Monash University has deferred its February exams and says students stranded in China due to the coronavirus outbreak may be forced to defer their studies.

International students returning from China to campus residences have also been asked to "limit the use of public areas" and avoid gathering in groups for the next three weeks.

Monash University has asked students returning from China to limit their time in public spaces for three weeks. Credit:Louie Douvis

The university’s advice to students and its decision to defer exams is a stark departure from the unanimous position taken by Australia’s chief health officers, who said on Tuesday that only those people showing symptoms should isolate themselves.

"All the evidence we have seen to date says that if you are not symptomatic with coronavirus you are not infectious, and therefore you shouldn’t be excluded from an educational setting or any other public setting for that matter," Victoria's chief health officer, Dr Brett Sutton, said on Tuesday.