Three Australians have died from the virus, with new cases confirmed in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia on Monday.

There are more than 70 confirmed cases in Australia.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says anyone who has returned from overseas with a runny nose, slight fever or cough should be tested.

"We now have 106 countries in the world that have got cases and if we were listing specific cases, we'd be changing it day by day," he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.

On Monday, three NSW school children from two different Sydney schools were among the six new confirmed cases in the state.

Two year 10 students from St Patrick's Marist College in Dundas were confirmed to have COVID-19 as well as a year 7 pupil from Willoughby Girls High School in Sydney.

The year 7 student's mother has also been diagnosed with the virus.

Three new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Victoria, taking that state's total to 15.

Meanwhile, a West Australian woman aged in her 60s contracted coronavirus from her husband after he returned from Iran, making her the state's first person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is coordinating the development of a vaccine in laboratories across the world and is calling on the federal government to help further fund research.

CEPI chair Jane Halton, a former federal health department head, says about $3 billion is needed so multiple versions of potential vaccines can be developed.

University of Queensland researchers have chosen a vaccine candidate for pre-clinical work while a US team is gearing up for trials, but more are needed.

"Whilst you have something in the lab that looks good, either you can't actually get it to generate the outcome in a human being that you want, or it proves not to be safe or it proves hard to manufacture," Ms Halton told ABC radio.

"So you need a series of candidates to ensure you end up with one, or preferably more, actual vaccines."

If everything went well, Ms Halton said a potential vaccine was still 12 months away and would take many months to produce and distribute.

Nevertheless, Professor Murphy said the vaccine could be of value if the virus proved to be something that occurred every season, similar to the flu.

The federal government has put $2 million towards a local fund to develop a vaccine and has so far pledged less than $5 million to CEPI.

There are also growing concerns some people aren't isolating themselves properly after showing COVID-19 symptoms.

The country's peak medical body says any confusion people have about how to respond could be cleared up by having Professor Murphy take the lead on information about the crisis, rather than politicians.

"Leadership from the chief medical officer is essential at this time and obviously he can direct and influence the decisions made by the chief health offices in respective states," Victorian AMA president Julian Rait said.

"We ask the government to respect the leadership we have and withdraw and not insert themselves into these debates and discussions without adequate knowledge."

Australian Associated Press