The ban was established for 30 days and will extend to 147 countries.

Special zones will be set-up at the countries’ border to allow goods from corona-affected countries to enter Timor-Leste.

Announcing the restrictions from National Parliament in Dili, Legislative Minister for Parliamentary Reform, Fidélis Magalhães said Timorese citizens located in the banned countries would be allowed back to Timor-Leste.

He said the resolution was effective immediately and would be reviewed in a month.

“The ban is on all countries that have been recognised by the World Health Organisation to have coronavirus cases,” he said.

Magalhães said travel exemptions for expert service providers, such as experienced coronavirus health officials from China, would be made on a need and case-by-case basis.

Anyone coming into Timor-Leste will be required to restrict their movements on arrival for 14 days, he said.

Timor-Leste remains one of the few Asian countries without a confirmed case of coronavirus.

As the virus spreads worldwide several other countries including the European Union, Argentina and Australia also enforced lockdowns and travel bans this week.

The announcement comes a day after Magalhães said the National Logistics Centre had recommended purchasing several thousand tons of rice to deal with an eventual emergency situation in the coronavirus pandemic.

The recommendation involves a further purchase of 3,800 tonnes of rice, at a cost of $1.96 million.

Coronavirus has infected more than 204,000 people across the world and the death toll now exceeds 8,700.