The Ministry of Health's technical advisory group is looking at whether a travel ban may be extended to other countries where cases of coronavirus have increased.

The vast majority of cases are in mainland China but over the weekend, there has been an alarming rise in cases reported in Italy, South Korea and Iran.

On Monday, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said current restrictions expired at midnight and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would be making an announcement later today.

At the press conference, Health and Research Council of New Zealand's chief executive professor Sunny Collings also announced a $3 million fund into health research to help prepare for events such as the novel coronavirus outbreak.

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Across the globe, nearly 80,000 people have be reported as having contracted the novel coronavirus, including 2,467 people who have since died.

As of Monday, there were no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Zealand.

Bloomfield said the restrictions currently applied to people who have travelled from or through mainland China in the 14 days before they arrived in New Zealand.

Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images Police in Italy have been patrolling 11 towns, mostly in the Lombardy region and have been in lockdown since last Friday.

There were also similar restrictions for people who were on board Diamond Princess, who might be travelling to the country within 14 days of having come off the boat.

"Right from the start we have impressed the importance of those restrictions being temporary in nature and that continues, and we will continue to review them every 48 hours."

Health officials were following the "rapidly evolving" situation in Italy, South Korea and Iran.

"We're following this very closely and have asked for some urgent advice from our technical advisory group on whether we should extend in the first instance our case definition for a suspected case to take in some of those areas where we've seen that big increase in cases over the weekend.

GETTY IMAGES South Korea's president Moon Jae-In has placed the country on red alert as the number of cases has risen to 602 as of Sunday.

"We're expecting that advice from our technical advisory group in the next 24 hours and will adjust our case definition in response to that advice, and that will also inform any advice we give to ministers about whether or not the current travel restrictions could be extended to include other places."

Bloomfield said with the increasing number of cases, the situation was becoming closer to a point where a pandemic could be declared. Officials were adjusting its plans accordingly in preparation of a potential pandemic, he said.

Returning to New Zealand after a conference on coronavirus in Geneva, Collings said "there was a lot of discussion, not just about the basic biology of the virus itself and the way it effects and effected people but also the social impact of events like this within and between different countries and a need to understand just how this continues to evolve".

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Director-general of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield will provide an update on the coronavirus response in New Zealand on Monday.

She said fund could go towards helping with vaccine development towards coronavirus, analysing how New Zealanders have accessed public health information and looking at different models for health service responses.

The Guardian has reported that Italian authorities would be fining people caught entering or leaving outbreak areas.

Police have been patrolling 11 towns, mostly in the Lombardy region and have been in lockdown since last Friday.

Head of Italy's civil protection service Angelo Borelli said 152 cases had been confirmed in the country and three people have died.

South Korea's president Moon Jae-In has placed the country on red alert as the number of cases has risen to 602 as of Sunday.

Most of these cases have stemmed from Daego, the country's fourth-largest city.

Scientists are scrambling to develop a vaccine, which is expected before the end of 2020, but little remains known about how the virus spreads or how long the global health emergency will last.