'Do not travel': Australians warned to avoid Iran amid coronavirus outbreak

Australians will be advised not to travel to Iran under new travel warnings amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Foreigners coming from Iran will also be banned from entering Australia.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the ban would come into force from Sunday and had been prompted by the high death rate in Iran.

The coronavirus outbreak has killed 34 people in that country.

"They have the highest death rate… outside of Hubei," he told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday.

"There is likely at this stage a high level of undetected cases, and therefore those cases won't be intercepted or identified on departure from Iran."

Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family who have travelled to Iran will be required to self isolate, Mr Hunt said.

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The travel advisory would be raised to "do not travel" following a case of a 63-year-old Gold Coast woman whose coronavirus was undetected on leaving Iran.

The 63-year-old beautician returned to Australia on Monday, but began feeling ill on Thursday while at work.

She saw up to 40 people at the Hair Plus salon at Australia Fair at Southport.

Queensland's chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young said because most of the contact the woman had with each customer was less than 15 minutes, the risk she had passed on the virus was "incredibly low".

The Iran travel ban comes just days after the government extended the ban on people coming from China for a further week.

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