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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Josh Taylor, Amy Remeikis and Naaman Zhou

Josh Frydenberg says Australia could close borders for six months amid Covid-19 pandemic – as it happened

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End of the day summary

We’re clocking off the live blog for tonight, but it’s been a day. News days in the time of coronavirus feel like 12 in one.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of what happened today:

  • There are 709 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, 141 more today than yesterday. Five deaths recorded still. NSW is at 307 cases, followed by Victoria on 149, Queensland 144, WA 52, SA 42, Tasmania 10, ACT 4, NT 1.
  • Australia will close its borders to non-residents from 9pm on Friday.
  • The Reserve Bank of Australia announced an emergency interest rate cut to 0.25% – saying the rate will stay at that level for a long time – plus other economy-boosting measures.
  • The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has said it will be at least six months of these conditions as he prepares to announce a second stimulus package that will likely include Newstart payments for those who lose their jobs during the pandemic.
  • The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said banks were working on their own package that could potentially include a freeze on mortgage repayments for those out of work.
  • Qantas announced it would stand down 20,000 employees, or two-thirds of its workforce. Employees can job-share, take leave, access Newstart or attempt to find other jobs in the meantime.
  • Tasmania announced it would force anyone arriving in the Apple Isle to self-isolate for 14 days with limited exceptions.
  • The federal government will place restrictions on the amount of over-the-counter medicine, such as Ventalin and paracetemol, to try to stop the panic buying that is clearing the shelves at the moment.
  • A Serco immigration detention centre guard in Brisbane tested positive for coronavirus.
  • The emergency management minister, David Littleproud, attacked eBay and Facebook for allowing people to sell staple items at very inflated costs, while the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, thinks there is a criminal element behind all the panic buying.
  • There is concern for Australians trapped in Peru attempting to get home.

We’ll be back tomorrow to keep you updated with everything that’s happening. Until then, stay safe.

Updated

On staff being forced onto leave, Joyce says some staff will share jobs, others will take leave and have a lot of leave built up so could be paid for months still.

He said those without leave can take four weeks paid negative leave. Outside of that, he says they will have access to Newstart, and could potentially shift to jobs at Coles or Woolworths (despite Coles saying it had around 36,000 applications for 5,000 jobs yesterday).

Qantas has been widely criticised for forcing this on its staff, saying they’re effectively bailing out the company, but Joyce said it’s designed so they can come back to the job when the economy kicks back into gear.

“We’re not making people redundant and we’re trying this mechanism to make sure we can get through and survive and they have a job at the end of the day.”

Now it’s Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, after he announced two-thirds of the Qantas workforce would be stood down today.

He said he is working on a “strategic network” to ensure Australians can still get home from overseas after the borders close.

He wouldn’t rule out grounding the domestic fleet, but says the airline is in a good position.

“We have to be flexible to adapt to whatever circumstances we see and take dramatic action to make sure that we’re the last man standing, we’re the healthiest airline in the world and have one of the best balance sheets and have a lot of liquidity and making sure we have dramatic action to allow us to survive for whatever length of time this virus issue is out there.”

Updated

Are we going to go into a recession or a depression?

Too early to say, according to Frydenberg, but will fall in this quarter.

“Well, of course this continues to evolve but it’s a massive 1 in 100 year event and the economic impact is huge, not just for us here in Australia, but globally. I can only take the best advice from Treasury, as well as the RBA. Both have said in the March quarter, the quarter we’re currently in, we’ll see half a per cent fall as a result of the coronavirus.”

Banks working on a package

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is on ABC’s 7.30 program and he was just asked about whether banks could freeze mortgage payments, and he said the banks were working on a package around that.

“The answer is they can and they have been working on a package. This is a team Australia moment. Whether you’re an energy company or a landlord or a bank, you need to fully understand the predicament in which your customers are finding themselves, through no fault of their own. We need to build that bridge to the recovery phase and there’s an alignment of interests here, Leigh, between the small businesses and their banks because both parties want to succeed.”

Zoos Victoria has set up live cams of its animals for people who can’t get to the zoo right now. There doesn’t appear to be much happening on there right now but here’s the link if you want to take a look.

The zoos are still open, but limited to 2,000 visitors a day, all the talks and events have been cancelled, and indoor areas have been closed.

We’ve been trying to figure out why Crown Casino in Melbourne has been allowed to stay open when so many other venues across the state have been forced to close under the new restrictions.

According to Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, the reason is that the chief health officer has placed conditions on Crown and Crown is complying with that.

Crown has halved the number of poker machines in operation on the gaming floors but that’s still almost 1,400 machines, my colleague Ben Butler reports.

Andrews said yesterday he would be “more than happy” to provide the advice from the chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton, but so far his office has not provided the conditions set by Sutton.

Thank you so much for joining me tonight.

I’ll be handing you over to Josh Taylor for the final stretch.

Wash your hands and take care of you.

Evening recap

Since the RBA announcement and the government border close announcement, we have had a lot more happen. So a quick run through of that:

The border closure could last six months. At least.

The second stimulus package will focus on Australians who may lose their income in the coming days, weeks and months.

Everyone is very, very stressed.

A recession is unavoidable.

Penny Wong wants more done to get Australians who are in far off places, like Peru, home.

WA has recorded 17 more Covid-19 cases, including two health care workers.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg also tells Patricia Karvelas on ABC radio that the second package of measures will focus on those people who may lose their income.

He says he is staying awake at night worrying about the same things other Australians are - health, family and friends, the economy

“These are unprecedented times, but I know that I can’t lose my head, because as the treasurer of Australia, I have a responsibility to help steer Australia through it. It is not about me.”

On the question of how long the travel ban will be in place, Josh Frydenberg can’t say for sure. But he says the prime minister said it would be six months “at least”.

Patricia Karvelas: How long will the borders be closed?

Josh Frydenberg:

Again, we need to listen to the best possible medical advice. The prime minister said this will go for six months or more and they won’t be lifted until it is safe to do so, until we are on the other side of this very, very challenging period.”

PK: Could it last for six months at least?

JF:

The travel ban will last as long as the medical experts tell us that we need to prevent the spread of the virus and one way to do that is through the steps we have announced today.

PK: So it could be closed for this six month period?

JF:

You are asking me to put a date on something that not even the medical experts can put a date one.

PK: The PM said six months, that is the time period.

JF:

To be fair to him, he actually said six months at least.

PK: Does that mean it could be longer?

JF:

Again, as your listeners would expect us to do, we will follow the medical advice and not even the medical experts know how long the spread of the virus will continue and the date upon which a vaccine will be found.

Updated

On whether or not Australia will be entering a recession, Josh Frydenberg says:

I think it will be very hard to avoid.

A depression?

“This is a massive hit to the Australian economy. This is an external event, beyond our control. The work that we have done to be able to get the budget back in shape to make these major announcements ... that is what’s going to matter in the end, that is what is going to lead us to recovery.

... It’s a team effort, it’s a team Australia moment.”

Updated

Josh Frydenberg, speaking to Patricia Karvelas won’t put a figure on the unemployment predictions, but says it will rise “substantially”.

Australian borders likely to be closed for six months

Over on ABC radio, Josh Frydenberg has said the unprecedented Australian border closures are likely to remain in place for six months.

That’s 6.

17 more Covid-19 cases in WA

The West Australian health minister, Roger Cook says there have been another 17 people diagnosed with Covid-19 since the last update.

That includes two health workers. A nurse, who returned from overseas (they self-isolated as soon as they returned from Australia) and a mental health doctor.

The mental health doctor developed symptoms on 16 March and isolated immediately. The physician had contact with people who had been diagnosed with the virus – the WA authorities are working to contact anyone the doctor may have come into contact with.

That brings WA’s total to 52.

Updated

Wash your hands.

Stay home if you have been exposed.

Maintain distance if you have not been exposed, but are out in public.

Follow the advice.

This is an absolutely heartbreaking read

Penny Wong says there needs to be more done to help get stranded Australians home, given the looming airline groundings.

The next stage in the government stimulus plan has to be announced before parliament sits next week.

Just a reminder that it will be the last chance (outside of an emergency sitting) for the parliament to pass legislation before the budget is handed down in the first week of May.

Updated

There is no food shortage

The government has released a fact sheet for older Australians, answering questions on Covid-19.

You’ll find it here

On the question of what happens for the New Zealanders living in Australia, under the new border rules, Scott Morrison said:

The New Zealand arrangement, in the same way as it has in the past, doesn’t apply to Australians living in New Zealand as New Zealand residents.

Equally for New Zealanders living in Australia as Australian residents, these are the same rules that apply in both countries, and we have worked today to align what we’re doing and I appreciate that openness.

Updated

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt has told the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (Caama) that a national approach to Covid-19 in Aboriginal communities will be announced by the prime minister tomorrow morning.

Several Indigenous communities have already banned non-essential visitors, and Wyatt said those restrictions are vital. Community members who have to visit major towns should self-isolate upon their return, he said.

People on dialysis machines in communities should remain there, where “they will know who’s coming in and who hasn’t come in”.

Work for the dole arrangements under the community development program (CDP) would continue, he said, “because communities are succinct and it is a defined group.

“They can continue with their activities, but not in large groups, in smaller groups, but we will look at every case on a case by case basis. And if there is Covid-19 or coronavirus, then the penalties will not apply.”

Labor’s Indigenous caucus has demanded work for the dole be suspended.

Wyatt was also asked if there had been a breakdown in communication with people in remote Aboriginal communities throughout the Covid-19 outbreak.

“I’d say that’s across rural and regional Australia,” he said.

Updated

The Queensland chief medical officer, Jeannette Young, says there is “early evidence” of community transmission on the Gold Coast – which is why the isolation measures are more important than ever.

Updated

The parliament sitting next week will be suspended almost as soon as the stimulus package is passed.

Phil Lowe has concluded his presentation.
The main take-aways are:

  • Australia should brace itself for “quite a few job losses” – although these may be temporary, depending on how quickly we can contain the virus
  • There is no limit on the amount of purchases of government bonds the RBA is prepared to do (AKA quantitative easing)
  • It’s aiming to get the three-year yield for Australian government bonds down to 0.25%
  • Beyond what was announced today, no options are off the table
  • Expect an extended period of rock bottom interest rates, three years at the current cash rate of 0.25%, but no lower
  • The RBA has extended a term-funding facility for the banking system, with particular support for credit to small and medium-sized businesses.
  • It wants to keep banks lending to small business to ensure people stay in their jobs
  • Inflation may increase temporarily due to the drop in the Aussie dollar, but given job losses it’s not going to be pushing the 2-3% target band any time soon

Updated

Queensland’s chief medical officer, Dr Jeannette Young says the clusters on the Gold Coast were expected, given Queensland’s first case was from there, but authorities are watching the diagnoses happening across other areas of the state.

She tells people to stop touching people – not counting family you live with at home, unless they are at risk.

But stop touching people outside of that bubble.

Wash your hands. Soap is the most effective, she says, but hand sanitiser will do if you can’t get soap – but it is not as good as soap.

And do what you can to make sure that it doesn’t reach Indigenous communities.

Updated

Steven Miles:

There are more than 7,000 Queenslanders returning home a day, and all of them are required to go into quarantine for 14 days.

They are returning from right around the world and, indeed, more than 153 countries are experiencing this pandemic.

We want those Queenslanders to return home. We are of course urging them to return home.

Because if they get sick, we want to treat them in our hospitals, where we know they will get the best possible care.

But of course, with that number of people returning to Queensland from countries with live outbreaks, we are seeing that some of them are returning already infected with Covid-19.

We have now performed 27,000 tests for this virus. We have, today, 29 active fever clinics at our public hospitals.

Updated

Queensland’s health minister Steven Miles has ordered all Queenslanders who have been told to self-isolate to STAY AT HOME.

Any travellers with symptoms are being told to come in for testing.

Anyone with contact with a confirmed case is also being told to get tested, if they show symptoms.

All healthcare workers who are showing symptoms are being told to be tested and not come to work.

Updated

Queensland sees 50 new cases in one day

The Queensland health minister and chief medical officer have announced that another 50 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. That brings Queensland’s total cases to 144.

There is no issue with Australia’s power supply.

Updated

Phil Lowe has added to his earlier advice of an extended period of low interest rates – saying the RBA expects three years of the official cash rate at 0.25%. Asked about what the RBA can do in the event of a disorderly fall on house prices, he replied:

“That’s not high on our priority list. Our priority is people can keep their jobs and small businesses can stay alive. I think in the next few months, there won’t be lots of transactions in the housing market.”

That said, conditions could recover by the end of the year.

Updated

Basically, Australia’s anthem right now, is Bridge over Troubled Water.

You will be hearing SO MUCH about the bridge in the next few months.

It’s the analogy being used by the RBA and the government – measures being used to get Australia from this end of the Covid-19 crisis to the other end.

But not everyone will be able to hold on to the bridge – there will be businesses that go under and jobs being lost.

That is why the government is talking about the “cushion” – the income support measures it is talking about.

Updated

Phil Lowe is now answering journalists’ questions.

He’s been asked what the next step is – what more the RBA can do if today’s announcements are not enough.

Lowe replies that he “won’t speculate” but “nothing is off the table” because of the extraordinary times.

Similarly, Lowe won’t speculate about when the RBA will change the target bond rate – except to say the coronavirus would have to be under control and the bank would have to be confident it’s going to achieve its inflation target.

One thing that does seem to be off the table: a further interest rate cut. Regarding the cash rate – Lowe reiterates that 0.25% is the effective lower bound. We’ve hit rock bottom, and there will be no further move to 0.

“We’ve done all we can on the cash rate.”

Updated

Phil Lowe finishes with just why this action from the RBA is so significant:

The term-funding scheme and the three-year yield target are both very significant developments and they would not have been considered under normal times. They both carry financial and other risks for the Reserve Bank and they both represent quite significant interventions by the Reserve Bank into Australia’s financial markets.

So the Reserve Bank board did not take these decisions lightly. But in the context of extraordinary times, and consistent with our broad mandate to promote the economic welfare of the people of Australia, we are seeking to play our full role in building that bridge to the time when the recovery does take place.

By doing all that we can lower funding costs in Australia and support the supply of credit to business and we will help our economy and our financial system get through this difficult period.

We have never seen our Reserve Bank act in this way. If that gives you some idea of how serious this is – this includes the global financial crisis.

Updated

Reserve Bank Governor Phil Lowe is also building bridges to the other side:

“Undeniably, what we are facing today is a very serious situation but it’s also something that’s temporary. As we deal with it as best we can, we also need to look to the other side when things do recover. When we do get to that other side, all those fundamentals that have made Australia such a successful and prosperous, and fantastic country will still be there. I think we need to remember that. To help us get to the other side, though, we need a bridge. Without that bridge there will be damage, some of which will be permanent to the economy and to people’s lives. And building that bridge requires a concerted team effort with us all pulling together in the country’s interests.”

Lowe said it is not possible to give updated economic forecasts because the situation is “just too fluid”.

Also, rock-bottom interest rates will be in place for some time:

“At its meeting yesterday the board also agreed that we would not increase the cash rate from its current level until progress was made towards full employment and that we were confident that inflation will be sustainably between 2 and 3%.

This means that we are likely to be at the current level of interest rates for an extended period of time.”

The RBA won’t be purchasing bonds directly from the government – instead it will be buying in the “secondary market”, (the stock market) where investors focus their securities buying and selling

Updated

The RBA governor, Phil Lowe, says the bank is expecting “significant job losses”.

I’m not able to provide you with an updated set of economic forecasts.

The situation is just too fluid.

But we are expecting a major hit to economic activity and incomes in Australia that will last for a number of months.

We’re also expecting significant job losses.

The scale of those losses will depend upon the ability of businesses to keep workers on during this challenging period.

We saw during the global financial crisis how flexibility in working arrangements limited job losses and this benefited the entire community.

And I hope the same is going to be true in the months ahead. It’s also important to repeat that we are expecting a recovery once the virus is contained.

The timing and strength of that recovery will depend upon how successful we are as a nation in building that bridge to the other side.

Updated

Greg Hunt has a bit more information on the medicine-buying restrictions announced today:

Updated

There was no mention of what the trigger to lift these measures will be.

We know a vaccine for Covid-19 is at least one year/18 months away.

We know that as our warm season begins, the northern hemisphere’s winter sets in.

We know that health authorities expect this virus to be with us for a long time, possibly swapping between hemispheres.

When the border shutdowns will end, is unclear.

Updated

Summary of new measures

  • Australia has officially announced it will shut its border to all non-citizens and residents
  • The border shutdown is effective from 9pm on Friday
  • New Zealand has also announced a border shut down from midnight
  • A much, much bigger stimulus package is coming
  • Income support measures are on the table
  • This is Australia’s new normal, for at least six months

Updated

Scott Morrison finishes with this:

There will be Australians in many places around the world who will find themselves finding it a lot harder to get back to Australia than otherwise.

The coronavirus has been a matter of public record now for several months and many Australians have taken wise decisions to get back home sooner.

Australia has brought people back from Wuhan and from the Diamond Princess in Japan.

We’re working hard to make sure we can keep some flights open so Australians can make their way back.

But those who find themselves in a more remote location, we will have to work closely through them with our consular officers like our very professional consular officials do every day.

That particular matter was only brought to my attention recently.

But our wonderful Dfat team will continue to assist Australians wherever they practically can. But there are limitations to what can be done.

We hope they are safe. But they are finding themselves in circumstances that all people around the world are finding those circumstances.

Updated

Scott Morrison repeats that this is our future for at least six months:

I understand they’re [Australians] anxious. But for the next six months we need to work together. So we do need to moderate our behaviour and understand things need to change.

It is not like before. But the phones still work, the hospitals still run, the shops are still open, the trucks are still getting to the shops. All of that is there.

What we’re dealing with here is a virus and it will slow the country down. It will mean people will have to self-isolate.

It will mean we will have to behave differently and that will happen for quite a period of time – six months, I believe, based on the advice I have, at least.

We can do it. I have no doubt we can do it. We have to apply ourselves to it and encourage others to do the right thing.

Updated

As flagged by Scott Morrison in his press conference a little earlier, he has been talking to Jacinda Ardern about the border issues.

New Zealand will close its borders from midnight. Australia will close down at 9pm Friday.

Suddenly being an island on the arse-end of the world doesn’t seem so bad.

Australian government looking at issues around 'income support'

Scott Morrison says a little more about what ‘cushion the blow’ means:

When we say we want to cushion the blow, we’re looking at those issues around income support.

We’re looking at the issues around people’s obligations. And working really constructively, whether it’s with the banks or whether it’s with businesses or others, to ensure that we’re putting them in a stronger position to look after people and where they’re not in a position to be able to do that, then the government is stepping up where they can to try and cushion that impact as much as we responsibly can.

Updated

What can you take from that?

The next step in the stimulus package is going to be HUGE.

Updated

Basically, things are moving so fast, the government is looking at things it hadn’t even considered just a week ago. Josh Frydenberg:

We continue to look at a range of measures. As the prime minister has said, our second package will be substantially different to the first package.

In fact, since that time, we have seen the economic impact, globally as well as here in Australia, become much more significant than was evident even just a week or two weeks ago.

And so our second package is designed to support, in the words of the prime minister, to cushion the challenge being faced by many Australians through this. That includes backing small business.

Updated

Asked if we have enough tests, and if everyone who needs a test gets one, Scott Morrison says:

We’ve had some 85,000 tests that have been conducted and I think that’s a good indication of the answer to your question, because people are getting tested. Those presenting for tests who need tests are getting tested, and the health minister has been working with industry and others to ensure that the supplies continue to be made available for those who need tests.

But I would say this to people – have a test where you need to have a test. And the rules for that have been well set out, I think, in recent times.

These testing resources are not ubiquitous, nor are they designed to be. They’re there for those who need them most. So we would encourage both the medical profession and others to use those testing kits where most needed.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg:

This is a very volatile time in global equity, debt and credit markets, but Australians can be reassured that our financial system remains well capitalised and strong.

It was referred to today by the Reserve Bank governor in his statement. The Australian financial system remains strong but the measures announced by the Morrison government today, and the Reserve Bank and the prudential regulator, will even enhance this strength further.

Updated

The deadline for any non-citizens or residents entering Australia is 9pm on Friday.

Josh Frydenberg is running through the “extraordinary actions” of the RBA to keep the economy afloat.

Updated

Scott Morrison also again tells Australians to stop with the panic buying:

What there is an issue with is the behaviour of Australians at supermarkets. That is what is causing the distress and the strain.

The food supply in Australia from the meetings we held is something we can feel confident about. If Australians respond to that, it will mean Australians can access to the things they need when they need it. I would ask Australians for their cooperation on those issues.

The travel ban is being put in place because most of the cases of Covid-19 cases in Australia have come from overseas.

Updated

The final callout for Australians still overseas, who want to come home in the near future, is now going out. Scott Morrison:

I want to thank Qantas also, you are offering to work with us to make sure they maintain flights from particular parts of the world that can assist Australians to return to Australia and we will be working closely with them, and those Australians who are overseas, we have been encouraging them to return to Australia.

Those in remote parts of the world, that can prove challenging, but for those in other places it is our intention to ensure we can maintain flights to enable them to come home as soon as possible.

Updated

That travel ban will begin from tomorrow night.

Australia to close borders to all non-citizens or residents

Anyone who is not a citizen, resident, or close family member of a citizen or resident, will be denied entry to Australia.

“We have been thinking to align arrangements across the Tasman Sea and I appreciate the consultation that I’ve had with prime minister Jacinda Ardern in dealing with these issues.”

Updated

“This notion of the bridge is what we discussed,” Scott Morrison says of his meeting yesterday with the RBA.

It was described in these ways by the Reserve Bank governor and is absolutely right because there is a [time after this] to which we will to move.

That will be difficult and the best way to get there are the measures we are putting in place on a sustainable and staged basis so we can do them and scale them up as necessary to ensure we bring as many people with us as possible and minimise impact on lives.

As I said, there will be impacts and we will be seeking also to cushion the impact along the journey. The treasurer and I are making further announcements about that in the next few days and we have had another important day to work through some of those more specific things that the government will be able to do that will cushion the impact for as many as we possibly can as a result of the economic impacts of what we’re seeing with the coronavirus.

Updated

Prime minister and treasurer hold press conference

Scott Morrison, with Josh Frydenberg, launches straight into it.

He wants to build a bridge between now and when we are on the other side of this.

Updated

We are just waiting on the prime minister.

Updated

[Cont from previous post]

Asked if the AHPPC did recommend the 100-person rule on Friday, Kelly said: “We recommended there should be limitations on mass gatherings, both internal and external, we settled on the 500 initially and then more work to be specifically looking at internal matters and I’ll leave it at that.”

So the medical advice related to internal and external spaces, but the political decision was to announce the rule on external spaces and do more work on the internal spaces.

Eventually, on Wednesday, the 100 rule was adopted. A delay of five days, and more time to bed down the details. That may be a fine outcome, but fudging who made the decision is not.

Decisions involve tradeoffs – perhaps introducing the 100 rule too early would have caused unacceptable disruption and economic harm, but done little to spread the disease. On the other hand, perhaps more social distancing sooner would help stop the spread.

But citizens can only judge if the tradeoffs are worth it if, first, they know what the medical advice was, and then they hear why politicians departed from it. On Friday, nobody had to answer those tough questions because Australians were still in the dark.

In addition to improving accountability, trust can only be improved by transparency. The advice on Covid-19 is changing so frequently, it would help Australians prepare for changes to their way of life to know first where the medical advice is pointing to prepare for what will probably later be adopted as policy.

This is not Watergate or a huge coverup. But this process of advice, delay, refinement and decision is going to continue happening. On Thursday, Kelly gave some detail about limits of one person per four square metres indoors – another proposal that is still being worked on before adoption.

To take Australians on the journey of understanding how decisions are made and to decide for themselves if our leaders are handling the crisis well, we cannot pretend that political and medical decisions are one and the same – choices are being made, and we need to know who by.

Updated

From previous post:

Throughout the week, we asked a number of chief medical officers about the 100 rule, when it was first raised, and whether anyone in AHPPC had called for more social distancing.

On Wednesday, Murphy said “[on] Friday the AHPPC was strongly of the view that it was time to really up the ante on social distancing social distancing. And we have been, since then, talking about both internal and external gatherings. At the time on Friday, the recommendation to the national cabinet was to implement the mass gatherings for 500 people externally, and we were instructed to come back and look at internal gatherings in this meeting over the next two days and that is what we did.”

The Victorian chief medical officer Brett Sutton answered most clearly: “Yes, it has been under consideration for a week with AHPPC. We have worked through details and we have tried to review what other jurisdictions internationally have done and people have picked different thresholds,” he said on Wednesday. Working through the details over the past few days has embedded that as one of the principles that we think will be useful.”

On Thursday the deputy federal chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, replied: “So, we’ve given advice to government over many weeks now – and I’m pleased to say they listen to the advice very carefully.

“But of course governments need to make their decisions, and governments particularly need to take in other issues other than the health advice.

“Specifically in relation to the 500 [outdoors], 100 [indoors] thing – we did put that to government, they asked us to go back and do more thinking so we could give much more detailed information to internal venues and so forth, so that they could practically do it and implement it.”

Updated

On Thursday we learned that – in addition to the recommendation against 500 people in outdoor mass gatherings – medical officers had recommended in some form as early as Friday that Australia adopt an additional rule against gatherings of 100 people in enclosed spaces.

But the fact the medical advice differed from what was finally adopted took days to become clear, because doctors and politicians wanted to appear to be on the same page.

On Friday Morrison announced the result of the national cabinet meeting was to adopt the AHPPC’s recommendation against non-essential gatherings of 500 or more.

The chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, was asked “does what has been announced here differ in any way to what you recommended behind closed doors”.

He replied: “So the recommendation is exactly as decided by AHPPC before I went to meet the premiers and the prime minister. Their recommendation is that we state that mass gatherings of 500 should be encouraged, as the prime minister has said, to be not proceeded with.”

Although the 500 rule was “exactly” as had been recommended – this was not all that was discussed by the medicos.

Doing some due diligence with those that know what was said in both meetings, two colleagues and I learned from four separate jurisdictions that the 100 rule on indoor gatherings was discussed in some form, a likely next step, “proposed but not recommended” being the most common formulation.

Western Australia Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt has announced new restrictions on access to remote communities in the state.

The new directions, issued under State of Emergency powers, mean that any person who enters or exits a remote community can be issued with a fine of up to $50,000. They enforce isolation measures that were already in place in many communities.

Exceptions are available for medical reasons, emergencies, obtaining essential services and supplies, and ensuring food security. A Remote Community Pandemic Plan is also being developed by the government and local Aboriginal groups.

“The safest place for Aboriginal Western Australians during these times is in their communities,” Wyatt said.

The government is also working on plans to ensure Aboriginal people away from their home communities can return.

“For those people who are currently away from their communities, the government will be working with community leaders on plans to manage when and how those people can return home.”

Updated

The prudential regulator has told banks that now is the time to spend some of the money they have set aside against bad times.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said it had previously encouraged Australian banks to build up large buffers, well in excess of what the law required them to hold.

“APRA’s objective in building up this capital strength has been to ensure it is available to be drawn upon if needed in times such as this,” chairman Wayne Byres said.

“Today’s announcement reflects the underlying strength of the system: even if the banking system utilises some of its current large buffers, it will still be operating comfortably above minimum regulatory requirements.”

It said that banks might need to use more of their capital to keep lending money, especially if they want to use the new $90bn small business line of credit announced by the Reserve Bank this afternoon.

“Provided banks are able to demonstrate they can continue to meet their various minimum capital requirements, APRA would not be concerned if they were not meeting the additional benchmarks announced in 2016 during the period of disruption caused by Covid-19,” APRA said.

Updated

The prime minister’s press conference has been confirmed for 3.45pm.

It will be held in the prime minister’s courtyard, at parliament house.

Updated

Victoria has confirmed it has had another 29 people diagnosed with Covid-19.

That brings that state’s total to 150.

We are expecting to hear from Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg before the hour is up.

They will be responding to the RBA’s announcement – but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a hint of what is happening with the government’s next step as well.

Here’s what the NSW Covid-19 response centre looks like

Updated

The government is facing growing pressure to suspend mutual obligations for welfare recipients during the coronavirus crisis after Labor joined calls for face-to-face interview and other activities to be halted.

Brendan O’Connor, the opposition’s employment spokesman, has written to his counterpart, Michaelia Cash, to request a suspension, arguing that jobseekers, job service providers and Centrelink staff were “placing themselves and others at risk of contracting the virus”.

The government has so far declined to suspend mutual obligations, which can include interviews with employment services providers, job search obligations and work for the dole activities, including remote work for the dole programs mostly undertaken by First Nations people.

Instead, it has said it has instructed providers to be flexible with welfare recipients and pointed to a 14-day exemption that applies to people who are forced to self-isolate according to official guidelines.

The Guardian has reported concerns from welfare recipients, including those who are immunocompromised or exhibiting flu-like symptoms being forced to attend appointments.

“By enforcing these obligations during these uncertain times, jobseekers, job service providers and Centrelink staff are placing themselves and others at risk of contracting the virus,” O’Connor wrote.

“Likewise, group training activities and Work for the Dole programs that people are required to attend increase the risk of spreading the virus.”

The ACT records its 4th confirmed case of Covid-19

The ACT has confirmed a fouth person has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

More information on that person’s circumstances to come.

There is also an update on the new drive-through testing clinic announced a little earlier:

The ACT government is making testing for Covid-19 more accessible for Canberrans who meet the testing criteria, with the introduction of a drive through Respiratory Assessment Clinic. The clinic will be located at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) from Friday 20 March.

Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the drive-through clinic would complement the dedicated Respiratory Assessment Clinic already operating from the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre as well as Canberra Hospital’s Respiratory Assessment Clinic.

“The Respiratory Assessment Clinic at the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre has been experiencing strong demand, so to assist with meeting this demand we will be providing Canberrans with the option for drive-through Covid-19 testing at EPIC,” Stephen-Smith said.

“We’re asking people presenting for a Covid-19 test to check prior to attending that they meet the meet the criteria for testing, just as we are with the Respiratory Assessment Clinic at the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre.

“You must also be driving or a passenger of a motor vehicle or motorbike. You will not be able to access the drive-through testing service from public transport, or as a pedestrian.

“For northside residents who are not able to drive to EPIC, both the Belconnen and Gungahlin Walk-in Centres can undertake assessment and testing for Covid-19, but Weston Creek remains the recommended location,” Stephen-Smith said.

Updated

Quick summary

It has been another big day (timeless statement) so to recap some of what has happened this afternoon:

  • The RBA has cut interest rates to its floor – 0.25%
  • The reserve bank has also announced a $90bn lending package to assure banks they are covered
  • The government has announced a $15bn loan scheme for small and medium lenders
  • Together, that will bump more than $100bn into the economy
  • Children’s panadol and asthma medication will be limited to one per customer, due to panic hoarding
  • New Zealand has issued a “do not travel” advisory to its citizens.
  • For the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak in November, there has been no new recorded cases in Wuhan, China, where the virus began
  • Tourism companies and the government are working to get stranded Australians home

And a little earlier:

  • Qantas will stand down about 20,000 of its workers as well as cease international flights later this month, and cut down on domestic flights
  • Tasmania has shut is borders and told any returning residents to quarantine for 14 days

Updated

The International Olympic Committee says at this stage, the Olympics are going ahead.

There is an update on those Australians who are stranded in Peru:

More than 170 Australians trapped in locked-down Peru have been advised by the government to find a commercial charter flight to get out of the country.

Some passengers have been able to get on chartered flights to the US, while others have been offered a dedicated charter flight from Lima to Sydney, but at a cost of more than $5,000.

There are currently at least 170 Australians across Peru, mostly in Lima, but more than a dozen in Cusco. Internal travel restrictions mean moving between cities without official permission is impossible.

Updated

The Commonwealth bank has been the first to react.

It has announced a rate cut of 70 basis points, to 2.29%, which is its lowest rate ever.

RBA announcement snap analysis

The rate cut announced this afternoon effectively brings interest rates to zero, because the RBA trades with commercial banks in a range around the official rate.

As a result, with the new official rate now 0.25%, some transactions will take place at 0%.

But the other parts of the announcement – $90bn in super-cheap loans for banks who lend the money to small and medium-sized businesses and the beginning of money printing operations through quantitative easing - are probably more significant.

About 130 banks will be able to get into the scheme, under which they will be able to borrow at just 0.25%.

SMEs have been absolutely smashed by the coronavirus pandemic – as we reported yesterday, many have already begun sacking staff and closing their doors.

The only snag is that it appears the RBA program doesn’t officially open its doors until 16 April. Nonetheless, the announcement should make banks confident they can continue to lend to small business.

On quantitative easing, analysts at UBS were expecting at least $200bn worth. So far the RBA hasn’t said how much the program will cost. We might get more details at 4pm.

It’s now over to the government for another go at doing a stimulus package. It’s now apparent last week’s effort was too small, too slow and too targeted at business, with not enough support for the people who are already losing their jobs as a result of the crisis.

There, UBS’s analysts have priced total stimulus of at least $50bn into their models.

Anything less and we can expect to see markets crash even faster than they already are.

In the short-term, the RBA announcement didn’t move the sharemarket, which is down around 2% this afternoon.

But it did cause a tremor in the Australian dollar, which has been falling because of the coronavirus crisis.

The Aussie rose from about 55.5 US cents before the 2.30pm announcement to as much as 56.1c afterwards, before falling back.

Updated

We heard a little earlier the Australian government is planning to restrict purchases of Ventolin and paracetamol to one unit at a time. We’ll also see restrictions in relation to certain prescription drugs and advice to pharmacists to put children’s paracetamol behind the counter.

We’ve heard reports now for weeks of the huge demand on pharmacies as a result of Covid-19. Pharmacies say demand is greatest for Ventolin, hand sanitiser, face masks and painkillers. We spoke to one pharmacy, the Abbotsford Family Pharmacy, which had come up with its own way of ensuring at-risk and elderly customers got what they needed.

It identified its vulnerable customers, checking in daily and working with competitors to find a pharmacy that had what they needed in stock.

The vast demand has also put pressure on wholesalers, who supply pharmacies. One of the bigger wholesalers, Symbion, said the demand was “significant” but that there was enough supply to meet it.

Supply chains are under strain, though, and rural pharmacies in particular have reported serious difficulties in obtaining Ventolin and other items.

Updated

And it won’t be the last cash injection either

Ben Doherty has spoken to a tourism operator about what the industry is doing to get Australians stranded overseas, home:

Dennis Bunnik is chairman of the Council of Australian Tour Operators and joint chief executive of Bunnik Tours. He said tour operators have been working around the clock to help Australians stranded by flight cancellations, closed borders, and travel restrictions around the world. He told the Guardian he had been overwhelmed by the tourism industry’s willingness to pull together and cooperate at a time of crisis.

“The sense of unity and support that tour operators are showing each other and their clients is absolutely incredible, especially to those clients stranded overseas. One of my competitors left a message on my phone ‘I understand you’ve got travellers stranded in Morocco too, do you want to share a private jet?’. This industry is standing up under some incredibly difficult circumstances like never before, to help Australians out.”

He said Australia’s tourism industry faced unprecedented pressure.

“No one in the industry believes they have a secure job at the moment. The work they are doing 24 hours a day, helping stranded travellers, all while worrying whether they are going to have a job, it has brought a tear to my eye more than once. We need Australians to stand behind the travel industry, travel is as much a part of Australian culture as vegemite or going to the football. When this is all over, Australians will want to travel again, that will only happen, if there’s an industry to go back to.”

Updated

Josh Frydenberg has released a statement – small and medium lenders will be able to access a $15bn loan fund:

The Morrison government today announced an investment of up to $15bn to enable smaller lenders to continue supporting Australian consumers and small businesses.

The government’s actions will enable customers of smaller lenders to continue to access affordable credit as the world deals with the significant challenges presented by the spread of coronavirus.

Small lenders are critical to Australia’s lending markets, often driving innovation and providing competition for larger lenders.

This funding will complement the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA’s) announcement of a $90bn term funding facility for authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) that will also support lending to small and medium enterprises.

Combined, these measures will support the continued ability of lenders to support their customers and in doing so the Australian economy.

The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) will be provided with an investment capacity of $15bn to invest in wholesale funding markets used by small ADIs and non-ADI lenders.

The $15bn capacity would allow the AOFM to support a substantial volume of expected issuance by these lenders over a 12-month period.

Importantly the assets being purchased by the AOFM will not be limited to residential mortgage backed securities. The AOFM will also be able to invest in a range of other asset-backed securities and warehouse facilities. The government will provide the AOFM with investment guidelines that will outline the basis on which the AOFM is to undertake these investments.

Enabling legislation will be introduced in the week commencing Monday, 23 March 2020. The AOFM is expected to be able to begin investing by April.

Updated

There will be no interest rate hike, until we hit 4.5%.

That is a very long way away – some of the big bank economists believe we are headed to a 7% unemployment rate in the coming quarters.

The bank is letting that information out, so the market can plan accordingly.

The RBA has said it will not cut rates lower than 0.25%. For Australia, 0.25% is zero. It is the floor.

So there will not be negative interest rates, unless some massive, massive turnaround occurs.

The RBA governor will be making a speech at 4pm, which will be followed by a media briefing.

That in itself shows you how big this is – we rarely have access to Phil Lowe himself.

For those wondering what the big deal is, about unconventional monetary policy, or quantitative easing, it’s because Australia hasn’t gone there before.

The US has. Australia has not.

Updated

The Big 4 Banks will now be under pressure to pass on that rate cut.

That’s helped by the RBA also announcing its unconventional monetary policy announcements.

It will most likely not be the last announcement we hear from the RBA on this.

Why is the RBA making these emergency moves?

The coronavirus is first and foremost a public health issue, but it is also having a very major impact on the economy and the financial system. As the virus has spread, countries have restricted the movement of people across borders and have implemented social distancing measures, including restricting movements within countries and within cities. The result has been major disruptions to economic activity across the world. This is likely to remain the case for some time yet as efforts continue to contain the virus.

Financial market volatility has been very high. Equity prices have experienced large declines. Government bond yields have declined to historic lows. However, the functioning of major government bond markets has been impaired, which has disrupted other markets given their important role as a financial benchmark. Funding markets are open to only the highest quality borrowers.

The primary response to the virus is to manage the health of the population, but other arms of policy, including monetary and fiscal policy, play an important role in reducing the economic and financial disruption resulting from the virus.

At some point, the virus will be contained and the Australian economy will recover. In the interim, a priority for the Reserve Bank is to support jobs, incomes and businesses, so that when the health crisis recedes, the country is well placed to recover strongly.

The RBA statement continues:

The Reserve Bank will also continue to provide liquidity to Australian financial markets by conducting one-month and three-month repo operations in its daily market operations until further notice. In addition, the bank will conduct longer-term repo operations of six-month maturity or longer at least weekly, as long as market conditions warrant.

The various elements of this package reinforce one another and will help to lower funding costs across the economy and support the provision of credit, especially to small and medium-sized businesses.

Australia’s financial system is resilient and well placed to deal with the effects of the coronavirus. The banking system is well capitalised and is in a strong liquidity position. Substantial financial buffers are available to be drawn down if required to support the economy. The Reserve Bank is working closely with the other financial regulators and the Australian government to help ensure that Australia’s financial markets continue to operate effectively and that credit is available to households and businesses.

Today’s policy package from the Reserve bank complements the welcome fiscal response from governments in Australia. Together, these measures will support jobs, incomes and businesses through this difficult period and they will also assist the Australian economy in the recovery.

Updated

What is the RBA doing?

At a meeting yesterday, the Reserve Bank Board agreed to the following comprehensive package to support the Australian economy through this challenging period:

  1. A reduction in the cash rate target to 0.25 per cent. The board will not increase the cash rate target until progress is being made towards full employment and it is confident that inflation will be sustainably within the 2–3% target band.
  2. A target for the yield on three-year Australian government bonds of around 0.25%. This will be achieved through purchases of government bonds in the secondary market. Purchases of government bonds and semi-government securities across the yield curve will be conducted to help achieve this target as well as to address market dislocations. These purchases will commence tomorrow. The bank will work closely with the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) and state government borrowing authorities to ensure the efficacy of its actions. Further details about the implementation of this are provided in the accompanying notice.
  3. A term funding facility for the banking system, with particular support for credit to small and medium-sized businesses. The Reserve Bank will provide a three-year funding facility to authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) at a fixed rate of 0.25%. ADIs will be able to obtain initial funding of up to 3% of their existing outstanding credit. They will have access to additional funding if they increase lending to business, especially to small and medium-sized businesses. This facility is for at least $90bn. Further details are available in the accompanying notice.The Australian government has also developed a complementary program of support for the non-bank financial sector, small lenders and the securitisation market, which will be implemented by the AOFM.
  4. Exchange settlement balances at the Reserve Bank will be remunerated at 10 basis points, rather than zero as would have been the case under the previous arrangements. This will mitigate the cost to the banking system associated with the large increase in banks’ settlement balances at the Reserve Bank that will occur following these policy actions.

Updated

More information here:

Updated

RBA announcement

Rates have been cut to a historic low of 0.25%.

Updated

The Northern Territory is already facing a healthcare crisis, because travel restrictions have severely limited the supply of nurses and doctors to remote areas, so it cannot afford to manage a Covid-19 outbreak, and should enact “special isolation measures” immediately.

Chief medical officer at central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Dr John Boffa has told reporters in Alice Springs that “we already have a crisis”, because the remote area health corps is so heavily reliant on nurses from interstate and New Zealand, who now cannot travel.

“We need reserve nurses and doctors from the army health corps,” Boffa said.

Congress and a group of central Australian Aboriginal health and land council leaders are calling for the Northern Territory to declare itself a “special controlled area” to keep Covid-19 from spreading.

The closure of Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park is under consideration, according to the CEO of the Central Land Council Joe Martin-Jard.

“Maybe there is a way to accommodate some visitors but in a very controlled way,” Martin-Jard said.

“If we are in a special controlled area visitors would need to be quarantined for 14 days.

He said the traditional owners were “acutely aware” of the impacts of a closure, so are being careful with the decision.

Earlier the NT chief minister Michael Gunner said there was some legal complexity about the NT closing itself off, but he would do “whatever it takes” to keep people safe.

Updated

The countdown is on for the RBA announcement – it is due in less than 15 minutes now.

Rates are expected to be cut to 0.25%, which the RBA considers to be its floor. We won’t be going further than that.

There is also likely to be some unconventional monetary policy – it is not quite printing money, although that is what people tend to think. Instead, the RBA will most likely buy government bonds, as well as debt from banks, putting liquidity into the market.

We are all in fairly unchartered territory here.

We also know the next stage of the government’s stimulus package is coming before parliament sits next week. It’s the last chance parliament will have to pass any legislation (unless an emergency sitting session is called) before the budget is handed down in May. We’ve moved from ‘stimulus’ to “safety net” and in the case of Dan Andrews “survival payments”.

The hits keep on coming

Labor is calling on the government to guarantee household expenses. This follows on from what Victorian premier Dan Andrews called “survival payments” yesterday:

From Jason Clare:

Labor urges the national cabinet and the banks to immediately develop and implement a plan to help ensure people don’t lose the home they own or rent because of the virus.

More Australians are behind in their mortgage repayments today than at any time since the Global Financial Crisis and rental stress is through the roof. This crisis will make this worse.

The national cabinet and the financial services industry should look at what other countries are doing – including mortgage holidays and eviction moratoriums.

In addition to that, they should also take steps to make sure no one has their power, water, gas or phone cut off because they, or their family, are affected by the virus and can’t pay the bill.

Updated

The Greens are once again calling on the government to delay the planned changes to Centrelink payments.

The government plans on rolling in all the allowances to one JobSeeker payment (to be very clear, the payments still exist, it will just be under a different name)

Rachel Siewert says the government needs to pull back the changes, until the Covid-19 crisis clears:

Now is not the time for the Centrelink system to be under additional strain. People are already feeling scared and confused and changing Newstart to Jobseeker Payment and not having a separate Sickness Allowance is only going to make things worse.

The government says that jobseeker applications will be processed in five days which is absolutely farcical. Currently the median time for assessing Newstart is 15 days. The median processing time for Sickness Allowance is 35 days.

With so many people set to be losing work as a result of the coronavirus, I cannot believe they will have the capacity to process the additional applications within five days and manage the separate applications for those with Covid-19 requiring an exemption from mutual obligations.

Updated

We are about an hour out from the RBA’s announcement.

Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union, says Qantas seems to be asking its staff to bail out the airline.

This is a remarkable announcement. Many people this morning – commentators – have been saying that this should have been expected. But it should not have been expected.

We know that there will be very little work in aviation for a period of time. But it is only 48 hours ago since the federal government - after having closed-door meetings with the CEOs of airlines - announced a $750m relief package.

The question that’s on everyone’s lips today - “Where is the evidence of that relief package when what Qantas has done is effectively ask workers to give up their hard-earned leave and future leave to bail out this company?”

Updated

The ACT government has announced it will open a drive-thru Covid-19 testing clinic, the Canberra Times reports.

It will be at the Exhibition Park in Canberra – known as Epic and will open on Friday.

The ACT is believed to have three confirmed cases.

David Littleproud is now having a crack at online sites like eBay and Facebook for allowing the profiteering to go on, during these crazy times:

They are allowing parasites to flog off things like toilet paper at ridiculously inflated prices.

These online companies have a duty to act ethically and shut down any attempts by these grubs to gouge the vulnerable.

This is a low act and eBay and Facebook will be aiding the exploitation of anxious people during these challenging times if they do not act.

Suppliers, wholesalers and traders who think they can get away with ripping people off on essential items will be called out.

Doesn’t matter who you are, we are all in this together. We all need to show some common sense.

Australia has plentiful fresh food supply with secure lines from the farm to the supermarket shelf.

Australians should take great pride and comfort that our farmers are providing us with one of the safest and most secure food supplies in the world.

The reality is we produce enough food for 75 million people, we are just 25 million people.

So there is no risk of us having any issues around food security.I ask people to take a deep breath and go about their shopping calmly and with courtesy, so there is plenty on the shelves for everyone.”

Updated

This is still the biggest news (so far) today

Just a reminder

Children’s paracetamol will now be sold behind the pharmacy counter.

Asthma medication like Ventolin has been limited to one purchase per person.

Both these measures are in response to panic buying and hoarding.

Updated

A stock market that had opened in positive territory has turned into the red following the release of jobs figures this morning and Qantas’s decision to stand down two thirds of its workforce.

Shortly before midday the benchmark ASX200, which had been up by as much as 2.5% in morning trade, was down 0.45% on yesterday’s closing price.

Qantas, which this morning announced it was suspending all international flights and standing down 20,000 workers, plunged 10.9%.

Jobs figures for February showed unemployment fell slightly, to 5.1%.

But the figures pre-date the pandemic’s effect on the Australian economy, and economists say an accurate view of what it has done to jobs won’t be visible until March figures are released in the middle of the year.

“The imposition of social distancing rules and the effective bans (formal and informal, through consumers choosing to stay at home) on travel have had a significant negative impact on activity in a number of service sectors, and we expect to see job losses in these areas in the coming months,” BIS Oxford chief economist Sarah Hunter said.

“Government support should help to limit the losses, but the speed of recovery will crucially depend on how quickly the outbreak here in Australia is brought under control, and how fast the authorities can normalise activity levels after this; China’s experience suggests that it is possible, but some restrictions must remain in place after the outbreak is contained to prevent a reoccurrence.”

Updated

The 100 person inside limit was recommended in some form, on Friday

Asked why the rule against 100 people or more in enclosed spaces was not adopted on Friday, Dr Paul Kelly replied:

“We’ve given advice to government over many weeks – and I’m pleased to say they listen to the advice very carefully. But of course governments need to make their decisions, and governments particularly need to take in other issues than the health advice. Specifically in relation to the 500 [outdoors], 100 [indoors] thing – we did put that to government, they asked us to go back and do more thinking so we could give much more detailed information to internal venues and so forth, so they could practically do it and implement it. So that’s what we’ve done – and we’re continuing to do that to give more information to businesses and people housing small events in their houses.”

That’s curious – because on Friday the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said the 500 rule adopted by national cabinet was “exactly” what the AHPPC had recommended.

It wasn’t until Wednesday that Victorian chief medical officer Brett Sutton confirmed the 100 rule was also proposed on Friday.

Asked if the AHPPC did recommend the 100 rule on Friday, Kelly said: “We recommended there should be limitations on mass gatherings, both internal and external, we settled on the 500 initially and more work to be specifically looking at internal matters and I’ll leave it at that.”

Kelly said “I’m not going to go into that” when asked to clarify if the 100 rule was a formal recommendation of AHPPC on Friday.

Updated

This is potentially very good news.

The first Covid-19 case occurred on 17 November 2019, in Wuhan, reports suggest

We have just had our first day with no new cases in the Chinese province where it was first reported.

That’s five months.

David Littleproud also spoke about the concerns that the seasonal work force used to keep Australia’s ag industry going:

Well, the immigration minister and I have already had conversations around this. There are over 140,000 backpackers already in the country and the immigration minister has already taken pre-emptive steps around letting international students be able to work in supermarkets to stock those shelves.

So we’ll be agile and we’ll work with industry. In fact I hooked up with all industry leaders yesterday to ensure that we act swiftly with this and we give them confidence. And we are confident that with some minor tweaking of visas, visa conditions, that we’ll be able to provide that continuity of supply –and that will be from the farm gate right through to the supermarket.

And there still is an export market that we’re continuing to make sure that we can keep those lines open. Because this is an opportunity for Australia on a world stage to again prove that not only do we have the world-best produce but we are a stable partner in being able to supply that.

Updated

David Littleproud was on the ABC this morning, talking about the panic buying, among other things:

Host: What can you say to Australians who are clearly concerned that there’s an issue with food supply when they’re still seeing empty supermarket shelves?

Littleproud:

Well, they are the ones that are causing this. They should take great pride and comfort that Australian agriculture has provided us with one of the safest and most secure food supplies in the world. And the reality is we produce enough food for 75 million people, we are just 25 million people. So there is no risk of us having any issues around food security.

The only pressure that is being put on those supply chains are from people themselves – from the stupidity of the people themselves. They need to take a deep breath, have a cold shower and understand that if they shop normally, then the shelves will be stocked normally.

But when you have people rushing to supermarkets, putting pressure on supermarkets to stock those shelves quickly because of panic-buying then that obviously means that shelves are empty - that is just common sense. All I ask people is to use two words: common sense.

Updated

Our Guardian Australia colleagues have more information on the Brisbane immigration detention guard who has tested positive to Covid-19:

An immigration guard working at a Brisbane hotel being used as a makeshift detention centre has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting fears the confined refugee population could be vulnerable to an outbreak.

The hotel, at Kangaroo Point in inner Brisbane, is used by Australian Border Force to house refugees brought to Australia from offshore detention, mostly to receive specialist medical treatment.

Guardian Australia reported last year concerns that conditions were inhospitable, cramped and dirty.

On Wednesday at 8.30pm, detainees were assembled and read a statement that confirmed a guard, an employee of the contractor Serco, employed at the Kangaroo Point hotel had “tested positive to Covid-19”.

It is unclear whether the guard also worked at a separate Brisbane detention centre at the airport, also staffed by Serco.

You’ll find that story, here:

Advice from the chief medical office

Deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly had a few key messages in that press conference.

Stop stockpiling medicine – you are taking it from people who might need it.

Over-the-counter medicine will be limited in some cases (Panadol, asthma puffers) and prescriptions limited to a month’s supply.

Stop abusing people.

Wash your god damn hands.

School closures, at this stage, would cause more harm than good.

If you are sick, stay home. Keep your kids home, if they are ill.

If you have been told to quarantine at home, that means STAY AT HOME

Australia now has 565 confirmed cases. Most of those have been people who have returned from overseas travel.

Updated

Paul Karp was the one asking questions about this – he will be writing us a post very soon

The Victorian government has launched a hotline for businesses concerned about the impact of the virus.

The government says: “The pandemic is creating issues for businesses large and small who are facing a downturn in trade, bans on events and restrictions on indoor gatherings, as well as challenges in dealing with employee safety and entitlements.”

Businesses across the state can call the Business Victoria hotline on 13 22 15 or find information at business.vic.gov.au.

Updated

Quarantine, in case it wasn’t clear, means stay at home, says Paul Kelly.

If you have been exposed to the virus and have been ordered home, then you are required to stay at home. Don’t go to the shops, don’t go for a walk where people are, just Stay. At. HOME

Will there be further restrictions coming? What does one person per 4 sqm mean?

Paul Kelly:

When we put information to the national cabinet meeting this week, they asked us to do further work. I’ve had meetings with businesses, with hospitality, and so forth. And many of my colleagues have been meeting with them.

It’s about the practicality of how you set up a room, the size of the room, but we’ve got general principles.

They are adopted by the cabinet when they met. Days are a little bit fuzzy, I think it was Wednesday night. Tuesday night. So they met for a long period of Tuesday night and it was announced yesterday by the prime minister, his written statement is on the website, the AHPBC statement that informed the national cabinet discussions is also on the website. I encourage everyone to read it.

Updated

The Guardian Covid-19 interactive has been updated

Guardian Covid-19 interactive
Guardian Covid-19 interactive

On the issue of tests, given reports an Italian town tested everyone and managed to limit the spread, Paul Kelly says:

The head of the World Health Organisation made that statement in recent days about test, test, test. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

We’re still on that trajectory to the best way to decrease this curve of infection, to find people that are sick, isolate them, and identify their contacts, close contacts, and isolate them.

We’ve put in a further range of measures, as announced by the prime minister yesterday, in relation to people coming back from, back from overseas and 14 days’ quarantine.

Again, isolating, decreasing the infection that way. All these things are working. Crucial to many of those things I just said is laboratory testing.

So we are using our laboratory testing in the best way possible to identify cases. In terms of asymptomatic carriage and so forth, if we had unlimited amounts of tests, we could do other things but at the moment we’re focusing the testing on where we think the most likely positives are, so we can take that public health action.

Updated

Covid-19 case confirmed at Melbourne University

Over the counter medicine restrictions put in place

With reports medicine is the latest panic buy, Paul Kelly says:

I will repeat that - please do not buy more than you need for anything - whether that’s food and particularly medicines.

We have a very good system of knowing about medicine shortages in Australia and in fact it is incumbent on all medicine suppliers that they must tell us if there is a shortage now or or shortly into the future.

We have not had that from any suppliers. It seems local supply shortages have happened in particular pharmacies.

For that reason we’ve been working closely today with the Pharmaceutical Guild and the PSA to make sure that that matter is dealt with.

So we have today worked through with pharmacists that they will be required to limit dispensing of certain prescription products to one month’s supply at the prescribed dose.

Sales of certain over-the-counter medicines - particularly Ventolin and Paracetemol, to a maximum of one unit per purchase.

In addition, pharmacies also be strongly encouraged to limit dispensing of all other medicines to one month’s supply or unit.

Pharmacists in addition will be required to place children’s Paracetemol formulations, the syrup and the like, behind the counter to assist in allocating supply equitably.

More on why we are not closing schools, from Paul Kelly:

We are not closing schools because we are looking for a proportionate response which is sustainable through several months and is possibly scalable into the future, depending on circumstances. At the moment, our circumstances are very different, for example, from the UK.

So the UK have closed schools, not all of them, but many of them, overnight. They have many more cases of COVID-19 than we do - 2,600 last count. Over 71 deaths. This is very different to our current circumstances in Australia.

They are making decisions on the basis of their own circumstances, which is appropriate for them.

They are still looking to do the same thing as us - to flatten the curve, save lives through saving bids and taking the pressure off our healthcare system. At the moment for us, that is not necessary in relation to schools.

We know from where the virus has broken out, very few kids get the illness. Those that get the illness are mainly mild, they don’t appear to be transmitting between children, in fact it’s more likely that children will get it from their own parents and other people in their households.

Closing schools, we know, does cause a major disruption to society and to families in particular. That’s why we’re not closing schools.

On the schools closure issue, Paul Kelly says people need to calm down there as well:

My sister is a teacher. I heard from her disturbing things about being abused by parents.

We are all in this together. are doing their very best to protect themselves, to protect the kids, and to carry on in their normal circumstances.

It is not OK to be abusing people who are teaching our kids. It is not OK to be abusing people and being angry at people at Woolworths and Coles.

It is not OK to be angry at people trying to do their best in healthcare.

This is a time for us to be working together and to be the best people we can in Australia.

I know we can all do this. We’re all in it together. We need to assist.

The five pieces of advice on how to get through this stage, from the chief medical office:

One: wash your hands, do it often and do it properly.

Two: when you cough or sneeze, sneeze into your elbow.

Three: don’t touch your face - get used to not touching your face, even if it itches, please do not touch your face. If you need to touch your face, wash your hands first.

Four: if you are out - I’m glad to see the press gallery doing this now, having social distancing - 1.5m away from everyone whenever that is possible.

Five:- if you are sick, stay at home. If you are sick, stay at home. We want people who are also, who also have been in contact and been known to be in contact with a positive case to stay at home. That’s for 14 days. People that have come back from overseas travel, stay at home for 14 days.

This is the way we are going to help each other to decrease the rapidity of the infection to flatten the curve.

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has the reigns on today’s Covid-19 update:

In Australia there have been 565 confirmed cases with 6 deaths.

Now, that is going up quickly, but it’s being still mostly driven by international travel, which is, as people know, starting to decrease very quickly. So it’s not surprising we have had an increase in cases, but so far there are only 100 confirmed to be locally acquired, out of that 565.

"All of us have to assume we have it", says NSW premier.

Gladys Berejiklian then follows up with a way to deal with this critical stage of the pandemic in Australia – to act as though you have it.

What pleases me to date, knock on wood, as the Chief Medical Officer reported, we have a very small number of people that have required intensive hospitalisation.

The vast majority of cases have only shown mild symptoms, they’re treated at home, as they would for any other mild illness. That’s a positive.

We want that situation to continue. We don’t want to see an escalation in the number of people who need intensive care in hospitals. That’s our aim, to keep that number down, and we can do that by reducing the spread and especially protecting the most vulnerable and all of us have a role to play.

We know already that for many people the symptoms aren’t even evident and they’re carrying the virus.

That’s why all of us have to assume we have it.

You have to act in a way as though you have it and how you won’t transfer that to other people.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says the message from yesterday to calm down on the panic buying seems to slowly be getting through:

There is no need - absolutely no need - to panic buy or hoard.

We are ensuring there’s a solid supply chain and we also want to make sure those most vulnerable who can’t go to the shops every day because they’re immobile or they’re older or vulnerable do have that support as well.

Please be a good neighbour. Be a good citizen. Do not panic buy. There’s no need to do that.

Today I have noticed a slight shift in the community. I have noticed people resuming normal activity with good social distancing and I’m hoping the message - it might take longer than 24 hours to get through - but I see hope of it getting through - please stop that activity - it’s not necessary - it’s not needed and it’s very, very un-Australian, but in the main, I’ve certainly seen people adjust their behaviour, the social distancing provisions are being respected, but each of us does have a responsibility to do the right thing, because we don’t want to have to monitor everyone’s behaviour every minute of the day.

While the elderly and most vulnerable need to be protected, it is crucial they are not ignored, or forgotten.

Dr Kerry Chant suggests those who can check in on someone, should:

Again this is a time where the community has to pull together.

It’s a time when we need to keep our elderly safe but we also need to ensure that we’re supporting them.

So, simple strategies about ringing them, checking in on them, dropping by, having functions in if you’re going to go and meet with them, sit in the garden, in open places, make sure you don’t visit your elderly relatives if you are unwell. I would encourage families at this time to actually talk amongst themselves about what is their strategy for protecting elderly people.

As Tassie closes the gate to outsiders and the NT Chief minister says it’s not off the table, Aboriginal groups in the central Australia say the NT must become a “Special Control Area for COVID 19” or else there will be a lot of preventable deaths.

The Combined Aboriginal organisations of central Australia– land, justice and health groups – have held a special meeting to discuss the threat of COVID 19.

“We want to apply the same travel restrictions that apply to international visitors, to visitors to the Northern Territory from any Australian jurisdiction.”

“This is really our only hope of preventing the NT from experiencing the type of exponential spread that is now being seen in Sydney, Melbourne and other Australian cities. More of the same will just give the same outcomes,” said Donna Ah Chee, one of the spokespersons for the Combined Aboriginal organisations (CAO).

“We have to stop pretending that the health system will cope no matter how well prepared we try to make it.

We don’t have the workforce or the infrastructure in intensive care to cope with the surge that will come if we let this pandemic unleash its full force on the NT.

Look at Italy, Holland, Spain and other European countries – they all thought they could cope and are now telling us not to make the mistakes that they made,” Ah Chee said.

Updated

Dr Kerry Chant also had a few things to say about some of the reports from people who have been unable to find asthma medications:

It is important at this time that you have your asthma medication coming into the colder months, when we [would usually be] expecting flu and other respiratory viruses to circulate.

It is also appropriate time to update your asthma management plan. The issue of Ventolin availability has not been raised with me.

We think it is prudent for asthmatics to have their reliever medication and an asthma management plan but I will follow up in the stock holdings of Ventolin.

The WHO advice, it hasn’t been brought to my attention but clearly we have been advising Panadol for the symptom relief.

Let me be clear, there’s been some social media misunderstandings that Panadol is a treatment for Covid-19. Panadol does not treat Covid-19 but the symptoms, which might be fever, muscle aches and pains.

Updated

Australian Club Rugby Championship attendees told to self-isolate

Dr Kerry Chant delivers this public health announcement:

There was an event between University of Sydney and University of Queensland rugby clubs.

It was held on the Sydney University Football Ground, a function room, on Saturday 14 March, starting at 7:30 and finishing at 10:30pm.

All people who attended this event are considered close contacts of a confirmed case and we ask that any attendees immediately self-isolate themselves for 14 days, so that will be until midnight of Saturday 28 March and should anyone develop symptoms, please contact the public health units on the appropriate numbers.

There is guidance on our website in relation to what you need to do to self-isolate yourself, but please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need further details. We will continue to make efforts to contact people directly, but we are making it a public announcement in relation to the need to self-isolate.

Updated

NSW now has 307 confirmed coronavirus cases, up 40 since yesterday

The NSW chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant says NSW now has 307 confirmed cases.

(That’s another 40 since yesterday’s last update).

129 of those cases contracted the virus overseas.

Another 70 of the cases are under investigation.

In 46 cases, it is believed that local transmission was to blame.

Updated

NSW opens up Covid-19 response HQ

Gladys Berejiklian has announced the RFS headquarters will be co-opted as the government’s Covid-19 response centre.

In relation to the coronavirus challenge or crisis, whichever world you use, this will be the hub for New South Wales. In here, you can see already representatives from 20-odd different government agencies coming together to make sure we have a whole-of-government response across the community in relation to in relation to this issue.

Buzzfeed Australia has this report

Meanwhile, there are still Australians stranded overseas. As Sarah Martin and Ben Doherty report:

Australians stranded in Peru by a government lockdown are frantically attempting to raise $300,000 to charter a commercial flight out of the country, as Qantas and Jetstar announce they will end international flights at the end of the month.

Following a call from the Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday night for Australians to return home, thousands of travellers abroad are grappling with closed borders, airport shutdowns and cancelled flights aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hundreds of Australians are stuck in Peru, where the government on Monday announced a 15-day lockdown that closed all borders and land crossings and stopped international flights in and out with little notice.

Meanwhile, Iran is pardoning prisoners, but it is unclear as yet as to whether or not that includes the British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – or the British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert

New Zealand issues travel ban

New Zealand has followed suit with Australia’s advice to citizens – a DO NOT TRAVEL OVERSEAS travel advisory has been issued in that country for the first time ever

The list of parliamentarians coming to Canberra next week is growing ever smaller

We’ve had Arnie and his miniature equine companions, Lulu and Whiskey – now we have Sam Neill and his shoes.

He must be protected at all costs.

Updated

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) has some advice for pregnant women and its members:

At this time, pregnant women do not appear to be more severely unwell if they develop Covid-19 infection than the general population. It is expected that the large majority of pregnant women will experience only mild or moderate cold/flu-like symptoms. However, pregnant women are potentially at increased risk of complications from any respiratory disease due to the physiological changes that occur in pregnancy. These include reduced lung function, increased oxygen consumption and changed immunity.

Currently there is no evidence of an increased risk of miscarriage, teratogenicity or vertical transmission of the Covid-19 virus. There is a possibility of an increased incidence of premature birth but there is insufficient evidence at this point in time.

RANZCOG recommends that, where possible, pregnant healthcare workers be allocated to patients, and duties, that have reduced exposure to patients with, or suspected to have, Covid-19 infection.

All personnel should observe strict hygiene protocols and have full access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The college also urges employers to be sensitive to the fact that pregnant women are, appropriately, often anxious about their own health and protective of their unborn baby. Consideration should be given to reallocation to lower-risk duties, working from home or leave of absence.

The current circumstances are unprecedented. The community will rely on the medical system to function at the highest level and near 100 percent participation of the medical, nursing and midwifery workforce. Specialist practitioners may need to re-allocate to other areas of the medical system. The college expresses our deep and sincere gratitude to our members, all doctors, nurses, midwives and other health care workers, the administrative staff and management of our hospitals and health services for their dedication, professionalism and compassion.

RANZCOG recognises that decisions around resource allocation are complex, and multifactorial, and defers to local jurisdictions in this regard.

Updated

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, comprised of all chief health officers and chaired by the chief medical officer, has published the rationale behind its latest recommendations, including that schools remain open for now. Of course, this advice may change – school closures are not permanently off the table.

The committee says there is currently limited information on the contribution of children to transmission of Covid-19. The World Health Organization found in China 2.4% of total reported cases were under the age of 19 years old. Worldwide, very few cases of infection in children have been severe or critical. The committee says;

“This contrasts distinctly with the severity pattern observed with other respiratory viruses, where young children are particularly at risk of severe disease.

“Previous studies suggest that the potential reduction in community transmission from pre‑emptive school closures may be offset by the care arrangements that are in place for children who are not at school. Children may require care from older carers who are more vulnerable to severe disease, or may continue to associate (and transmit infection) outside of school settings.

“Broadly, the health evidence on school closures from previous respiratory epidemics shows the costs are often underestimated and the benefits are overestimated. This may be even more so in relation to Covid-19 as, unlike influenza, the impact on otherwise healthy children has been minimal to date.

“School closure is associated with considerable costs. Studies have estimated that around 15% of the total workforce and 30% of the healthcare workforce may need to take time off work to care for children. This burden will be significant and will fall disproportionately on those in casual or tenuous work circumstances.

“At this stage, the spread of Covid-19 in the community is at quite low levels. It may be many months before the level of Australian community infection is again as low as it is at the moment. For pre-emptive school closures to be effective, closure for at least several months is required and it would be unclear when they could be reopened.

”School closures for shorter defined periods may be considered as part of a suite of more stringent distancing measures later in the outbreak, in anticipation of a peak in infection rates.

“Short term reactive school closure may also be warranted to allow cleaning and contact tracing to occur in response to an outbreak in a given school.

More than 70 countries around the world have implemented either nationwide or localised school closures, at different times in the evolution of the local Covid-19 epidemic, however it should be noted the majority of these have not been successful in controlling the outbreak. Some of these countries are now considering their position in relation to reopening schools.”

Updated

The Tasmanian business community are in support of the decision to shut the island’s borders.

Tasmania was not impacted by the Spanish flu pandemic, from a health standpoint. Looks like they are hoping history will repeat.

In what might be the last bit of good news we get for quite a while, Australia’s trend unemployment rate was steady at 5.1% in the past month.

There are suggestions from economists we could be headed to a 7% or higher unemployment rate as the economic impacts of this pandemic take hold.

Updated

Hello all.

Thank you to Naaman Zhou for taking the helm this morning. You now have Amy Remeikis taking you through to this evening

Summary so far

So far today:

  • Qantas and Jetstar announced they would cancel all international flights from the end of March, and “stand down” 20,000 workers – a full two-thirds of their staff.
  • Domestic capacity will also be slashed, and Qantas workers will have to use their leave or could even work for Woolworths.
  • Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline would not go under – even though other airlines will. The airline’s shares have fallen more than 6% today.
  • Peter Dutton said he will send the police and the border force to investigate panic-buying, which he believes has a criminal motive.
  • The coronavirus-stricken home affairs minister is waiting for a negative test so he can come out of isolation, and said he would “come after those people” like a “tonne of bricks”.
  • Tasmania declared that all travellers, including its own residents and Australians travelling domestically, must quarantine for 14 days unless they are “essential” travellers.
  • Scott Morrison has used the threat of withdrawing funding to keep independent and Catholic schools open.
  • Victoria announced $437m in funding for hospitals, which will open new facilities with new beds, and buy millions of gloves and face masks.
  • Overnight, the Dow Jones closed 6% down, and the US closed the border with Canada. Italy recorded 475 new deaths – the largest daily increase in one location yet.

With that, I’ll hand over to my colleague Amy Remeikis.

Updated

Parrtjima festival in the Northern Territory has been rescheduled to 11-20 September 2020. It was due to take place from 3-12 April in Alice Springs.

Peter Dutton says he will "come after" profiteering hoarders

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has spoken to 2GB radio – telling listeners he feels “really well” despite having contracted coronavirus, and he’s hoping to have two negative tests so he can get out of self-isolation by the end of the week.

Dutton addressed the issue of panic-buying, with lots of vague and ominous threats directed at profiteers. He said there are no problem with manufacturers, supply chains, or stock – the reason shoppers are seeing empty shelves is a “demand problem”.

He said: “Some people are profiteering – they’re hoarding not for their own consumption, I think they’re either sending some of the product overseas or selling it in black market arrangements in Australia. I’m going to come after those people ... It won’t be a pretty experience.”

Dutton said police investigations and operations are “under way at the moment” and confirmed he believes there is a criminal element involved in profiteering.

He cited no evidence for this claim, nor what offence is being committed. When broadcaster Ray Hadley said he “presumes” it is people of a particular ethnic background going to regional areas to buy up stock, Dutton did not correct the presumption.

Dutton rattles off a roll-call of agencies on the case: the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, NSW and Victorian police.

He said: “I believe that there is [a criminal element]. We will come down like a tonne of bricks on those individuals. I believe they are the ones that have created that pattern of behaviour.

“Normally sensible people have been wrapped up because they have panicked when they’ve seen shelves empty. They’re following the behaviour of people not purchasing for own consumption, but doing it for profit for reasons that are unacceptable.”

Updated

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) sent a letter to members on Wednesday night urging them to show support for the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).

The AHPPC is the key decision making committee for health emergencies and is comprised of all state and territory chief health officers as well as the federal chief medical officer, and they take advice from experts in a range of fields to inform their recommendations.

The PHAA urged members in the face of “unprecedented media coverage and confusion” to support the advice from the AHPPC. The letter says if members are concerned by the recommendations of the AHPPC, they should take it directly to the committee rather than “challenge, undermine or create uncertainty” by criticising the committee publicly through media.

However, some health professionals on social media criticised the letter, saying it suggests political overlay and that health professionals should not be criticised for challenging a public body.

The CEO of the PHAA, Terry Slevin, told Guardian Australia that no politician or AHPPC member had directed the letter be sent. He said while the PHAA received some funding from government ($375,000 per year), it was independent.

“This letter was about encouraging members to draw on the evidence and the advice of the AHPPC and the chief health officers because they are being informed by people with very technical, high-level expertise,” he said. “The AHPPC has access to the best unfolding information in Australia and internationally and we think that needs to be recognised. That was the primary reason for the letter.”

He added that members of the PHAA board were unpaid and many members had been working overtime trying to respond to the crisis. Slevin said he personally had forwarded members’ concerns about government recommendations to the AHPPC.

“That does not mean there should not be debate and different public views,” Slevin said.

“We are a professional association of people who volunteer and do work for free to benefit people. We have no gag orders or control or powers to tell people what to say, we don’t seek or exercise that power. In a time of crisis we just want to provide consistent and supportive advice based on expert information.”

Updated

Carroll says the Australian team will get answers from the IOC by the end of the week.

“We have asked a series of questions, focused questions, half a dozen, about athlete health and wellbeing. The things Ian touched on: What will be the quarantine requirements of going to Tokyo? What assurances can the IOC give us about the athlete village?

“What testing availability will be there for the virus? If a virus breaks out during the games, what will happen there? All those questions we’ve put to the IOC and we were told by the president last night will have answers to those questions by the end of this week.”

Carroll says that the IOC’s decision will change as the situation changes, based on medical evidence.

“So things change, then the IOC’s decision will also change,” he says. They don’t have to make that decision today.

“The IOC is not living in a bubble, making up advice, they see the same things you and I see. They’re basing decisions on advice from World Health, on advice from the Tokyo governor and advice from the health organisations in Japan.”

Updated

The Australian Olympic Committee is also providing an update about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“If everybody is planning for the games, we must plan for the games as well,” says Australia’s chef de mission, Ian Chesterman.

“I always try to look through the eyes of athletes, athletes who worked for four years, eight years, 12 and more in some cases, and they want their Olympic moment. For many this will be their only opportunity to be at an Olympic Games. As Matt said, the clear message from our Japanese friends is the games will continue”.

Earlier, AOC CEO Matt Carroll said “the AOC has put questions to the IOC centred about the health and wellbeing of our athletes.

“We want to get them there safely and get them home safely”.

Updated

Qantas "determined to survive", says Alan Joyce.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is speaking to the media and says the airline is determined to survive.

“This is survival of the fittest,” he said. “Lots of airlines are going to go under ... Qantas will not be one of them. One of the things we are working on is making sure we are last man standing.”

This morning the airline said it would stand down 20,000 of its 30,000 workers and end international flights.

It has already slashed domestic flights and Joyce said these will be cut further by the Tasmanian government’s decision to make interstate travellers go into quarantine.

This would also mean more people need to be laid off, he said.

“This is going to further evolve every day, every week, and we’re just going to have to be flexible,” he said.

Discussions with unions about the stand-downs and a plan where workers can temporarily work for supermarket chain Woolworths had been very positive, he said.

Updated

The Australian stock market has risen slightly in opening trade even though US markets again tumbled by between 5% and 6% overnight.

At about 10.15am the benchmark ASX200 index was up about 1.45%.

Before trade opened, Australian flagship carrier Qantas announced it was suspending all international flights from the end of the month and would be standing down two thirds of its 30,000-strong workforce without pay. Qantas stock fell 4.35% in early trade.

Other companies also flooded the market with coronavirus-related bad news, with at least half a dozen withdrawing previous profit forecasts and others reporting slower sales.

Updated

Even as we focus on the Covid-19 outbreak in Australia, a reminder that bushfires continue to be a problem in large parts of the country – even after our horrendous, unprecedented season.

Updated

The royal commission into Victoria’s mental health system is cancelling its last round of public hearings.

They were supposed to commence in late April and to run for four weeks.

The commission’s chair, Penny Armytage, said it would “continue to be informed by the huge amount of information received so far, through consultations, submissions and the first round of public hearings in 2019.”

“We are incredibly grateful for all the input that our witnesses are contributing to the work of the commission and this important work will continue over the coming months, including through written witness statements which we plan to start publishing online from May,” she said.

The commission also said the Covid-19 outbreak could affects its general timetable and final report.

Updated

Qantas’s decision to shut all international routes and stand down two thirds of its workforce shows just how bad the flagship carrier’s situation is.

The move, the latest in a series of cuts over the past week, is designed to preserve as much cash as possible to get Qantas through a shutdown period that could last months.

It also shows how economically contagious the coronavirus is. Tens of thousands of Qantas workers now won’t have their regular paychecks. Even if some can draw on leave entitlements, they’d be mad to keep spending at the same rate as they have been. This will further damage the already battered retail and hospitality sectors.

Qantas has played a political blinder convincing the government to give the industry a $715m bailout. It’s consistently talked up its own strength while behind the scenes muttering about rival Virgin Australia’s grim financial woes.

But today’s move shows Qantas’s own position is also pretty grim. A further bailout may be needed, opening the question of whether the Australian government will have to re-nationalise Qantas.

Updated

Our new podcast Full Story (which is now daily and all about the coronavirus) is doing a call-out.

If you or someone you know has a nice or positive or uplifting story that’s in any way related to the coronavirus pandemic, like helping neighbours or having video chat dinner parties, we would love to hear from you! Leave us a voicemail on (02) 8076 8550.

Updated

The federal court will start using more video or telephone conferencing, and is asking all upcoming parties to trials whether they can phone in remotely.

“Parties have been requested to identify (with the assistance of the court) opportunities by which listings may proceed either by way of telephone conference or other remote access technology,” the court said in a statement.

“The court is working to ensure that as many listings as possible are able to proceed. Matters may be able to keep the same date; they may not.

“The court is not shutting down or vacating cases simpliciter. It is adjourning hearings in court so that the court’s workload can be managed safely and without interruption.

“The first priority of the court is the safety of litigants, practitioners and its judges and staff. The measures being adopted are intended to ensure that the court remains open and functioning for litigants in this challenging period.”

Updated

Catholic masses in Sydney to be limited to 100

Catholic masses in Sydney will be limited to only 100 people, in advice from Archbishop Anthony Fisher.

A pastoral letter issues today says that the Sydney Archdiocese will be following the federal government’s ban on indoor gatherings larger than 100 people.

“Priests have been granted permission to temporarily increase the number of masses and celebrate multiple Sunday masses as necessary to accommodate these changes,” the church said.

“In cases where public masses have to be suspended, a dispensation from attending mass is granted and Catholics will be able to fulfil their Sunday mass obligation by setting aside some time for prayer at home, reading the scriptures of the day and watching mass on television or online.”

Fisher also said that sick parishioners should not attend mass.

Updated

Also, the Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled.

Organisers announced overnight that the event, scheduled for Rotterdam in the Netherlands in May, will not go ahead this year.

But they said they will talk to the City of Rotterdam and organisers to “see if it’s possible to stage the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam in 2021.”

Updated

Gutwein adds some clarity on Flinders and King Island, before wrapping up.

“Any Tasmanian can still come home. If they come home after midnight on Friday, they will need to go into a two week quarantine.”

“For any visitor to Flinders or King Island that flies in from the mainland and transits onto Tasmania, they will need to self-quarantine here, and if they travel into Flinders of King island after midnight Friday they will need to self-quarantine on the islands.”

But Gutwein says he has no plans to postpone parliament.

“Tasmanians can leave the state, but they will need to understand after midnight on Friday night, should they return, they will need to go into a period of quarantine unless they are an essential traveller,” the premier says.

“An essential traveller will be someone involved in our health response, involved in trade, in terms of ensuring our trade and freight lines remain open, or somebody that is a specialist.”

That quarantine period applies to Tasmanian residents returning from interstate too, Gutwein says.

And there will be penalties of up to six months in prison for those who do not.

“Importantly, these new measures will carry penalties,” he says. “I want to make it very clear. We expect people to abide by the law. There can be no excuse for not self-quarantining, for not abiding by the rules.

“Should somebody break the law, we will ensure that the full weight available to us under the laws – which would be up to a $16,800 fine or up to six months in prison.

“We know that for some it will create disruption, but our aim is to ensure that we protect the health, wellbeing and safety of Tasmanians, and we would ask people to work with us as we implement these measures, and as they are managed over coming weeks.”

Updated

Tasmania declares domestic travellers must quarantine

Premier Peter Gutwein has just announced a state of emergency and “the toughest border measures in the country”.

“From midnight on Friday, only essential travellers will be allowed into Tasmania without going into quarantine.

Any non-essential traveller into Tasmania will be required to go into a period of 14 days of quarantine.

“Essential travellers will be those that are important to our health effort, or to an emergency situation, or those that keep our trade links running.”

Andrews is now flagging more economic packages for Victoria. He repeats a message from yesterday that he is looking at “survival” rather than “stimulus”.

“As I said yesterday, stimulus is important, but trying to create customers at this time, I think, is really hard. What businesses need is cash. It’s not so much about stimulus, it’s about survival.

“I will have more to say about that soon. I had a conversation with the federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg last night. Detailed conversation.”

Updated

Mikakos says they will also be calling on retired doctors and medical students to help the public health team, who do contact tracing.

“From the 57 people that they have currently, they’ll be going up to 230 people. That’s a significant boost to that Public Health team. We’ll be calling on people like retired doctors, medical students and others to help us at this critical time.”

Updated

Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos says that means 269 additional beds.

“The $437m that we’re announcing today comes on top of the $100m that the premier and I announced just a few days ago,” she says. “That’s a total of 129 beds, on top of the 140 beds that we’ve already announced at Casey hospital. Effectively, 269 additional bed capacity in our public hospital system.

“That’s just for the three-month period. So, this is estimated for sort of to be the peak period of 12 weeks, and we’ll be making further announcements as we go forward.”

The Victorian government is also buying more ventilators and more gloves and face masks.

“We’re also purchasing much-needed medical equipment. More ventilators, more oxygen machines, more dialysis machines as well will be required, and hospital monitors.

“We are going and buying further PPE equipment, 275m pairs of gloves, 8.6m face masks and 1.7m gowns”

Updated

Victoria announces $437m for hospitals

Daniel Andrews has announced $437m in extra health funding for the state, to increase the number of hospital beds, staff and treatment.

“There will be a number of spaces that will be open for the first time, or, indeed, reopened after having not been part of our public hospital system for quite some time,” Andrews says.

“For instance, Baxter House in Geelong, which had been a private hospital, that will be opened up as a Covid-19 clinic. The old Peter McCallum Cancer Centre ... additional space will be opened up there for those patients that need care at lots of different levels, but particularly intensive care, high care.”

He also announces that there have been 28 new positive cases overnight, taking Victoria’s total to 149 Covid-19 patients.

Updated

More on the impact on employees. Qantas’s statement says that some of their staff could work for Woolworths.

“Most of our people will be using various types of paid leave during this time, and we’ll have a number of support options in place,” Alan Joyce said. “We’re also talking to our partners like Woolworths about temporary job opportunities for our people.

According to the statement: “Employees with low leave balances at the start of the stand down will be able to access up to four weeks’ leave in advance of earning it. Unfortunately, periods of leave without pay for some employees are inevitable.

“Executives and the board have increased their salary reductions from 30% to 100% until at least the end of this financial year, joining the Chairman and Group CEO in taking no pay. Annual management bonuses have also been cancelled.”

The full statement is here:

Updated

Qantas and Jetstar cancel international flights and stand down two-thirds of employees

In a statement to the ASX released today, Qantas has announced drastic measures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Qantas and Jetstar will suspend scheduled international flights from late March.

They will also reduce domestic flights by 60%. And two-thirds of their 30,000 employees will be “temporarily stood down” until the end of May.

“More than 150 aircraft will be temporarily grounded, including all of Qantas’ A380s, 747s and B787-9s and Jetstar’s B787-8s,” the statement says. “Essential domestic, regional and freight connections will be maintained as much as possible.

“All regularly scheduled Qantas and Jetstar international flights from Australia will be suspended from end of March until at least end of May 2020.”

“In order to preserve as many jobs as possible longer term, Qantas and Jetstar will stand down the majority of their 30,000 employees until at least the end of May 2020.

“During the stand down, employees will be able to draw down on annual and long service leave and additional support mechanisms will be introduced, including leave at half pay and early access to long service leave.

“We’re in a strong financial position right now, but our wages bill is more than $4bn a year,” said the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce. “With the huge drop in revenue we’re facing, we have to make difficult decisions to guarantee the future of the national carrier.

“The reality is we’ll have 150 aircraft on the ground and sadly there’s no work for most of our people.”

Updated

Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, is scheduled to speak at 8.45am. We’ll bring you that live when it happens.

Updated

Here’s the full story on the pressure on Catholic and independent schools:

And an explainer on why the current health advice is to keep schools open:

Catholic and independent schools urged to stay open

Although the UK has now decided to close its schools, Australia’s emergency services minister, David Littleproud, has confirmed there has been no change of policy.

Scott Morrison has piled pressure on to the Catholic and independent schools sectors to keep their schools open – and received backing from the National Catholic Education Commission and the Association of Independent Schools NSW.

On Thursday Littleproud told ABC News Breakfast: “The prime minister has been very clear on this. We take the advice of the chief medical officer in Australia and he has been quite clear about this – that the best medical advice is we should keep schools open and we’ll continue to do that.

“I think he believes minimising the infection that can happen and spread of it is better maintained schools, otherwise the social dislocation when children aren’t at schools and spread throughout the community, in fact some have to go to stay with their grandparents because their parents work.”

Asked about reports that in addition to the NCEC the Catholic archbishop, Anthony Fisher, has also intervened on behalf of Morrison to urge NSW Catholic schools to stay open, Littleproud replied:

That’s leadership and that’s what the prime minister and the education minister has shown – that we are privy to the advice of the chief medical officer and then obviously we make that advice known to the education leaders to ask them to adhere to it. It’s in the betterment of the whole society that they do that and ... we thank those educational facilities that have listened to the advice of the chief medical officer and the prime minister.

Updated

For those working from home, Guardian Australia’s columnist Brigid Delaney has compiled some of the best advice from authors including Graham Greene, Zadie Smith, Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami.

Do the hard things first, have a routine and stick to it, exercise daily and more.

Updated

Some lightness for families and fans of Bluey.

The second season of ABC iView’s most viewed show launched on Tuesday – with 52 new episodes to air over the year, and with guest appearances from the blue Wiggle Anthony Field, Hamish Blake and Zoë Foster Blake.

Updated

Queensland’s parliament has passed sweeping new powers to battle the spread of coronavirus.

From AAP:

Queensland health authorities have been given new powers to order individuals into isolation, and to fine people more than $13,000 if they defy such orders.

Emergency officers can also direct businesses such as supermarkets to open and close and control public access to those businesses.

And parliament will be able to sit via electronic channels under changes passed in parliament on Wednesday night.

“People may be directed to stay in their home, or another place decided by the emergency officer, for example, a hospital or other isolation area,” health minister Steven Miles said on Wednesday.

“An emergency officer may also direct an owner or operator of any business or facility to open, close or limit visitor access to the facility for a specified period.”

Updated

In Italy, the small town of Vò recorded the first coronavirus death in the country, back in February.

Since then, scientists claim that a regime of mass testing has helped to slow the spread, and could be a case study for other countries.

Researchers from the University of Padua tested all 3,300 inhabitants of the town, including asymptomatic people. They discovered six asymptomatic carriers who were then isolated.

The study began on 6 March, with 90 people infected in Vò. Since then there have been no new cases.

Updated

Our economics columnist Greg Jericho also has more in his latest piece.

“Right now everything is in flux,” he writes. “The economic data that we are going to see will destroy previous norms.”

Today the Reserve Bank is expected to not only cut interest rates but also announce some form of quantitative easing. Meanwhile, the government is finalising the details of a second stimulus package to deal with the economic impacts of the coronavirus.

What is quantitative easing? It’s when central banks inject cash into the economy by buying up assets from big banks and lenders. This is intended to spur banks to increase lending to businesses and households, propping up the economy.

It’s also known as “printing money”, even though it’s all done digitally, because those extra funds are created by the RBA with the press of a button.

For more, here’s an explainer from 2015, which I’m sure I will be using again throughout the day:

Updated

A more complete international business wrap, from my colleagues on the Guardian business live blog:

  • US stock markets have now erased all the gains they have made since Donald Trump’s inauguration
  • The Dow fell more than 1,300 points – 6.29%
  • The S&P 500 lost over 5%
  • The Nasdaq lost 4.7%
  • The oil price fell to an 18-year low
  • US carmakers will close factories tomorrow
  • In the UK the pound fell to a 35-year low against the US dollar as the Bank of England warned of a potential crisis
  • Deutsche Bank is warning we could be heading for the worst slowdown since the second world war

Updated

The death toll in Italy rose 475 overnight, which is the largest daily increase in a single location yet. The total number of people killed in the country is now nearing 3,000.

Bangladesh and Burkino Faso have reported their first fatalities, and last night Belgium and Germany entered partial lockdowns, closing schools and shops. The German health minister, Olivier Véran, said this would hopefully slow down infections in eight to 12 days.

In England, schools, colleges and nurseries will close on Friday “until further notice”.

And in the US Donald Trump announced he would close the US-Canadian border to all “non-essential traffic”.

Updated

In the US, the Dow Jones has just closed and it’s down 6% (1,300 points).

Today it’s widely expected the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates again. We’ll have to wait til 10am to see how our markets react.

Also in the US, the senate has just passed its second coronavirus stimulus package – the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Updated

Morning, all. This is Naaman Zhou with the latest updates on coronavirus in Australia.

A lot has happened as we slept: cases in Europe have risen sharply overnight, as has the global death toll, which is now above 8,000. A further 475 people died in Italy – the largest daily increase in one location yet.

In Australia the death toll remains at six, with 568 diagnosed cases. As Guardian Australia and others have reported, a global shortage of tests may well be influencing that number.

Australians overseas have been told to make their way home on commercial flights as soon as possible but plenty have told us they can’t do that because of cancelled flights and border closures.

Updated

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