EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned schools might be shut down for around six months if there is a nation-wide closure due to coronavirus.

While most schools remain open, on Monday approximately 25 per cent of students in NSW did not attend class while almost a third of students remained at home in Victoria.

Speaking exclusively with Sky News, Mr Morrison said while he doesn’t judge parents who keep their children home, a nationwide shutdown would “cost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

“The coronavirus has a very limited impact on younger people, particularly children,” he said.

“If we close schools down when there isn’t a health reason for doing it then the dislocation and disruption that provides, more broadly, can be very dangerous.”

“What you do (to combat coronavirus) you have to keep doing for six months, if you shut (schools) down they won’t open again, and that means your children will miss effectively a whole year of their education.”

The prime minister said the coronavirus crisis, which has claimed the lives of six Australians and infected 564 people nationwide, has “pushed pause on the global economy”.

He urged Australians to help one another during this difficult time and only turn to official sources for information.

Mr Morrison also warned those who are spreading disinformation about the virus are “despicable”.

“For those who are engage in this activity, in feeding out spurious and misleading information, that is a very dangerous and reckless thing you are doing," he said.

"You are a danger to your fellow countrymen and women and that is something that I think is despicable behaviour.”

“It’s not funny, or clever, it’s downright dangerous.”