Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to disaster zones, to aged care homes in Melbourne to help contain the countrys worst outbreak of the coronavirus .

Another hotspot, in inner-city Sydney, forced a senior adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison into self-isolation, but the prime minister has been cleared to continue working.

Queensland barred entry to anyone from Sydney and locked down suburbs south of Brisbane, after two women tested positive for COVID-19 having returned from a trip to Melbourne without quarantining.

Australia has reported far fewer coronavirus cases than many other countries, with nearly 15,600 confirmed infections and 176 deaths as of Wednesday.