Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australian authorities are well prepared to tackle the growing NSW coronavirus cluster, which has thrown a spanner into the nation's Christmas travel plans.
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Sydney's northern beaches area has been declared a national coronavirus hotspot, allowing the region to get extra support for personal protective equipment, contact tracing and resources for aged care facilities.
The northern beaches cluster has grown to 28 cases, two days after the first infections emerged.
It's the first time a national hotspot has been declared by the Commonwealth, with Mr Hunt saying the next few days will be critical.
"We've prepared for this moment," he told reporters on the outskirts of Melbourne.
"We've always said that while we're doing extraordinarily well, there would be outbreaks, there will be circumstances where local clusters emerge and we thank the northern beaches population for their action.
"The next few days will be critical and the behaviour of individuals will be fundamental."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged people to remain calm and follow advice from local health authorities.
"We have dealt with this before, we'll deal with it again," he told reporters in Canberra.
NSW authorities have linked the northern beaches cluster to a strain of the virus from the United States, but don't yet know how the illness spread into the community.
Residents in the cluster area have been told to stay home and get tested if they have any virus symptoms.
"If we get on top of this in the next two or three days, all of us will be able to have a much better Christmas," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney
No other cases have been recorded in relation to a man in Sydney's south, who worked as a driver shuttling international airline staff to and from Sydney Airport.
But from Tuesday, all international air crew arriving in Sydney will be held at quarantine hotels until their flights out of the country, typically within 72 hours.
Ms Berejiklian admitted airlines were in charge of ensuring air crew quarantine compliance, but NSW police would be taking over.
The federal government has urged states not to make rash decisions to close borders, but NSW residents now face travel restrictions with Christmas around the corner.
Victorians have been urged not to travel to Sydney and warned they could face 14 days quarantine should they do so and want to return.
From midnight, a permit system will be in place for NSW residents entering Victoria.
Western Australia has reintroduced a 14-day quarantine requirement for all NSW travellers, while anyone who has entered the state from NSW since December 11 also has to self-isolate.
WA leader Mark McGowan said he would not hesitate re-introducing a hard border with NSW should the health advice recommend it.
Queensland police will be meeting all flights arriving into the state, with travellers from Sydney's northern beaches told to quarantine at home for two weeks from when they were at a hotspot.
But from 1am on Saturday anyone arriving in Queensland from Sydney's northern beaches will face mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days.
Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT have also imposed restrictions on people from Sydney's northern beaches.
Australian Associated Press
