Australian Gov't Announces Stricter Travel Restrictions in Response to COVID-19 Variant

International travellers to Australia will be subjected to mandatory coronavirus tests before boarding flights under new travel regulations.

As of Friday afternoon, there had been 28,571 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the numbers of locally and overseas acquired cases in the last 24 hours were four and 18 respectively, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health.

The department also said the number of locally acquired cases in the last seven days was 49.

The National Cabinet, which is made up of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders, met on Friday to discuss Australia's response to a mutant strain of COVID-19 identified in Britain.

Under the new regulations passengers on all domestic and international flights will be required to wear face masks on flights and in airports.

Returning Australians and other travellers to Australia must return a negative COVID-19 test prior to departure and workers in the hotel quarantine system will be tested daily.

"The purpose here is to both reduce and debulk the risk in terms of exposure to the new strain," Morrison told a press conference in Canberra.

The cap on international arrivals to New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia will be reduced by 50 percent until mid-February. The National Cabinet meeting came one day after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel in Brisbane tested positive for the strain of COVID-19, which is up to 70 percent more infectious than other strains.