The Federal Government has expanded its coronavirus travel ban to include South Korea, and added additional precautions for travellers from Italy, amid fears about the spread of the disease.

Key points: South Korea joins China and Iran as countries with Australian-imposed coronavirus travel restrictions

South Korea joins China and Iran as countries with Australian-imposed coronavirus travel restrictions Australian citizens and permanent residents are exempt but must self-isolate upon return

Australian citizens and permanent residents are exempt but must self-isolate upon return Travellers from Italy will face advanced screening at check-in and when they land in Australia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also confirmed that the existing ban on foreign nationals travelling from China and Iran to Australia has been extended for another week.

The revised bans will be in place until Saturday, March 14 but the Government will review the situation within a week to determine if the travel restrictions need to be extended further.

Foreign nationals who have been in mainland China, Iran and South Korea 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.

Mr Morrison said travellers from Italy would face "advanced screening measures", which means they will be asked more questions at check-in and have their temperatures checked on arrival in Australia.

The Government has also upgraded its travel advice to South Korea and is now urging Australians to reconsider their need to travel to the country.

There have been thousands of reported cases of coronavirus in South Korea in recent weeks. ( ABC News: Brant Cumming )

It has offered stricter travel advice for Daegu, a hotspot for coronavirus in South Korea, and urged Australians to not travel there.

Mr Morrison said South Korea posed a greater risk because it had five times the number of passengers travelling to Australia compared to Italy.

He said Cabinet's national security committee expanded the travel restrictions after receiving an update from state and federal chief medical officers.

"The reason we have taken this decision is because of the high level of visitation we are seeing from Korea, than we have seen come from Italy, and the ability to immediately put in place the enhanced screening measures for Italy," Mr Morrison said.

"To do that [for] Korea would be far more difficult.

Italy has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus outside China. ( AP: Claudio Furlan/Lapresse )

"So that ban is put in place because it affords the best protection and enables us to slow down the rate of transmission."

It is the fourth time the Government has extended the China travel ban and comes after Iran was added to the list of banned countries on the weekend.

There are now more than 50 recorded cases of COVID-19 in Australia.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said he was "very worried" about the risk of the disease being further imported to Australia from Iran.

Beyond China and Iran, he said South Korea and Italy posed the highest risk to Australia.

"We do know we will get more cases," Professor Murphy said.

Fears about the coronavirus' spread in Iran prompted the Government to add that country to the China travel ban. ( AP: Ebrahim Noroozi )

Coronavirus hitting Australian economy

The new travel restrictions come as the head of Australia's Department of Treasury has flagged an urgent need for targeted stimulus in response to the coronavirus crisis.

He told Senate estimates the virus would wipe at least 0.5 percentage points off growth in the March quarter, more than double the predicted impact of the devastating bushfires.

If the Government had imposed a travel ban on Italy, it might have had implications for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next weekend.

Mr Morrison said it was a matter for the Victorian Government to manage how South Korean participants in Formula One race, or visitors coming to it, would be affected.

The Government has previously flagged it was considering a targeted stimulus package for the education, tourism and export sectors as they battled the financial toll of the coronavirus.

Mr Morrison on Thursday said the Government was in the final stages of that economic response.

"It will have an important focus on keeping people employed and supporting jobs," he said.

"It will have a focus on keeping business in business so those businesses can support those jobs and the incomes of Australians. And it'll have a focus on ensuring we bounce back better on the other side of this."