Australia has banned Chinese travelers from entering the country after the novel coronavirus outbreak was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced after the tenth confirmed case of coronavirus in Australia, the government will take drastic measures to ensure the safety of its citizens.
Exempt from the ban will only be Australian citizens and permanent residents as well as their immediate family members.
“Our first responsibility is to Australians. In addition to that, there’ll be advanced screening and reception arrangements put into place at the major airports to facilitate identifying and providing this information and ensuring the appropriate precautions are being put in place,” the prime minister announced.
“There’s a half a million masks that will be provided to those airports to support those who are coming off these flights as well as those who are with those coming from those flights.
“There’ll also be thermometers which are provided to those airports and we’re working with those airport authorities now to ensure we can put those arrangements in place.”
In addition to banning Chinese from entering the country, the Australian government has also urged citizens to avoid traveling to China for the time being.
Besides China, Russia has also taken immediate measures to limit the outbreak after it was declared a global health emergency.
In a desperate attempt to prevent the novel coronavirus from forcing its way into Russia after China revealed there are confirmed cases over all parts of the country, the Russian government has closed its entire eastern border with China.
As Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced, Russia would do “everything it could to protect its people.”
In addition to the closed border, Russia has started blocking Chinese tourist groups from entering and announced they would no longer issue electronic visas to Chinese people.
Russia has also limited railway connections with China whereas only direct links between the two countries’ capitals, Moscow and Beijing, were kept.
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Replaced!