Australia warns virus pandemic now 'upon us'

Australia's prime minister on Thursday said the country considered the new coronavirus to be a pandemic, going a step beyond the WHO as he extended a travel ban on visitors from China.

Announcing a national emergency response plan to the contagion, Scott Morrison said he was considering "additional measures" for monitoring travellers arriving in the country.

"We're effectively operating now on the basis that there is one -- a pandemic," Morrison said. "We believe the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us."