Australia closes its borders: Scott Morrison announces travel ban for all non-residents.

-With AAP

Non-residents banned from entering Australia.

As of 9pm Friday, March 20, only Australian residents and citizens will be allowed to re-enter the country.

The announcement was made during a press conference on Thursday afternoon by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“We will be resolving to move to a position where a travel ban will be placed on all non-residents, non-Australian citizens coming to Australia, and that will be in place from 9pm tomorrow evening,” he told media.

“The reason for this decision is about 80 per cent of the cases we have in Australia 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.

“So the overwhelming proportion of cases in Australia have been imported.”

Returning Australians will still need to self-quarantine for 14 days. Those who breach this rule could be subjected to $50,000 fines to six months’ jail time.

Morrison also thanked airline Qantas who have agreed to continue their international flights.

“I want to thank Qantas also, you are offering to work with us to make sure they maintain flights from particular parts of the world that can assist Australians to return to Australia and we will be working closely with them, and those Australians who are overseas, we have been encouraging them to return to Australia,” he continued.

“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.”

Tokyo Olympics still pushing ahead. 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has moved to ease fears after complaints by athletes as Japan insisted it was not preparing for a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.

With the Olympic flame about to be handed by Greece to Japan, Bach insisted on Wednesday that the IOC heard the athletes’ concerns on health and preparations as the virus continues to spread.

“Everybody realised that we have still more than four months to go and we will address this action, and we will keep acting in a responsible way in the interest of the athletes,” Bach said after a conference call with 220 athletes representatives.

Meanwhile, Japan is still planning to host the Olympics as scheduled from July 24-August. 9.

“We’re not making any adjustments to postpone the Games,” the government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told parliament when asked by a lawmaker whether the government was making plans to cancel or postpone the event.

His comments came amid growing concerns about whether the Games can proceed as planned, with the virus panicking financial markets and bringing business and social activity around the world to a standstill.

Feature image: Getty.