167 points, to 25,018, recouping about two thirds of yesterday's losses, which were the worst since the global financial crisis.

But the Australian share market has fallen despite that surge, with the ASX 200 down 3.6 per cent to 5,726.

The Federal Government is set to announce details of a stimulus package on Thursday.

First coronavirus deaths recorded in Indonesia, Belgium

Both Indonesia and Belgium have recorded their first coronavirus deaths.

In Indonesia, the patient was a 53-year-old foreign national who was already in a critical condition when she was admitted to hospital, a health ministry official said.

He did not say where the woman was from or what hospital or city she died in, but said her home country's embassy was aware of her death and would arrange to have her body repatriated.

The Belgian patient was 90 years old, according to the country's health ministry.

Man found alive days after quarantine hotel collapsed

At least 20 people died in the collapse of the hotel. ( Chinatopix via AP )

A man has been pulled out alive after being trapped for 69 hours under the rubble of a collapsed Chinese hotel which had been a quarantine site for people exposed to coronavirus.

The official Xinhua News Agency says the man was sent to hospital immediately after being rescued in the city of Quanzhou.

A 10-year-old boy and his mother were rescued yesterday after being trapped for 52 hours.

At least 20 people died in the collapse of the hotel.

China has reported an uptick in new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, reversing four straight days of fewer new cases.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China stands at 80,778, with a death toll of 3,158.

Italy travel ban announced

The Federal Government has expanded its coronavirus travel ban to include Italy.

Travel bans are already in place for travellers from mainland China, Iran and South Korea.

Foreign nationals who have been in the affected countries are not allowed into Australia for 14 days from the time they left those countries.

Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to enter Australia, but need to isolate themselves for a fortnight.

There have been 10,149 confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy, more than anywhere else but China.

Italian authorities say the number of deaths from the virus has risen to 631, from 463 a day earlier.

The ban for Italy will begin at 6:00pm tonight.

Infections jump in South Korea

After 11 days of slowing coronavirus infections, South Korea has reported a jump in new cases.

Health officials said another 242 new cases were reported on Wednesday (local time), compared with just 35 on Tuesday.

South Korea has experienced the worst outbreak in Asia outside of mainland China, with 7,755 cases and 60 deaths reported to date.

The daily tally of new cases in South Korea peaked at 909 at the end of February, as authorities tested about 200,000 followers of a fringe Christian church at the centre of the nation's epidemic.

With that task almost done, the infection rate had slowed in recent days, but new clusters have emerged at a call centre in Seoul, and among teachers and students of a dance school with classes around the country.

Fifty two of the latest infections were in Seoul and more than 140 were in the worst-hit city of Daegu, where the church is based, and the nearby province of North Gyeongsang.

UK health minister tests positive

Nadine Dorries is reportedly now in isolation and recovering. ( Reuters )

Nadine Dorries, a junior health minister in the UK, has been diagnosed with coronavirus after falling ill on Friday.

"Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice," she said in a statement.

Ms Dorries, who is now in isolation and recovering, met hundreds of people in Parliament in the past week and attended a reception with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Times reported.

"She has done the right thing by self-isolating at home," Britain's Health Minister Matt Hancock tweeted.

Six people have died from the virus in the UK, which has a total of 382 cases.

Three more cases of coronavirus in Western Australia

Three people in Perth have been diagnosed with COVID-19 after recently flying back from Europe, the UK and the US, respectively.

Western Australia's chief health officer Andrew Robertson said all three were stable and in home quarantine.

Western Australia's pandemic plan has been updated in preparation for the expected spread of the virus through the community from next month.

The plan includes preparations for school, business and public transport closures and the cancellation of major events. It also has processes for cemeteries to implement quicker burials.

Dark Mofo festival cancelled because of coronavirus

Organisers say a last-minute cancellation would have likely ended the event permanently. ( Supplied: Dark Mofo )

The organisers of Dark Mofo say they have had to cancel the Tasmanian arts festival.

It was scheduled to be held in June, but the organisers said the financial impacts of a last-minute cancellation due to coronavirus would have run into the millions and likely ended the event permanently.

"The implications of COVID-19, and subsequent travel, financial and logistical issues, are beyond our control," a statement read.

MONA founder David Walsh said the decision needed be made early.

"I'd rather be a rich coward than a poor hero," he said.

Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael said 600 artists from around the world had been locked in for what he said would have been a "really exciting" program.

"The reaction from the artists has been supportive and understanding, I think they're all considering their position in terms of tours at the moment," he said.

Bon Iver performances scheduled for June 12-13, part of a national tour, will still go ahead "subject to further Government advice".

Giant music festival Coachella postponed, Peter Rabbit 2 delayed

The Coachella music festival in the Southern California desert has been postponed for six months.

It was due to take place from April 10-12 and April 17-19, but organisers said it would now be delayed until October because of concerns over coronavirus.

The festival, one of the biggest in the world, brings some 500,000 fans to an open-air site in Indio, east of Los Angeles, over two weekends.

The previously announced headliners at the festival included Travis Scott, Rage Against the Machine and Lana Del Rey.

The film industry has also been hit hard.

Last week, it was announced that the new James Bond movie No Time to Die would be pushed back from April to November, while Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, which was due for release in Australia next week, will now come out in August.

Six more cases confirmed in NSW, uni campuses close

Six more people were diagnosed with coronavirus in New South Wales late last night.

The new cases include a woman in her 30s who is a relative of one of the two elderly residents who died from the illness at an aged care facility in Sydney's north last week.

A man and woman who are not related but recently arrived from the United States and a woman in her 60s who recently arrived from Italy also tested positive.

Southern Cross University has closed its Lismore campus in northern NSW and its Gold Coast campus in Queensland after a visiting staff member from the Philippines tested positive to coronavirus.

The decision means an estimated 8,000 students will have to study at home, but they are not required to self-isolate.

The university is yet to decide when the campuses will re-open.

Another Melbourne school closed after staff member diagnosed

Melbourne's Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah Colleges has cancelled classes for a day to respond to the COVID-19 case. ( Wikimedia Commons: Yehoishophot Oliver )

Three more people in Victoria, including a staff member at Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah College in Melbourne, have been diagnosed with coronavirus, taking the number of cases in the state to 21.

The man in his 50s became unwell on March 7, one day after arriving in Melbourne from the United States. He worked at the school for half a day while infectious on March 9.

The school has been closed as a precautionary measure.

It follows the suspension of classes at Carey Baptist Grammar School in Melbourne earlier this week.

The $2.4 billion package to help protect Australians

Mr Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt will unveil the details of a new $2.4 billion package designed to help protect Australians against coronavirus.

The plan will see $205 million set aside for 100 pop-up respiratory clinics in areas of need across the country.

The fever clinics are designed to take pressure off GP clinics and hospital emergency departments, and will treat people with mild or moderate coronavirus symptoms.

That will free up hospitals to treat only the most severe cases of the coronavirus.

The Government is also introducing a new Medicare item, so people who are quarantined because of the coronavirus can still access health services without exposing others.

Check our explainer for a breakdown of where the money is going.

Italians begin life under lockdown

Italy is in lockdown in an unprecedented move aimed at beating the coronavirus. ( Reuters: Remo Casilli )

Restaurants have been shut, food distribution suspended and job training cancelled in Italy where a nationwide lockdown began on Tuesday (local time) in a bid to slow Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country has risen to 10,149 according to the country's health officials, rising dramatically from 9,172 on Monday.

The number of deaths from the virus has risen to 631, from 463 a day earlier.

Italians have been told to stay at home — unless they have health, work or emergency needs — for at least the next three weeks.

Anyone travelling in Italy will have to carry a document declaring their reasons, with outdoor events, including sports fixtures, suspended and schools and universities shuttered.

Police have begun to check documents in the wealthy north, which is the epicentre of the spreading contagion.

Austria has introduced border checks and will deny entry to people arriving from Italy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday.

New York Governor sends National Guard into suburb

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is sending National Guard troops into a suburb to help fight what appears to be the United States' biggest known cluster of coronavirus cases.

Schools, houses of worship and large gathering places will be shuttered for two weeks in a "containment area" in the city of New Rochelle, in New York's Westchester County.

Mr Cuomo said the National Guard troops would help clean surfaces and deliver food in the area, which has a 1.6-kilometre radius around a point near a synagogue.

"It's a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country," Mr Cuomo said.

New Rochelle is at the centre of an outbreak of 108 cases in Westchester County, out of 173 in New York state.

Coronavirus has infected more than 800 people in the US and killed at least 29, including 24 in Washington state.