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

Australia's Covid-19 travel ban comes into force for all non-residents and non-citizens – as it happened

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It is now 9pm, and non-residents and non-citizens can now no longer come to Australia under new restrictions put in place by the government in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is also time for us to close the blog for the night.

Here’s a summary of some of the other events today:

  • Air New Zealand has been bailed out by the NZ government with a NZ$900m loan.
  • The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia reached 876, with 166 new cases today. There have been seven deaths in total.
  • New South Wales has implemented 24-hour supermarket stocking, following Victoria and South Australia.
  • Remote Indigenous communities have been locked down, at their request, to all but essential visitors.
  • Queensland is shutting its western border with the Northern Territory to help with this.
  • Queensland is working to return children who were at schools outside of their Indigenous communities back to those communities, with the lockdown expected to last at least six months.
  • Domestic travel is not advised, unless necessary. The national cabinet may decide more restrictions when it meets on Tuesday.
  • NSW Health is calling for the 2,700 passengers who disembarked from the Ruby Princess cruise ship yesterday in Sydney to immediately self-isolate, after four people on the ship tested positive to Covid-19.
  • Testing restrictions will be relaxed to cover aged care workers, sick healthcare workers and those with pneumonia, says the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy.
  • The government is looking at locking down particular areas if there is a spike in Covid-19 cases in those areas.
  • Aged care is receiving an additional $444m to keep going.
  • The government has raised the debt ceiling from $600bn to $850bn.
  • The federal budget has been deferred until October. All states and territories will delay their budgets.
  • The banks are offering six-month loan repayment deferrals to business customers. Residential mortgage payment deferrals have not been ruled out.
  • The government has not ruled out accessing superannuation as an income relief measure.
  • Indoor gatherings are now limited to one person per 4sq m (with only 100 maximum allowed).
  • The federal government wrote to Netflix to ask them to consider reducing the amount of data needed for people to stream movies while everyone is working from home.
  • A 36-year-old Australian man with Covid-19 has died in Iceland.
  • The government is working with Qantas to rescue Australians still stranded overseas.

We’ll be back tomorrow to keep you updated.

Updated

Our editor-in-chief Katharine Viner has written to you, our readers, with a pledge on what coverage you can expect from us as this pandemic continues.

“We will bring you the news and information you need about Covid-19, and the facts that can help you: we value expertise, scientific knowledge and careful judgment in our reporting. We know that you find the wild conspiracies of social media and noisy TV pundits off-putting and confusing; instead, the Guardian brings you the facts you can trust.”

How do you celebrate a 100th birthday while also social distancing around elderly people?

Constable Kenny cancelled.

I am told if you’re from Canberra this is a big deal.

In the US and the UK, there’s a bit of concern over police using metadata to track people who tested positive for coronavirus and who they came in contact with, as well as the possibility of using it to make sure they stay home in isolation.

I’ve made a few calls around to find out if anything like that might be happening in Australia. We did get reports early on that South Australia was using metadata for contact tracing but from what I can tell nowhere else is at this stage.

NSW police referred me to the health department, which said they didn’t. Queensland and the ACT said they didn’t.

Victoria police told me it has the power but has no plans to use it.

“Victoria police has the powers to assist the chief health officer if requested and Department of Health and Human Services if there needs to be any enforcement activity,” the spokeswoman said.

“While we do not generally comment on operational methodology, we can confirm we have not sought any applications to trace mobile devices of people who have tested positive to Covid-19, and at this stage there are no plans to do this in Victoria.”

Tasmania police referred me to their health department and I haven’t received a response. WA police also haven’t responded.

It’s likely if health departments are seeking to use metadata they’d go to the state police to track, but there are other ways around it, as I have previously reported.

Talking to the telcos, it also doesn’t sound like they’re planning anything yet, but this is a fast-moving situation and could change at any time.

Updated

Just for some more context around the Netflix NBN story we reported earlier this evening, it’s not yet a formal request from the minister to drop data rates (just to consider doing it in the current environment), but I understand that if such a request were made Netflix would comply.

Updated

Just to bring that number up to date nationally, there are 876 confirmed cases in Australia as of this afternoon.

There were 166 new cases reported on Friday. There have been 382 in NSW, 184 in Queensland, 178 in Victoria, 50 in South Australia, 64 in Western Australia, 10 in Tasmania, 6 in the ACT and two in the Northern Territory. Seven deaths have been recorded so far.

Updated

An update on Western Australia:

Today premier Mark McGowan announced 12 new cases of coronavirus, taking the number of cases in the state up to 64 in total. Four of those are in hospital, including a woman who is in critical condition.

Updated

Josh Taylor is with you now.

Take care of you, everyone.

Updated

Just a reminder that the government is not expected to announce its next step in the stimulus package until the weekend. My money would be on Sunday.

Parliament is expected to sit for just one day, with reduced numbers, to pass the package and then adjourn for at least six weeks.

The states are working on a rental relief model for tenants. Landlords “will have to make sacrifices”, Scott Morrison has said.

Changes to the JobSeeker payment are expected as part of the measures.

Updated

What's happened so far?

With the Australia borders closing to non-residents and citizens in just under three hours, we have had another big day of this weird new world we live in.

What have you missed?

  • Air New Zealand has been bailed out by the NZ government with a NZ$900m loan.
  • The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, said some of the 20,000 Qantas workers stood down could work stocking shelves at Woolworths or at call centres for Commonwealth Bank.
  • New South Wales has implemented 24-hour supermarket stocking, following Victoria and South Australia.
  • NSW’s number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 rose to 307 on Thursday, up from 267 on Wednesday, but the state’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said the vast majority were “mild”. Tasmania’s numbers remain the same at 10.
  • Last night the AFL men’s competition played its first game in an empty stadium.
  • Remote Indigenous communities have been locked down, at their request, to all but essential visitors.
  • Queensland is shutting its western border with the Northern Territory to help with this.
  • Queensland is working to return children who were at schools outside of their Indigenous communities back to those communities, with the lockdown expected to last at least six months.
  • Domestic travel is not advised, with the government telling people to begin cancelling school holiday plans.
  • NSW Health is calling for the 2700 passengers who disembarked from the Ruby Princess cruise ship yesterday in Sydney to immediately self-isolate, after four people on the ship tested positive to Covid-19.
  • Testing restrictions may be relaxed, says Brendan Murphy.
  • The government is looking at locking down particular areas if there is a spike in Covid-19 cases in those areas.
  • Aged care is receiving an additional $444m to keep going.
  • The government has raised the debt ceiling from $600bn to $850bn.
  • The federal budget has been deferred until October. All states and territories will delay their budgets.
  • The banks are offering six month’ loan repayment deferrals to business customers. Residential mortgage payment deferrals have not been ruled out.
  • The government has not ruled out accessing superannuation as an income relief measure.
  • Indoor gatherings are now limited to one person per 4sq m (with only 100 maximum allowed).
  • A 36-year-old Australian man with Covid-19 has died in Iceland.
  • The government is working with Qantas to rescue Australians still stranded overseas.

Updated

Anyone needing more information on the coming border shutdown can find it here.

That will be in place from 9pm.

The travel advisory for Australian citizens remains at DO NOT TRAVEL.

Updated

NSW Health has more information on the Ruby Princess cruise ship passengers who may have been exposed to Covid-19, after four people tested positive for the virus:

As of 11am today, NSW has confirmed 382 cases of Covid-19, including interstate residents in NSW health care facilities.

The Ruby Princess cruise to New Zealand left Sydney on 8 March and returned to Sydney and docked yesterday morning.

The 2647 passengers onboard disembarked yesterday and all were advised to self-isolate at home or in their accommodation for 14 days as part of the management of returned travellers, in accordance with the Public Health Order for quarantine that is in place in New South Wales.

Three of the confirmed cases were passengers who disembarked from the ship after it docked at Circular Quay yesterday morning.

  • One, a resident of Tasmania, is still in NSW and being assessed at a Sydney hospital.
  • One was taken unwell from the ship to hospital. It is not unusual for cruise ship passengers, some of whom are elderly, to disembark directly from cruise ships to hospital.
  • One presented to a Sydney hospital after disembarking for testing.
  • The fourth confirmed case is a crew member who is in isolation onboard the ship. The quarantine of other crew on board is underway, in consultation with the onboard medical team.

Ninety-eight of the 1148 crew disembarked the ship and have left NSW for their home countries. The rest of the crew remain in isolation on board the ship, which is currently offshore.

Five people on board with flu-like illness were tested in Wellington, New Zealand, on 14 March, and all were negative for Covid-19 at that time.

NSW Health officials have emailed and sent text messages to all cruise passengers today to advise of the confirmed cases onboard and to reinforce the importance of self-isolation and regular self-monitoring for symptoms. Phone calls are also being made to all passengers.

NSW Health has notified other states and territories and the National Incident Room of this situation.

Sixty-three per cent of the passengers are Australian residents, 20 per cent are residents of the United States and the rest are from a variety of other countries. All close contacts of the confirmed cases will also be identified and informed.

Updated

The opposition has responded to the government’s deferred budget announcement:

Labor notes the change in the timing for the 2020-21 Budget.

While we acknowledge and accept the difficulties of handing down a Budget in the current circumstances we call on Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg to bring forward updated figures on the budget position and economic forecasts.

It is critically important that the Australian people are kept updated about the current state of the economy and the budget.

Labor’s priority is always to protect jobs, help Australian workers, businesses, families and communities through this difficult time, and ensure vulnerable Australians are supported.

Labor will continue to be supportive, responsible and constructive and that means injecting a sense of urgency where it is lacking or absent.

Ben Butler has a very quick update on that last post – Dan Andrews has responed:

These exemptions are a matter for the chief health officer,” a spokeswoman for Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said.

There’s still no clarity about whether Crown Resorts will shut its flagship Melbourne casino as a result of prime minister Scott Morrison announcing this afternoon that venues should be limited to one person every 4sq m.

The James Packer-controlled group’s poker machine rooms in Melbourne and Perth are still open, with every second machine shut off.

Crown went into a trading halt for “discussions” with the Victorian government earlier today, before Morrison announced the latest set of social distancing rules.

But at 5.45pm the casino and Victoria’s chief health officer were still locked in negotiations about the fate of the Melbourne pokies.

Public health experts have slammed Crown’s continued operation and this afternoon the deputy head of federal parliament’s national security committee, Anthony Byrne, said Crown and other casinos had to be shut down.

“Crown doesn’t offer a unique community service,” he told Nine Newspapers. “It is not a special place. It undermines confidence in government measures to contain the virus by giving Crown a free ride to remain open.”

Updated

The border shut down is just over three hours away.

From 9pm tonight, no non-residents or citizens will be allowed to enter Australia.

For those asking, the second stage of the government’s stimulus plan is not expected today.

It has to be announced before parliament sits (for what looks like one day on Monday) so it will be announced on the weekend. The way we are tracking, I would expect it to be sometime on Sunday.

The Northern Territory has just confirmed that two people today tested positive to Covid-19.

A man in his 30s tested positive after he travelled to Darwin from Zagreb via Istanbul and Denpasar, arriving on Flight JQ82 at 5am on Thursday.

He immediately went into self-isolation and was later tested at the Royal Darwin Hospital’s pandemic clinic. He is now in isolation at the hospital.

Separately, a 21-year old woman has tested positive after returning to Darwin from Utah.

She travelled from Utah to San Francisco and on to Brisbane, before arriving in Darwin on Flight QF824 at midday on Thursday.

She went into self-isolation immediately and was later tested at the Royal Darwin Hospital’s pandemic clinic after developing a sore throat and a cough. She is now in isolation in the hospital.

People on those flights are being contacted as part of the contact-tracing procedures.

This brings the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Northern Territory to three.

Updated

With so many of us working from home, Josh Taylor has this story on what that could mean for data and streaming:

Streaming companies such as Netflix and Stan have been asked by communications minister Paul Fletcher to consider reducing the amount of data required for streaming videos over the internet as the national broadband network tries to cope with large swathes of the population working from home.

Fletcher convened a roundtable with telecommunications operators on Monday as more and more Australian businesses send staff to work from home during the national response to the coronavirus pandemic.

At that roundtable, it is understood, two particular concerns raised were the possibility of more people streaming video from Netflix, Stan, Disney+ and others, and the strains that large-file gaming updates would put on the internet in Australia.

Updated

Government lifts debt ceiling to $850bn

And here is why the budget is being delayed until October (as well as the debt ceiling being lifted):

The Morrison government is continuing to take decisive action to protect Australians and the economy from the effects of the coronavirus.

This situation is unprecedented and there remains a high degree of uncertainty surrounding how the virus will evolve and its full economic impacts.

This uncertainty makes it extremely difficult to formulate reliable economic and fiscal estimates over the next few months.

Having regard to this situation, the government has decided to defer the 2020-21 budget until 6 October 2020.

This will provide more time for the economic and fiscal impacts of the coronavirus, both in Australia and around the world, to be better understood.

It will also ensure that the 2020-21 budget can set out the path to economic recovery.

This means the government will move supply bills in the parliament next week to ensure the continuity of government in 2020-21.

The government will also lift the debt ceiling from $600bn to $850b to ensure it has the capacity to deal with the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus.

In line with the decision to postpone the budget, the next intergenerational report will be released in mid-2021 to ensure there is adequate time to produce long-term projections that are based on robust budget estimates.

The government is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians.

This decision will allow the government to maintain its focus on dealing with the immediate health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Updated

Ken Wyatt has released information on what the remote Indigenous community lockdown means:

Under this proposal an emergency requirement determined under the Biosecurity Act 2015 will restrict persons from entering or leaving areas as nominated by states and territories.

The emergency requirement will also allow jurisdictions to nominate a decision-maker who will be empowered to permit additional classes of people to enter or leave the community in certain circumstances, such as:

• For the purposes of obtaining medical care or medical supplies.

• In the event of emergency, including the purposes of providing medical care.

• For the purposes of supplying or undertaking critical services such as medical (including mental health and domestic violence support), police and emergency services, food and medical supplies, educational, and maintenance and repairs of essential services, or

• In accordance with the remote community pandemic plan applicable to the particular remote Aboriginal community that the person wishes to enter.

Consistent with Australian health protection principal committee guidance, individuals will be required to undergo a minimum period of isolation (currently 14 days) before entry or re-entry into the area will be allowed.

Updated

'This is like being hit by 30 cyclones at once'

Queensland will seal its western border with the Northern Territory to protect remote Indigenous communities.

Annastacia Palaszczuk finishes her press conference with this message:

Look, my message is everyone needs to take this absolutely seriously.

You can’t see the virus. It’s a bit like when you can’t see a cyclone coming until it arrives. And I think people only have to see the images that are happening around the world to know that no one is immune to this.

It’s happening in nearly every other country. So we are preparing, but we need to take some measures now that will help flatten that curve and will help protect lives.

So I’m asking Queenslanders to do something they’ve never done before.

This is like being hit by 30 cyclones at once.

Updated

Another 40 cases confirmed in Queensland

That’s on top of the 50 confirmed yesterday.

Updated

Queensland’s leaders are telling people to stay home this weekend – and for the foreseeable future.

No more big nights.

Annastacia Palaszczuk:

This is about social distancing. This is about being physically away from every other person.

Now, I know many of you would be thinking: ‘It’s a Friday afternoon. it’s beautiful weather. I’m going to have a big night out.’

Guess what? Now is not the time to do it. I’m sorry to the pubs out there right across the state.

I don’t want you to be having a big night out this weekend.

This is the time now we need everybody to go home, be with your family, sit on your back deck, have a glass of wine, spend time with your kids, talk to your friends.

Updated

More than 370 legal, academic and criminal justice professionals have signed a letter calling on governments to address mounting concerns about the implications of Covid-19 on the criminal justice system.

The letter signed by criminologists, lawyers, barristers and former magistrates say prisons face “an uncontrollable outbreak”.

”We know that Covid-19 spreads quickly in closed spaces and prisons are commonly epicentres for infectious diseases. This is particularly a concern where there is overcrowding, with most Australian prisons operating at over 100% of their design capacity.

“Many people who are incarcerated also have chronic conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma, which makes them vulnerable to more severe forms of Covid-19.

“It is only a matter of time before Covid-19 breaks out in our prisons and youth detention centres. This will then have a substantial flow-on effect to the community. People are continually churning in and out of prisons and then being released to their communities.

“Significantly, 77% of people entering and 33% of people in prison are un-sentenced and 30% of sentenced prisoners are expected to serve less than 12 months.

“Failing to deal with Covid-19 in the criminal justice system will dramatically increase the epidemic curve.

“It will have a disproportionate effect on vulnerable populations over-represented in prisons, namely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; people from low socio-economic backgrounds; people experiencing homelessness; and people with disabilities.”

Updated

Another 12 Covid-19 cases in WA

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk joins with Gladys Berejiklian to say she won’t be seeing her parents because of the risk of Covid-19 and she has asked them to stay away from their grandchildren as well.

Queensland is working on returning Indigenous children to community, as remote Indigenous communities are locked down to all but essential visitors during the pandemic.

Annastacia Palaszczuk:

We also took on board the concerns of many members of community as well – these communities – about some of their children who are in boarding schools.

We are going to endeavour where possible over the next week to return children home to community if that is possible.

So I’d make that commitment that we will do everything in our power subject to available aircraft to get children and, where it is not possible ... we’ll make sure we talk to the different schools to see what other measures we can put in place there.

Updated

Sydney couple Anne and Craig Dorrington, from Mona Vale, said they have been left trapped in Quito by the government-ordered shutdown of Ecuador’s borders, and the closure of hotels, shops and other essential services.

Both are n their 60s and fear they could be trapped in the country for months, or left homeless.

“We need urgent help getting out of Ecuador as this country is in lockdown and it is not a safe place to be,” Anne Dorrington wrote.

“The hotel has been told that they need to close down so then we will have nowhere to go. There is nobody in the streets; the military are pushing people back in their homes. Shops are closed. There is no food, no street access.

“We need information as to what we can do and can’t do. We don’t speak Spanish.”

Several countries in South America have shut their borders, and Ecuador’s lockdown includes a night-time curfew and a ban on internal movements. The mayor of Guayaquil blocked the city’s runway to stop planes landing.


The Dorrington’s family say they have been trying to contact the Australian consulate in Ecuador, as well as the Canadian embassy in the country, and Australia’s foreign and trade department in Canberra, but have not been able to get any assistance for the couple.

Updated

The Australian market has closed the day up 0.7%, ending a tumultous week of trading.

It’s lost about a third of its value over the past month of coronavirus-inspired selling.

At the market’s close, question marks stood over several companies hit hard by the crisis.

The casino operator Crown Resorts, which has remained open at half capacity, is in a trading halt after entering “discussions” with the Victorian government.

This was before the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced new social distancing requirements that, if applied to Crown, would shut down its poker machines.

About 18,500 people work at Crown’s Australian casinos, so this could have a potentially devastating impact.

Online travel website Webjet, which has had its business all but destroyed by travel restrictions and the end of corporate travel, is also in a trading halt as it attempts an emergency capital raising.

Its future looks extremely grim if it can’t raise capital in a market where fundraising is difficult to impossible.

Updated

36-year-old Australian man dies of Covid-19 in Iceland

A 36-year-old Australian man with Covid-19 has died in Iceland. His wife has been quarantined with the illness.

But the man’s symptoms were atypical for Covid-19, and although he had the illness doctors are continuing to investigate the cause of his death, Iceland’s national broadcaster RUV reported.

“While he was found to be infected with the coronavirus, it is unlikely to have been the cause of his death,” an epidemiologist, Dr Thorolfur Gudnason, chief of the national vaccination program at directorate of health, said.

“His symptoms came on very quickly and were not those usually associated with Covid-19 deaths.”

The man, who has not been named, presented to a medical clinic in Husavik, a small town in Iceland’s north, already seriously unwell, and he died suddenly.

His death is the first Covid-19-related death in Iceland, and he is the first Australian to die overseas with the illness.

Updated

In the midst of all of this, the government is putting out a couple of very quiet announcements.

Including this one:

The Australian government has today announced a broad new policy approach to the acquisition and delivery of workflow processing capability in the home affairs portfolio and other areas across government.

The government will implement modern, easy to access, digital services for clients in line with its response to the Thodey review of the Australian public service. This approach seeks integrated enterprise-scale workflow processing capability that could be utilised across the commonwealth.

Key to this is recognising the efficiencies that can be generated from large-scale government investment in technology and the reuse of capability across government.

The home affairs department will conduct a market consultation process in the coming months seeking industry engagement and insights into the best way to deliver large-scale workflow processing capability for visa and citizenship applications and additionally, for customs functions and personnel security clearances in the home affairs portfolio.

While current visa systems continue to function, they are out of date, and processing and decision making in many cases is still undertaken manually, supported by old technology and limited risk assessment capabilities.

With this approach, systems and capabilities will be well-placed to meet future demands, enabling the government to respond to emerging global threats and improving service delivery across government.

The work the department has done in recent years to modernise its visa service delivery arrangements will be utilised and extended to other areas in developing and specifying the requirements for this much broader capability, on which visa processing will still be the first product delivered.

The home affairs department has consequently terminated the request for tender process for its proposed global digital platform.

Updated

The Queensland local government elections, scheduled for Saturday 28 March are still going ahead.

Changes have been made to pre-poll and postal votes.

Like all other states and territories, Queensland will also hand down its budget in early October – or close to it – following the federal government’s move.

There is a slight complication there though: Queensland’s state election is set down for October.

It’s going to be a very tight schedule.

Updated

The Australian Academy of Science is absolutely pumping out the fact-checked content.Here is one on a Covid-19 vaccine:

Australian Academy of Science

Updated

We spoke about the NSW public health warning for passengers on the Ruby Princess – which docked in Sydney yesterday – a little earlier.

To be clear, the government is hoping to contact the 2,700 passengers or so after four people tested positive for Covid-19.

While the 1,100 crew remain on board, the passengers disembarked, which is why NSW is trying to find them.

Self-isolate if you were on board.

Updated

South Australia has reported another eight new cases of Covid-19.

Updated

One of the problems with these changes to mutual obligations is that the shift to online will not be one easily accessed by a lot of people, as libraries continue to close.

Updated

Criminal justice system

State and territory leaders agreed that from 20 March each state’s and territory’s adult correctional system will restructure personal prison visits to help manage the risk posed to prisoners and staff by the introduction of Covid-19 into custodial facilities. Depending on their operational needs, this may include stopping visits in some jurisdictions.

Aged care workforce continuity

As the transmission of Covid-19 increases rapidly, it is our priority to protect and support elderly and vulnerable Australians.

Aged care is a critical sector that faces staffing challenges as existing staff are either subject to self-isolation requirements due to Covid-19 or are unable to attend work.

Building on the package of measures announced earlier this week, the federal government is announcing four temporary measures designed to support the aged care workforce with $444.6m in funding from the commonwealth to:

  • Provide $234.9m for a Covid-19 “retention bonus” to ensure the continuity of the workforce for staff in both residential and home care.
  • Provide $78.3m in additional funding for residential care to support continuity of workforce supply.
  • Provide $26.9m to supplement the viability of residential aged care facilities (including national Torres Strait Islander aged care program and multi-purpose services and homeless providers).
  • Deliver $92.2m in additional support to home care providers and organisations which deliver the commonwealth home support program, including for services such as meals on wheels.
  • An extra $12.3m to support the myAgedcare service to respond to the needs of older Australia.

The national cabinet agreed that states and territories will issue nationally consistent public health directions on visitor restrictions for aged care facilities to complement regulatory standards adopted by the commonwealth.

Consistent legal directions across states and territories will support public confidence and reduce confusion. Australians are receiving their advice through a range of channels, including national and local media, therefore consistency of messaging and language across jurisdictions is important.

Updated

Schools, early learning and childcare

Arrangements for schools have not changed.

Consistent with earlier advice on schools, the national cabinet agreed to the AHPPC advice regarding childcare centre closures and noted that “pre‑emptive closures are not proportionate or effective as a public health intervention to prevent community transmission of Covid-19 at this time”.

AHPPC also provided a series of risk mitigation measures for early learning and childcare, including:

  • exclusion of unwell staff, children and visitors;
  • reduce mixing of children by separating cohorts (including the staggering of meal and play times);
  • enhanced personal hygiene for children, staff and parents;
  • full adherence to the NHMRC childcare cleaning guidelines;
  • excursions other than to local parks should be discouraged;
  • influenza vaccination for children, staff and parents.

AHPPC also noted that “there may need to be consideration of alternative arrangements for highly vulnerable children” and recommended “these parents seek medical advice”.

Strategies to reduce transmission in schools were included in AHPPC’s advice on 17 March and include reducing public gatherings and mixing of students. Further information is available here: https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc

Updated

Supermarkets and retailers

The national cabinet reiterated that Australia’s food and medicine supplies are secure and there is no need to panic buy. Australians must stop hoarding from supermarkets, chemists and other retail outlets. There is no need to do this and it is depriving elderly and vulnerable Australians of essential supplies.

Criminal or violent behaviour will not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly by police. This behaviour is unAustralian.

A supermarkets taskforce has been established to work with all levels of government, industry and the community to ensure supermarkets can continue providing essential daily supplies and to rapidly resolve issues that may prevent this such as trucking curfews, home delivery arrangements and workforce safety.

Updated

Remote communities

Isolation and remoteness offer opportunities for delaying or potentially preventing an outbreak of Covid-19 in remote Indigenous communities. However, high mobility of community members and a reliance on visiting and outreach activities and services increase the risk of Covid-19 occurring.

The national cabinet provided in-principle agreement to the federal health minister to take action under the commonwealth Biosecurity Act 2015 to restrict travel into remote Indigenous communities to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Under this measure, states and territories will nominate areas in consultation with Indigenous communities, and an emergency requirement determined under the Biosecurity Act 2015 will restrict persons from entering or leaving those nominated areas.

This follows the decisions of a number of Indigenous communities and the West Australian government to implement similar measures, and considerations by the Northern Territory government to phase up its response by restricting access to remote communities.

Under this proposal an emergency requirement determined under the Biosecurity Act 2015 will restrict persons from entering or leaving areas as nominated by states and territories.

The emergency requirement will also allow jurisdictions to nominate a decision maker who will be empowered to permit additional classes of people to enter or leave the community in certain circumstances (eg to provide services that are essential for that particular community, such as childcare support or mental health services).

Consistent with AHPPC guidance, individuals will be required to undergo a minimum period of isolation (currently 14 days) before entry or re-entry will be allowed.

These rules are aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 in remote communities and to rapidly address outbreaks. Enforcement will be the responsibility of each jurisdiction. The national cabinet agreed that these measures would be implemented as soon as possible.

Updated

Domestic travel

As previously advised, all Australians should reconsider the need for unnecessary travel. If people are unwell they must stay at home, unless they are seeking medical care.

The national cabinet previously agreed that public transport is essential and that AHPPC advice should apply in relation to public transport (trains, trams, buses, ferries), taxi and ride-share vehicles and transport of vulnerable populations, with particular attention given to cleaning and hygiene.

The national cabinet previously agreed that domestic air travel is low risk.

The next meeting of the national cabinet will consider further arrangements for domestic travel.

International travel restrictions

The national cabinet noted the AHPPC’s advice on high-risk countries for Covid-19 importation risk and its continued support for the 14-day self isolation requirement for all returning travellers.

It welcomed the federal government’s decision to stop the entry of non-citizens and non-permanent residents and their immediate families into Australia after 9pm AEDT on Friday 20 March in order to align international travel restrictions with the risks. Limited exemptions will be available under the authority of the Australian border force commissioner, focused on individuals providing critical or essential services or on compassionate grounds.

Updated

Outdoor events

As previously advised, outdoor events of fewer than 500 attendees may proceed. There are general measures that all events should follow:

  • In a given occupied space, there must be no more than one person per four square metres of ground space.
  • Availability of hand hygiene products and suitable waste receptacles, with frequent cleaning and waste disposal.
  • Promotion of the health department recommendations for unwell individuals to isolate at home and not attend.

Food markets are exempt from the 500-person limit but must undertake additional measures, such as controlling patronage level numbers or stall density reduction to decrease the risk.

Special exemptions for limitations on indoor and outdoor gatherings

There may be other gatherings that are not specifically mentioned here that are considered essential. The national cabinet agreed that it is at the discretion of the individual state and territory chief health officers or equivalent to assess each on their merits, and determine whether they can continue if mitigated by social distancing measures.

The development of any guideline requires continual re-evaluation and amendments or new guidelines may be released as the pandemic continues to progress.

Updated

Advice on the new restrictions

Indoor gatherings

As previously advised, non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are not permitted.

This does not apply to essential activities such as public transport facilities, medical and healthcare facilities, pharmacies, emergency service facilities, correctional facilities, youth justice centres or other places of custody, courts or tribunals, parliaments, food markets, supermarkets and grocery stores, shopping centres, office buildings, factories, construction sites, mining sites, freight and logistics terminals, where it is necessary for their normal operation (although social distancing and hygiene practices are required in these settings).

National cabinet agreed to risk mitigation measures for non-essential indoor gatherings of fewer than 100 people including the following:

  • In a given occupied space, there must be a density of no more than one person per four square metres of floor space. The 4sqm arrangements for venues will come into effect from 20 March and will be mandated through state and territory regulatory arrangements.
    • For example, there can be 25 people in a 100-square metre room, who should maintain a physical healthy distance between each other of 1.5 metres.
  • Hand hygiene products and suitable waste receptacles must be made available, with frequent cleaning and waste disposal taking place.
  • The health department recommendations for unwell individuals to isolate at home must be promoted.
  • For example:
  • Cinemas and theatres will decrease density of patrons, which could include alternate seating, staggered seating and alternate rows, except for family groups who may be seated together.
  • Seated restaurants may need to undertake a capacity reduction in order to meet the above density requirements.

Safe food and utensil handling statement for catering

The national cabinet noted the Australian health protection principal committee (AHPPC) advice that the primary transmission route for Covid-19 is person-to-person; it may therefore be transmitted via utensils or plates that have been handled by someone who has Covid-19.

  • For catering, advise staff if they feel unwell to stay at home, and deny entry to staff who are unwell.
  • All food, including pre-packaged foods such as boxed lunches, should be prepared by staff trained in safe food handling practices.

Ensure hand washing facilities are accessible for staff and supplied with adequate soap and paper towels.

Updated

The government has stopped short of suspending mutual obligations for welfare recipients during the coronavirus crisis, despite growing calls.

And the Coalition is maintaining its tough stand on welfare compliance, warning that changes will keep those out of work “actively engaged” and that jobseekers who do not attend scheduled job interviews or take up work will face “existing compliance penalties”.

The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, said on Friday the government had adopted a range of measures aimed at making the system more flexible during the Covid-19 outbreak.

These included allowing jobseekers to ask that appointments with employment services providers be conducted online or by phone, and a significant reduction in job search requirements for four options a month.

Work for the dole and other group activities that cannot be undertaken online will be suspended.

Cash said the government would keep mutual obligations in place as long as it was in line with health advice.

“These changes prioritise the welfare of job seekers but will also help keep those out of work actively engaged and supported to take up critical jobs in demand now, and when the economy recovers,” she said.

People who are forced into self-isolation according to official health guidelines are entitled to a 14-day exemption from mutual obligations without a medical certificate. Further exemptions are available with evidence that self isolation is recommended by health professionals.

Labor, the Greens and the Australian Council of Social Service are among those who have called for mutual obligations to be paused in recent days, as they were during the recent bushfires.

The UK moved to suspend its welfare conditionality requirements for benefits recipients on Friday.

Updated

The ACT has reported two more people have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Both, a man in his 70s and a man in his 50s, had returned from overseas. Both had self-isolated upon returning.

That brings the ACT’s total to six cases.

Updated

The Daily Mail is reporting a 36-year-old Australian tourist has become Iceland’s first Covid-19 death.

We are working on confirming that information with Dfat.

The government has made some changes to the mutual obligation requirements for those on a JobSeeker payment. Luke Henriques-Gomes will have more on that for you in just a moment, but the main points are:

  • Jobseekers will have the option to request that face-to-face meetings with their job service providers take place over the phone or via an online channel such as Skype;
  • Jobseekers will be able to complete activities such as online training, creating job plans, writing a CV and preparing job applications online;
  • Job plans will be adjusted to a default requirement of four job searches a month (or fewer, at provider discretion) to reflect the softening labour market conditions.
  • Work for the dole and other activities delivered in group settings that cannot be delivered online will be suspended until further notice;
  • Jobs fairs and other large events will be postponed;
  • Job service providers will be required to perform new risk assessments for a range of activities like youth jobs path internships.

Updated

Also very interesting in that press conference was this message Scott Morrison had for landlords as the states look at rental relief measures:

I know that will mean something for landlords, just as the decision taken today means something for banks, just like the decisions we have already taken as a commonwealth government means things for our balance sheets, and as a people, for the commonwealth government, as it does for the states.

It will also mean something for those who sadly might be stood down from their employment and have to look at their annual leave arrangements and sick leave arrangements.

All Australians are going to be making sacrifices, obviously, in the months ahead.

And everyone does have that role to play and that will include landlords, at the end of the day, for people who are enduring real hardship.

That is a big turnaround from Morrison at the election, who had this to say about landlords not even a year ago:

I know that’s the popular consensus among some ... that this is some big rort for big high-income earners. That’s a complete and utter myth.

The sheer numbers are this: two-thirds of those who actually use it, by the number of people who actually engage in negative gearing, are mum and dad investors. They’re nurses, they’re teachers, they’re police officers.

Updated

There was so much in that press conference, I almost missed this, but the chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, says they are looking at relaxing the testing criteria for Covid-19.

We are now testing all aged care workers because aged care is such a crucial area.

We will be testing healthcare workers with influenza-like illnesses [and] all people presenting to hospital with pneumonia in addition to the criteria of returned [travellers].

Updated

Recap of latest announcements

There was a lot there, so I don’t blame you if you need to catch up.

In that press conference, the prime minister just announced:

Non-essential travel to remote Indigenous communities will be banned.

Non-essential domestic travel is under review – at this stage, advised as not appropriate; particularly areas where outbreaks are present may be locked down.

Other states may follow Tasmania’s lead and shut borders

The federal budget will be moved to 6 October. It was to be handed down in May.

The states are looking at rental relief for tenants.

Accessing superannuation as an income support measure is not being ruled out.

Indoor gatherings (already limited to under 100) are to have just one person for 4sqm.

Aged care receives another $444m to keep going.

Chief medical officer warns of “critical” time.

Self-isolation and social distancing not choices but a “civic duty”.

Schools are to remain open.

Updated

The prime minister finishes with this:

There is a way through this. We need everybody to keep going forward. We need every single Australian to do what they can, whether they are a parent, teacher, nurse, member of parliament, whatever your job is, whatever you are doing, I need you to keep doing it as much as you can, because if we keep doing it, if we keep holding together, then we will continue to make our way through this, we will get to the other side, and on the other side, Australia will be stronger.

Updated

Asked again about whether or not the government is looking at nationalising any firms, or industries because of the impact, Scott Morrison says no:

At this stage there are no plans from the government and I wouldn’t want that to be misinterpreted.

We’re in unprecedented times but we have no plans to be involved in those sort of nationalisation programs.

That is a response that is not justified by what we’re seeing or anticipating at present.

Updated

On the question of whether or not people will be able to access their superannuation if they lose their job (a move Labor has already said it is “cautious” over) Scott Morrison does not rule it out:

Again, we’ll be making further announcements on the next round of measures to cushion the blow for those who are directly impacted, whether they be small businesses or individuals soon.

We continue to consider the compensation of that package and when we’re in a position to make those announcements, we will.

Updated

Schools are still advised to stay open.

Brendan Murphy:

I think it is really important to recognise that, as we’ve said before, we think the risk to children with this virus is very low.

Only 2.4% of all the cases in China in Hubei province were under 19, and there have been very, very few significant cases.

Obviously we do have some concerns that children may have a role in transmission but most children who have seemed to have got the virus have got it from adults as you’ve seen in this case.

We think keeping children at home when there is relatively no community spread is probably disproportionate given they probably won’t stay at home anyway.

They may be cared for by elderly [grand]parents. There may be circumstances where there are outbreaks in an area where we do need to close schools for a period of time.

Our strategy for the next six months is to keep schools open and we think that risk is appropriate.

Updated

Reconsider domestic travel

Asked if people should cancel any domestic holiday flights now, ahead of potential further restrictions over the school holidays, Scott Morrison says:

We are saying that people should reconsider any unnecessary travel.

That is the clear advice. That comes also with the backing of the medical experts panel.

But we will consider further advice on that and we know that is necessary and to do so in time for the school holidays.

We agreed today that we need to do a bit more work on that and we’ll be getting that back on Tuesday.

I should stress a couple of things on travel as I did earlier in the week.

As Dr Murphy has said, the risk of being on a plane is very low. It is very low. The issue is not being on the plane.

The issue is moving to different parts of the country and potentially large volumes of populations moving around the country.

Now states and territories, as you’ve seen, Tasmania has already made their decision about how that will be treated.

Other states may take those decisions for particular parts of their states and that is entirely appropriate that they may consider doing that.

That’s why as we work through some of those issues we’ll have further advice after the meeting on Tuesday night.

Updated

On the question of those who may have to navigate Centrelink for the first time, as jobs are lost, and what happens with the mutual obligation requirements on the JobSeeker payment, and the rate of payment itself, Scott Morrison says the cabinet is meeting this afternoon to be “putting the final touches of the package of measures that are designed to cushion the blow”.

Updated

Brendan Murphy says Australia is at a crucial time.

This is critical now. We have to slow the curve as the prime minister said.

We are well prepared.

We’ve had few deaths so far. They’re tragic. We’ve had very few people in intensive care.

But there is a risk that if we don’t do what every one of us has to do as our civic duty to control this spread, it will grow significantly greater.

Updated

Prof Brendan Murphy is also ordering people to stop gathering in their homes, without practising social distancing.

You should be distancing yourself from every fellow Australian where possible.

That’s why we have guidelines for people in gatherings of less than 100. There’s no point having a gathering of 20 people if it’s in tiny room and you’re al ltogether.

You’ve got to practise social distancing. Keep that metre-and-a-half away from each other, practise good hand hygiene all the time, and stay away from work or the community if you are unwell.

This is also incredibly important. Whilst people who are high risks of contacts and returned travellers, if they get symptoms they must be tested. There will be cases of community contact where it’s not suspected and they might just get a sniffle or a cold, the sort of thing that many of us have soldiered through and gone to work in recent years.

We can’t do that any more.

Nobody should be going to work or mixing with society or friends or going out if they are unwell at all.

Stay at home if you’re unwell. Only go out when you’re feeling well. Go to work when you’re feeling well.

Updated

The chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, says there are still a lot of people who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 after time overseas.

He says self-isolation is not something travellers can just choose to do or not.

This is not an advisory. This is your civic duty to your fellow Australians to stay home for that entire 14 days if you’ve come back to Australia. No exceptions. And if you see anyone who is not abiding by that, a recent traveller, make sure they do because we are really serious about that. It is such a big impact on our outbreaks in the past few days.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg again talks about “team Australia” in thanking the banks for doing their part.

He says businesses can expect further cuts to red tape in the near future.

Updated

Scott Morrison warns of 'particular area' shut downs

The prime minister is being very strong on this point: there will be “more advanced measures” in areas of Australia seeing outbreaks, but he wants people to remember it is just for particular areas, at particular times.

You may remember that there was a suggestion that the Gold Coast was one of the areas mentioned yesterday, which was seeing the beginning stages of community transmission. There were only a few instances so far, but it is what is coming that is the worry.

There will be, as we have already seen, parts of cities or places that will be more susceptible because of quite localised outbreaks.

What we’ve asked for advice on is the density of those cases, how many cases in a particular area, that triggers actions over and above what these general rules that apply to those areas, and that would be staged up according to the level of that outbreak and what needs to be done wherever possible to shut that down.

Now the reason I say that is we need a consistent approach to how this would scale up in the event of outbreaks in particular parts of particular areas.

Because that means just because you might see, under those rules, something being done in Tuggeranong or somewhere else, that rules don’t necessarily apply ... somewhere else. There will be advanced measures that would need to be put in place and we need a clear set of rules across states and territories to make those rules and that advice will be coming forward on Tuesday evening.

Updated

No travel to remote Indigenous areas

The biosecurity act is being used to ban all non-essential travel into Indigenous communities.

Medical and health staff will be able to enter, as well as those providing mental health, police and educational services, but other than that the communities will be shut down.

Updated

Scott Morrison on aged care:

We are providing $444.6m of additional funding from the commonwealth to support aged care facilities.

Now that is on top of the more than $100m that I announced last week in relation to workforce support across the country for aged care.

That includes $234.9m for a retention bonus to ensure the continuity of the workforce for staff in both residential and home care.

There is $78.3m in additional funding for residential care to support continuity of workforce supply.

There is $26.9m to supplement the viability of residential aged care facilities, including for national tourist trade under aged care program and the multipurpose services and homeless providers.

There is $92m being provided in additional support for home care providers and organisations which deliver the commonwealth home support program, including for services such as meals on wheels, and $12.3m to support the aged care service to respond to the needs of olderAustralians ...

This additional funding is being focused on those who are most vulnerable, to get them the additional support so they can get access to the essential things they need, particularly through things like Meals on Wheels and homecare support, and the other things older Australians will need going through this time.

Updated

"Avoid unnecessary travel" in school holidays

The national cabinet which will now meet every Tuesday night and Friday morning (teleconference) has not made a final decision on school holidays but it is warning of changes coming.

Scott Morrison:

The advice is to reconsider the need for unnecessary travel. And if you are unwell, stay at home unless seeking medical advice. Further advice is being taken to the national cabinet next Tuesday night, and that will be available before people go on school holidays.

And so we will be considering those issues further, and I am just flagging that for next week, when we consider those issues on a broader scale.

Updated

Scott Morrison on what he wants from people when it comes to that new rule:

If you are looking after your behaviour, you are saving lives, you are helping other people who are more vulnerable.

In many cases, for the young and the healthy it is true that the majority of cases, eight out of 10 people, only have a mild illness.

But if younger people in particular, and those more generally in the community, follow these rules, it won’t be your life you are saving, because you will be fine.

You will be healthy.

But by you doing the right thing, you will be saving the life of someone who is more vulnerable. So do it for your fellow Australians.

I know these rules will take some time for people to get used to, but I would ask people to move as quickly as they can.

I know it means a lot of change for a lot of venues, whether they be cafes or restaurants or clubs or any of these other places of public gathering, including at this building here, we will be working to ensure that people know how many people can be in the various meeting rooms at this place.

Updated

Four square metre rule for inside gatherings

They flagged this yesterday, but indoor gatherings just got more strict:

But what we are now moving to is an arrangement for gatherings of less than 100, is that they would be four square metres provided per person in an enclosed space, in a room. So that’s 2m by 2m.

So for example, if you’ve got a room, if you’ve got a premises, if you’ve got a meeting room or something like that, that’s 100 square metres, then you can have 25 people in that room.

Now, in addition to that, you should continue to practise wherever possible the 1m or 1.5m of healthy distance between each of us, to ensure that we are limiting the contact and limiting the potential for the spread of the virus.

Federal budget delayed until October.

The May budget is off. It won’t be held now until 6 October.

Updated

States to work on rental relief

Scott Morrison says the states agreed to work on what to do for renters:

States also agreed today, and further work will be done on this, on working to identify how relief can be provided for tenants in both commercial tenancies and residential tenancies to ensure that in hardship conditions there will be relief that will be available, and ensuring that tenancy legislation is protecting those tenants over the next six months at least.

That work will be done by states and territories, as it is a state and territory matter, and that work will be led by Western Australia, together with New South Wales, working with all the other states and territories, to bring back some model rules that can be applied in hardship cases.

So understanding what the trigger might be and how in those circumstances the tenants would be able to maintain their tenancies.

For landlords, Morrison says:

Now I know that will mean something for landlords, just as the decision taken today means something for banks, just like the decisions we have already taken as a commonwealth government means things for our balance sheets, and as a people, for the commonwealth government, as it does for the states.

It will also mean something for those who sadly might be stood down from their employment and have to look at their annual leave arrangements and sick leave arrangements.

All Australians are going to be making sacrifices, obviously, in the months ahead. And everyone does have that role to play stop and that will include landlords, at the end of the day, for people who are enduring real hardship.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

There will be additional cases. This is something we should be continuing to expect. This is anticipated. The presence of additional cases is not something of itself that should cause alarm, because at the end of the day you don’t stop this virus, but you can defeat it by slowing it down. And that is how we save lives.

All the decisions which are being taken are being made for at least six months.

That is at least.

Updated

'I need all of you to keep going,' says Scott Morrison.

The prime minister launches straight into it.

There is a way through this. We all need to keep going. I need all of you to keep going. And we are going to keep going to keep Australia running. All Australians have a role to play as we make our way through, and there is a way through.

There is a bridge over this. And if we continue to work together in the way we are, all around the country, then Australia will bounce back strongly. You will bounce back strongly. Your family, your business, your community. There is a way through.”

But he acknowledges that life will see more changes.

Updated

The prime minister should be appearing at his lectern very soon.

He is giving the government’s daily update.

The next stage of the stimulus package is not expected until the weekend, but it is possible there will be more guidance of what will be in it today.

Updated

Virgin Australia has confirmed some staff will be asked to take leave without pay, but said it is working on getting them jobs at Coles, Costco and in nursing homes.

In an email to staff yesterday, obtained by Guardian Australia, the company said unpaid leave would start as soon as this weekend.

“Every roster published on Sunday will include leave without pay days which account for up to a 25% schedule capacity reduction for Virgin Australia,” the email said. “Crew should expect further LWOP days to be assigned.”

A Virgin Australia spokeswoman confirmed the airline was requiring staff to take “the use of accrued annual leave, leave without pay and, in some circumstances, redundancies”.

“We are consulting with unions and employee representatives on these measures and this process is ongoing,” she said.

“We are working closely with some of our partners, including Coles, Costco Australia, RSL LifeCare and Blackwolf Group, on alternative job opportunities for the interim period and these discussions are progressing.”

This comes after the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, said stood-down Qantas staff could work at Woolworths stocking shelves, or at Commonwealth Bank call centres.

Updated

The NSW chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, on that jump in diagnoses:

I think also the number of tests have to be considered in this. We have incredibly high rates of testing in New South Wales, and that actually gives me a reassurance that we’re doing our best to detect cases.

And I think that the case numbers will increase. But it is important that we have high rates of testing, because it is fundamentally important that for every case we identify, and when we can have that action around the close contacts of cases, we are actually containing and preventing further spread.

And my announcement today in relation to the church service shows some of the work behind the scenes that’s happening, where we’re actually interviewing multiple cases and finding points of intersection between those cases, so we can further identify those members of the community that are at increased risk.

And today I’ve announced the church service that people attended. And this is because there’s a lot of work being done in our contact tracing, piecing together the transmission routes with an attempt to stop them.

Updated

The 75 additional cases in NSW is the biggest jump the state has seen since the virus reached Australia.

That follows on from Queensland reporting yesterday it had seen its biggest jump, with 50 people diagnosed in 24 hours.

Only 30 pairs offered in the House

There will only be 30 pairs offered in the House of Representatives next week (the Senate is being a little more flexible).

Priority for the pairs will be based on exposure or diagnosis with Covid-19, those with underlying health issues, or vulnerabilities because of age or contact with remote communities, how far the MP has to travel to get to Canberra, and what their caring responsibilities are.

Updated

The NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, has also issued a public health warning for anyone who attended the Sydney Church of Christ Ryde Civic Centre service on 8 March.

Four people who attended the service have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

And so what we see, the remainder 300 of the individuals that attended that service, we’re asking them to self-monitor for symptoms.

And should anyone be unwell, please seek assessment. Your risk for Covid-19 is slightly increased. I can confirm that we have contacted all of the close contacts of the confirmed cases that attended that service.

But given the fact that, in such a big service of around 300 people, it’s hard to absolutely exclude who’s contacted who. We are wanting to put the whole group of people that attended that service on notice.

Updated

Brad Hazzard says there have been three positive Covid-19 tests from passengers on board the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

The tests, done on board, were originally for the flu, but were tested for Covid-19. Of the 13 tested, three tested positive. NSW authorities are now worried the nearly 2,700 people who were also on that cruise may not know Covid-19 was present on the ship.

They want all passengers on the Ruby Princess to go into self-isolation.

Anyone who shows symptoms should immediately contact their GP.

Updated

Following on from the Australian Banking Association’s announcement earlier today, Westpac and ANZ have both cut interest rates, especially small-business ones.

It’s fair to expect all banks will follow suit, given they will shortly have access to $90bn from the Reserve Bank at dirt-cheap prices to support business lending.

Westpac has slashed overdraft rates by 2 percentage points and small business loan rates by 1 percentage point, and ANZ has cut some business loans by 0.8 percentage points.

Home loan rates have also been cut.

Updated

Brad Hazzard said he is also receiving reports that people in NSW are not taking the social distance requirements seriously:

I’d just like to say that this warm weather that we’re all able to get out and make sure that we are enjoying fresh air in Sydney and New South Wales is also a time that people who perhaps are not in their office because of the circumstances are all gathering in outside places.

I know there were reports yesterday that at Bondi there were many thousands of people.

And reports I had were that many of them were not keeping the physical separation – I’ll make it simple: the physical separation that we all need.

I just say, as health minister here in NSW, that we are in different times.

We need to behave in different ways.

And that is: keep your distance. The recommendation is at least 1.5m.

That’s a sensible recommendation which people should sensibly take on board.

By all means, enjoy the beach. By all means, enjoy being outdoors, but keep your separation.

That also applies indoors.

Updated

An additional 75 people diagnosed with Covid-19 in NSW

The health minister, Brad Hazzard, says the state’s total of confirmed Covid-19 cases now stands at 382.

There were an additional 75 cases diagnosed in the 24 hours from 11am yesterday.

Updated

Bob Katter wants north Queensland to shut its non-existent border.

From his release:

“Isolate NQ now! This is our only chance to keep our most vulnerable safe. We must restrict access into North Queensland.”

NQ has the advantage of geographic isolation – an asymmetric hit of this virus across Australia gives us a chance to distribute critical care resources, such as mechanical ventilators.

Updated

Parliament to sit for just one day

The parliament schedule is out for next week.

Parliament is only expected to sit for one day.

Monday.

There is nothing on the list other than the stimulus package debate and question time.

Ninety-four Australians are among those stuck on board L’Austral, a cruise ship that departed Argentina more than 15 days ago, and was due to return earlier this week after a trip around Antarctica and South Georgia.

Tickets for the cruise start at more than A$18,000.

The ship was prevented from docking after Argentina closed its borders.

A spokesman for the cruise line operator, Ponant, told Guardian Australia getting authorisations to disembark guests had become increasingly difficult, and the company was working with Dfat to assess options.

For now the ship, which has a capacity of 264, is headed to Rio de Janeiro, where the company is attempting to negotiate to allow guests to disembark and return home on 23 March.

The spokesman said there were no suspected cases of Covid-19 on board.

“With the small size of our ships, the medical infrastructure and teams on board, our protocol and professionalism of our crews, we have no Covid-19 contamination on our fleet of ships,” he said.

Another ship, Roald Amundsen, on a similar expedition with more than 100 Australian doctors and medical professionals on board found itself in a similar situation after Chile stopped accepting cruise ships for docking.

According to that ship’s webcam, it is now back out at sea, but the cruise line operator declined to comment on its status.

Updated

Call to support Centrelink staff

The CPSU, the union which represents government service workers, wants more done to support Centrelink staff, given the increased pressure they are about to find themselves under as the job losses increase.

Today the CPSU is calling on the Morrison government to:

  • Implement a two-week payment for quarantined workers who do not have paid leave;
  • Increase Services Australia’s funding for direct employment to ensure adequate frontline capacity to deal with the imminent influx of applications;
  • Redeploy the 2,500 compliance staff to frontline functions, helping to ease the increased pressure on Services Australia;
  • Stop the punitive compliance measures and face-to-face requirements that are not absolutely necessary;
  • Raise the rate of Newstart – now known as JobSearch – to ensure that there is one payment for people who are out of work across the country.

Updated

The prime minister is expected to hold a press conference in the next hour.

The national cabinet met (through a video/tele hook up) this morning.

Updated

The ACCC has acted quickly to provide the banks with the authorisation they need to go ahead with the business loan deferral plan.

From its statement:

The ACCC has provided urgent interim authorisation to allow the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and banks to work together to implement a small business relief package.

The package will allow for the deferral of principal and interest repayments for loans to small businesses, in all sectors, impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ACCC granted the interim authorisation this afternoon after the ABA’s application was lodged last night.

“The ACCC recognises the significant financial hardship many Australian small businesses and their staff are experiencing as a result of this unprecedented crisis,” its chairman, Rod Sims, said.

“We recognise the urgency of this issue. We consider that this relief package will enable banks to quickly provide relief to impacted businesses, and allow them to keep employing their staff.

“Importantly, interim authorisation does not mean that individual banks can’t decide to offer more favourable and tailored terms to their small-business customers experiencing financial hardship during these times.”

Updated

The ACT government has released details of its own stimulus package.

It includes $150 rebates on residential rates, a freeze on government fees and fines, additional health funding, waivers on payroll tax and electricity rebates for business owners.

The government has focused on how we can deliver targeted support for low-income households who are likely to be most impacted from any economic downturn. As a starting point, the ACT government will provide rental support of $250 for all public housing tenants in the coming months, as well as a one-off rebate for residential utility concession holders of $200 to help with power bills. More work will be required in the coming months alongside any stimulus offered by the commonwealth government on income support.

Keeping Canberrans employed through infrastructure projects is another component of the ACT’s economic survival package, with $20m to be immediately spent on infrastructure projects and maintenance on local schools, roads, and public transport.

The government will provide more funding for the removal of dead trees, planting of new trees and maintenance of surrounding areas to redeploy existing government contractors impacted by event cancellations.

Additionally, there will be a new $500,000 round of grants funding for the arts sector.

Additional funding of $7m for our non-government organisation partners to meet increased service demand for emergency relief will also be rolled out as part of our community support package.

Updated

Crown Resorts in talks with Victorian government

James Packer’s Crown Resorts group is having “discussions” with the Victorian government over its response to the coronavirus crisis, the company has told the stock exchange.

The casino group’s poker machine gaming rooms remain open despite calls from public health experts and the Victorian opposition for them to be closed down.

Half of its Melbourne poker machines, or about 1,400 units, are operating under an exemption from Victoria’s chief health officer.

Crown shares are in a trading halt because the company “is continuing to work with the Victorian government in relation to the measures in place for Crown in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic,” it told the ASX.

“Crown intends to make an announcement once it receives further clarity on the outcome of these discussions.”

Updated

The government is releasing official warnings about scammers attempting to take advantage of the Covid-19 panic:

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch has been made aware that scammers are adapting existing technology to exploit people’s fears around coronavirus and are selling products claiming to prevent or cure the virus.

Multiple reports have been made of phishing scams sent via email or text message that claim to be providing official information on coronavirus but are attempts to try and obtain personal data.

There is understandable community concern over the spread of coronavirus, but it is the lowest of the low for scammers to use this as a vehicle to rip off Australians.

The Australian government will use the full force of the law to punish scammers who seek to make false or misleading representations, and penalties can include fines of up to $500,000 for individuals and in excess of $10m for corporations.

Australians who are seeking information on coronavirus should also be cautious of emails or text messages claiming to be from experts or offers from those peddling cures.

Updated

The Northern Territory has announced its second confirmed case of Covid-19: a 30-year-old Territorian man returned from Europe, who had been in self-isolation since arriving.

His contacts were very limited, health officials said. He arrived early on 18 March, and presented within 24 hours of arriving home, after feeling unwell.

Contact tracing is under way.

NT’s health minister, Natasha Fyles ,said “we are ready” and urged Territorians to “remain calm”.

The Howard Springs quarantine centre, Royal Darwin hospital pandemic clinic and drive-through clinic are all ready, Fyles said.

“We need to stay calm and preserve medical workforce as this will be a long haul,” she said.

The NT chief minister is expected to address the media soon to update on plans to close the NT’s borders to outsiders.

Updated

My colleague Ben Butler tells me Crown is in a trading pause ahead of an announcement.

Schools, however, remain open.

Mark Scott:

The decision to not proceed with Naplan in 2020 has been taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education, including potential online and remote learning.

Further, the impact of responses to the Covid-19 virus may affect the delivery of Naplan testing, including the operation of centralised marking centres and the implications for nationally comparable data if an insufficient number of students are available to do the test.

The decision to not proceed with Naplan in 2020 also means that the scheduled testing of the Naplan online platform, known as the coordinated practice test (CPT), will not proceed.

Ministers acknowledge the work that departments and schools have undertaken in preparation for the anticipated CPT which was due to commence next week on 23 March.

Education departments and systems will continue to closely monitor health advice and work with schools to ensure appropriate support for students and staff as the response to Covid-19 develops.

Updated

Naplan testing cancelled for 2020

The testing, scheduled for May, has been cancelled this year because of Covid-19.

Updated

Scott Morrison’s planned meeting with the prime minister of Singapore on Monday has been moved to a video call.

I’d love to see some of your virtual hangouts, if that is what you have moved to. Send me your pics, here

Updated

Labor has had to put up with a lot of guff from government MPs over its reaction to the global financial crisis.

Anthony Albanese says now that the world is once again facing extremely uncertain economic times, the government needs to talk to look at Labor’s GFC response and leave politics behind:

I think that the more people look at the Labor response to the global financial crisis, quite frankly, the better it looks.

We kept Australia out of an economic recession that occurred right across the industrialised world and there are hundreds of thousands Australians who kept their jobs directly because of the action.

I think, quite frankly, some of the childish commentary from members of the government over programs like the building the education revolution, which not a single school, Catholic, public, independent, isn’t grateful for that investment, that built confidence when it was needed, is an example of, I think, a program that worked very well, whether it’s that or the major infrastructure investment that was made.

Whether it be on major projects like the regional rail link in Victoria, Gold Coast light rail, infrastructure that, today, people are riding on those trains, they’re riding on that light rail, they’re driving on their roads, like the Kempsey bypass in the Pacific highway.

They are working and participating in community activities in the 5,500 local government projects that went ahead in my portfolio under the regional and local community infrastructure program.

So I think in terms of the contrast between the then opposition’s actions at that time, who forced more than 40 divisions at night, including third reading divisions to oppose the economic stimulus plan, contrast with Labor’s approach, which is constructive, which is positive, which is putting the national interest first. We’ll continue to do so.

I look forward to continuing to have discussions with Scott Morrison and my shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is continuing to talk with Josh Frydenberg.

We have Tony Burke and Katy Gallagher as managers of opposition business to talk about how parliament proceeds next week.

This isn’t a time for partisan politics. This is the time to put the national interests first. We will continue to do so.

Updated

Asked about Bill Shorten’s decision to take his children out of school, which goes against the official advice (Scott Morrison says he is still sending his daughters to school) Anthony Albanese says:

I’m not going to give advice to any family about how they deal with their family issues.

Updated

Anthony Albanese on the coming (and already occurred) job losses:

Quite clearly more needs to be done to help people. People are very anxious about their job. That consists of permanent workers, some of whom are very anxious. We have seen, yesterday, the decision of Qantas whereby 20,000 people are on leave.

So they have their job but they’re essentially using up their annual leave and their entitlements at the moment in a way that the beyond their control.

That’s very difficult for them and we saw images of distressed workers. There are many others as well who we won’t see.

They’re the casual workers, the people who work on contract, the people who are sole traders, the people who earn their living on a day-to-day basis. Many of them in industries right across the board, particularly service industries, people in the arts and entertainment industry, who we won’t see because they won’t be performing, and they rely upon their jobs, their labour, to feed their families and to pay their mortgages, and pay their bills.

They’re doing it tough, and our job as political leaders is to focus on them. It’s about people and the impact here. I think that the government will need to do more. We don’t believe at this point in time that there’s been enough support.

We’ll continue to put forward constructive ideas, be it on dealing with health issues or economic issues.

Updated

Pharmacists copping abuse

I’ve spent much of this morning and last night speaking to pharmacists, mainly across Sydney. They’re having an extremely tough time.

Most could barely talk to me they were so busy. But those who could reported shelves stripped bare, aggressive customers and difficulty restocking, with no real end in sight.

“You think tomorrow’s [going to be] a better day,” one pharmacy supervisor told me. “But it’s not. It’s worse.”

Demand has surged for Ventolin, painkillers, cold and flu tablets, hand sanitiser, face masks, and some prescription medications.

Yesterday the federal government announced new limits on purchases, restricting customers to one Ventolin or children’s paracetamol unit at a time.

But many of the pharmacies I spoke to had already instituted limits. The restrictions have made some customers furious. Staff at the Family Pharmacy Granville in Sydney’s west said they have had to call the police to deal with customers angry at the lack of hand sanitiser and toilet paper.

“It’s crazy,” said David Morcos, the pharmacy’s account manager. “Everyone has turned into an animal.”

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is urging customers to calm down. There is no national medical shortage. The wholesalers who supply the pharmacies say they have got enough stock to deal with the demand. But it is the hoarding that’s creating the difficulties.

“Pharmacists are working in the best interests of the community and their patients,” the society’s national president, Chris Freeman, said.

“The current supply network for medicines is adequate to meet demand and if we all do the right thing there will be enough medicines for all who need them.”

Updated

Penny Wong will speak on this a little later today, but Anthony Albanese says more needs to be done to also get Australians who are still overseas home.

I know that the airlines are negotiating with the government. Qantas, in particular, [is] looking at flights that would be able to return people to Australia and have that access. That is very important that that occur. I note also that some of the charter flight arrangements have a fee or a potential fee attached to them that are quite exorbitant and might be beyond people’s capacity to be able to pay.

We have a responsibility to Australia’s citizens to deal with this crisis in a way that looks after people’s health, both those who are here and those who are overseas. So these are matters that need to be worked through in a deliberate and conscious way.

Updated

Anthony Albanese says he is wary about people turning to superannuation to get them through financial difficulties during the pandemic:

Well, we are very cautious about any proposal that would interfere with superannuation entitlements. What we shouldn’t do is to undermine what has been a very effective system, and every time it’s been examined the truth is that superannuation has provided an important national savings pool as well as being good for individuals.

Updated

Jim Chalmers wants to know what the budget looks like now, so Australia can prepare:

We also call on the government when they release the second set of stimulus measures to release alongside it a set of updated forecasts for the economy, and updated budget numbers so we can see what treasury’s latest thinking is on the state of the economy so we can get an understanding of what’s happening in the budget, and so we can establish a baseline for the effectiveness of the stimulus measures which will be rolled out in the coming weeks and months.

Updated

Qantas repatriation flights flagged

Qantas’s chief executive, Alan Joyce, has flagged the possibility of launching repatriation flights, sending its grounded planes and crews to rescue Australians unable to get home.

He said the airline needed guidance from the Australian government about where citizens were.

“We don’t know where Australians are stranded around the globe and how much demand there would be for flights,” he said. “Dfat does. We’re talking to the government about expats repatriating back into Australia. Where should we keep flights going past when we stop international flights which is at the end of March?”

Speaking on Melbourne radio 3AW, he was asked specifically about Peru, where more than 200 Australians have been stranded by a nationwide lockdown on all travel. He said while Qantas does not fly to Lima, it hadn’t flown to Wuhan previously either, but was able to organise repatriation missions from that city.

He said Qantas had hubs around the world, and flew to every continent, so it was “theoretically possible” to get everyone home.

“Because of the bans in and out of Australia, we have no demand for our international operations past the end of March. We still have the aircraft, we still have the people, and if we can find locations where there are enough Australians to get them back on an aircraft, and the government believes that exists, then we will do that.”

Updated

The opposition leader says Labor supports closing the borders but wants things to move faster when it comes to the measures designed to prop up the economy.

We believe that there’s a need for the economy to urgently get money into it, get money into people’s pockets.

We do need to move faster. One of the things that we have stated before, and I reiterate again today to the government, is that if we are going to make a decision next week or the week after that’s a good decision, why not make it today to provide that certainty?

I again call upon the government to just do as the Reserve Bank when it makes a decision – provide an explanation for the context of that – and, indeed, we saw the Reserve Bank governor hold a media conference and take questions yesterday. The government needs to explain why there are changes in position from day to day.

Updated

Speaking in Sydney, Anthony Albanese said Labor would support the government’s first stimulus package, after getting the first part of the legislation overnight.

It may well be that we have constructive suggestions to improve that legislation. We await the government providing us with the legislation for the further stimulus that it has foreshadowed but not yet announced. So we say that we need to go through our processes. We want to make a difference to people’s lives and the best way we can do that is by adding constructive suggestions to government proposals.

We remain concerned about the impact on casual workers. We remain concerned that while people are concerned, quite rightly, about businesses, in many cases that hasn’t flowed through to a concern about workers.

He said Labor had not yet seen the second stimulus (no one has, as yet).

Updated

Donald Trump and his "Chinese virus"

Donald Trump’s insistance on calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” shows no signs of abating, with a Getty photographer catching how it was changed in his speaking notes.

Updated

The ABC is reporting a year 8 student at Adelaide’s Unley high school has tested positive for Covid-19.

The school had been closed after a staff member tested positive. It’s been cleaned and reopened, but the student’s positive test won’t cause the school to close again, as they had not attended since the cleaning.

Updated

A second staff member from the University of Melbourne has tested positive to Covid-19. An email from the university’s incident management team was circulated to staff in the university building affected on Thursday night. It said:

I am writing to you following the evacuation of Peter Hall building (building 160) and building 161 at 7pm [today] after the University of Melbourne was informed that a second staff member who had recently visited these locations had tested positive for coronavirus infection.

We can confirm that the staff member arrived from the UK just prior to the federal government’s mandatory 14-day self-isolation announcement. They visited the campus on Tuesday 17 March and delivered a 60-minute lecture to graduate students in the Peter Hall building (building 160).

In addition to visiting the Peter Hall building, we can confirm that the staff member also visited the Australian mathematical sciences institute, building 161, HoHos canteen, and used the Commonwealth Bank ATM outside the student union building on the Parkville campus.

The advice of health experts at this stage is that you do not need to self-isolate – this letter is a courtesy to advise of the situation.

Please be assured that those people who may have been in close contact with the staff member have already been notified and advised to self-isolate.

We can also confirm that the staff member was not unwell or sick when they attended campus and has experienced only mild symptoms. The staff member is at home self-isolating. The university has been in contact with them directly to ensure that they are well supported.

Once notified, we evacuated buildings 160 and 161 and commenced a deep sanitising clean of these locations and HoHo’s canteen. The buildings will be closed until Monday 23 March and we are arranging alternative workspaces for staff affected by this closure.

We ask that for Friday 20 March you work from an alternative location. The university is able to provide support to work from home.

It follows news on Thursday that a staff member who visited level five and common areas of a university building at 207-221 Bouverie Street, Carlton, on 13 March had tested positive. The university contacted those who had been in close contact with the staff member.

Updated

The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has labelled the banks decision to defer small business loan repayments for six months a “game changer”.

He also really wants “team Australia” to catch on:

It will provide a big boost to the confidence of small businesses at this difficult time.

The banks have stepped up to the plate and are playing their role as part of team Australia.

Small businesses are the back-bone of the economy employing more than more than 5m Australians who stand to benefit from this relief.

This relief will allow more than $100bn of existing small-business loans to be deferred and in doing so provide repayment relief of up to $8bn over the next six months.

Updated

Looks like at least one of the big banks is passing on the loan deferral option to eligible residential home loan customers.

As planned Newstart and a bunch of government allowances have all been rolled in as one new payment, renamed JobSeeker, starting today.

The sickness allowance was one of those allowances. It still exists – applicants will just have to fill in forms for the JobSeeker payment now, instead of sickness allowance.

Updated

East Gippsland takes another hit

Drought, bushfires, coronavirus and now toilet paper thefts have hit East Gippsland, AAP has reported.

Thieves have stolen rolls of toilet paper and hand soap from about 100 public toilets in the Victorian country region amid panic over the spread of Covid-19.

Some dispensers have been damaged.

East Gippsland’s mayor, John White, said it was disappointing people would stoop to stealing loo roll and soap.

“It’s just so ridiculous and sad that people react like this,” he said. “People are pinching the toilet paper and the handwash too.

“It is very disappointing. But you can’t have surveillance at every toilet.”

White doubts only one person is guilty.

For a community hit by drought, then the summer’s bushfires and now the coronavirus, toilet paper and soap thefts come as another unwelcome blow.

Updated

Labor says not enough is being done to protect those with a disability, and their carers, as the pandemic takes hold.

“Panic buying of devices needed for peg feeding and other essential disability equipment such as continence pads, catheters, gloves and medicines has overwhelmed suppliers,” Bill Shorten said in a statement.

“I am requesting the Morrison Government takes steps so demand is met for provisions that are vital to people living with disability during this crisis,” he said.

Emma McBride said more needed to be done for carers:


“The government needs to protect the financial security of carers if they become unwell or are unable to work.

“Creating a register for informal carers could address shortfalls in care if individual carers become unwell.”

The Australian Academy of Science has posted another video, answering questions about Covid-19.

This one is on what ‘flattening the curve’ actually means

Australian Academy of Science

More than 10,000 people in Australia have signed an online pledge claiming they will withhold rent and mortgage payments during the coronavirus crisis amid calls for an amnesty.

“This pandemic has exposed the catastrophic impact that insecure and casual employment and conditions have on workers and their ability to survive, especially during times of crises,” the Covid19 Rent Strike organisers said.

“The risk of fines and losing access to housing is driving people to continue going to work, even when ill or directed to self-isolate. The need to pay rent or mortgage is forcing people to expose themselves or their community to Covid-19.”

The group’s demands include an amnesty on rental and mortgage payments and a ban on evictions and foreclosures.

Governments in Britain and Ireland, and the US cities of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, have moved to ban evictions, and the French government has suspended all bills and rent. Mortgage repayments have also been suspended in Italy.

On Friday the Australian Banking Association said it was not planning to allow deferment of home mortgage repayments, but said that could change if banks became aware of large numbers of borrowers in distress.

Updated

Peter Gutwein, the premier of Tasmania, has asked citizens to police their colleagues and neighbours, to keep people who need to quarantine, in quarantine.

Given Australia is a land full of cops at the best of times, this shouldn’t be too hard.

We will be ensuring that those that are in quarantine receive daily updates either through text or phone calls to ensure that they understand what their obligations are and, importantly, to provide them with support or assistance should they require it or should they become symptomatic.

We will be doing some spot audits but, importantly, the community has a role to play here.

If you have somebody that is in your workplace that has been to Bali recently, then that is an issue.

It is putting Tasmanians’ health and safety at risk, and it should be reported.

But we will work with the police, we will work with Biosecurity Tasmania and Public Health and ensure that people understand and, importantly, meet their obligations.

Guide for aged care workers

On Thursday the federal government posted new information for aged care workers. It can be found here. Staff must receive the current influenza vaccination by 1 May to work in or visit an aged care facility.

To protect residents and workers, these visiting restrictions are in place:

  • Visiting times will be limited.
  • Visits will be limited to a maximum of two visitors at a time. These may be immediate social supports (family members, close friends) or professional service or advocacy.
  • Visits by children 16 and under are not permitted except in special circumstances, which the government says is because “they are generally unable to comply with hygiene measures”. Exemptions can be assessed on a case-by-case basis, for example, where the resident is in palliative care.
  • Visits will be conducted in a resident’s room, outdoors, or in a specific area designated by the facility, rather than communal areas where the risk of transmission to residents is greater.
  • No large group visits or gatherings will be permitted, including social activities or entertainment.
  • No school groups of any size are allowed to visit.

Although an online training module for infection control has been released by the government, a specific training module for aged care workers will follow but it is unclear when this will be available.

Updated

Australian banks will allow small business customers to defer loan repayments by six months, the Australian Banking Association’s boss, Anna Bligh, said.

She said there was no plan to give a similar holiday on home mortgage repayments, but that could change if banks started to hear that large numbers of borrowers were in distress.

“What they are seeing is a rapidly and exponentially growing volume of calls from small businesses in distress,” she said.

“Small business can rest assured that if they need help they will get it.”

She said about $100bn of existing loans were covered by the program, which would be rolled out as early as Monday. Small businesses would only have to register with their bank to qualify.

The move follows the Reserve Bank setting up a $90bn low-interest line of credit on Thursday to allow banks to lend money to small businesses.

“There is money there to lend to those who can take on more debt,” Bligh said.

The prudential regulator had also made it clear now was the time to spend “rainy day” money that businesses may have squirrelled away over the past few years.

Updated

The AFL season will shut down for at least 30 days if any player tests positive to coronavirus, the league’s chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, said.

“We would certainly stand down for a minimum of 30 days,” he told 3AW radio on Friday.

“It is a problem that is not going away … We understand it is going to be bumpy and we all have got to stick together.”

Previously McLachlan had said a positive test to a player would result in a 14-day closure of the competition.

Updated

To recap:

Australian banks have agreed to defer loan repayments for six months for any business impacted by Covid-19.

That applies to existing loans.

Businesses just need to register with their banks to access the deferral.

Applying the same deferral to residential mortgages has not been ruled out, but right now it is limited to business loans.

The consumer advocate group Choice is singling out Australian brands for using “disgraceful marketing tactics” to take advantage of the coronavirus panic.

They found examples of ads with phrases like: “Stock up now before it’s gone!”,

“Limited stock – shop now” and “Stock up and stay safe”.

Choice singled out Mosaic Brands – the parent company of Rockmans, Millers, River and Noni B – for emails telling customers to “stock up now before it’s gone” on face masks and hand sanitiser.

Choice said they would be “closely monitoring” the behaviour of businesses and called on their members to let them know if they saw anything similar.

Anna Bligh says there is no restriction on industries:

This deferral of payments for six months for small businesses will go to any small business that is impacted by COVID-19.

We know there are some industries that are already showing signs, but this package is not restricted to any sector or any industry.

Any small business that is now struggling as a result, that is feeling the impacts - we want to get it out to as many businesses as quickly as possible so they can keep their doors open and keep employing Australians.

Small businesses will just have to register with their banks to access the deferral of payments.

“Banks want to make sure that every business, every small business, knows they are now able to get six months’ deferral on all loans associated with the business, and we are fast-tracking that to get those provisions in place as soon as possible,” Anna Bligh says.

“Every bank is now reaching out to their customers to tell them what they have to do for their own bank.

“There is a possibility the same measure could be applied to residential mortgages down the track”, but that is not available in the same broad brush way right now.

Updated

Banks announce small business assistance

The Australian Banking Association’s chief executive, Anna Bligh, says the banks have worked with the treasurer to identify the “most urgent need” which is helping small businesses “keep the doors open”.

All small businesses who are affected by Covid-19 will be able access a six-month deferral of payments, Bligh says.

Updated

We are expecting a response from the banks very soon.

The RBA moved to give them confidence yesterday with its measures, pumping $90bn into the economy and the government putting in $15bn for small and medium lenders.

The banks will respond with how they intend to apply those measures.

Updated

Thank you to Naaman Zhou for all his work this morning.

You have Amy Remeikis taking you into the evening.

Updated

Discount variety store Miniso in Australia says it will give away free face masks for a week, and will also donate masks to hospitals.

Meanwhile, some contrasting messages from different state and territory newspapers today.

Updated

The RSPCA has called for more people to adopt pets, and have reduced fees and made it easier to do so.

In South Australia, the RSPCA is introducing online booking for the first time, AAP reports.

Starting on Friday, online bookings and reduced adoption fees will continue indefinitely.

Those interested in adopting are asked to book online before visiting the shelter, put in place to best practise social distancing.

RSPCA SA’s chief, Paul Stevenson, said the organisation was desperate to reduce the number of animals in its care.

“This virus is impacting on multiple fronts, leaving us with more animals and [fewer] people and funds to care,” he said. “Our animal operations are at a critical point.”

Updated

The Australian Competition and Consumer Comission has warned of a rise in coronavirus-related scams.

Since 1 January the ACCC’s Scamwatch has received 94 reports of scams about coronavirus, but warns figures are starting to climb.

“Unfortunately scammers are using the uncertainty around Covid-19, or coronavirus, to take advantage of people,” its deputy chair, Delia Rickard, said.

Scamwatch has received “multiple reports of phishing scams sent via email or text message that claim to be providing official information on coronavirus but are attempts to try and obtain personal data”.

“Other scams include people receiving misinformation about cures for coronavirus and investment scams claiming coronavirus has created opportunities to make money,” it said.

Updated

Another death in NSW

Another person has died from Covid-19 in New South Wales, health authorities have confirmed.

An 81-year-old woman died last night.

That takes the state’s death toll to six, and the national death toll to seven.

Updated

ASX rises 3.8%

The Australian stock market surged 3.8% on Friday to open the last day of trade in one of the most turbulent weeks in the exchange’s history.

Share prices have been up and down – mostly down – all week as traders struggle to understand the lasting economic damage that will be wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The New Zealand flag carrier, Air New Zealand, which is listed on the Australian exchange, resumes trade today after being suspended earlier this week while it negotiated a $900m bailout from the Kiwi government that could eventually nationalise the airline.

Nationalisation talk also continues to swirl around Australia’s two airlines, national carrier Qantas and challenger Virgin Australia. On Thursday Qantas stood down 20,000 of its 30,000 strong workforce, prompting outrage from unions, and shut all international routes except for special flights to bring Australians home.

At least seven companies joined those who have already decided that they can no longer predict the future due to the coronavirus crisis and withdrew profit guidance before the market opened.

The Australian corporate regulator said it would allow companies due to hold annual shareholder meetings during the pandemic to put them off by up to two months.

Updated

Netball New Zealand postponed their national premiership for two weeks.

“The postponement will take effect immediately for the scheduled games in round two and round three that were due to be played on 22-23 and 28-30 March,” it said in a statement.

Updated

Coles has gone through “three Christmases” worth of stock in three weeks, AAP reports.

Coles’s chief operations officer, Matthew Swindells, told Seven this morning: “We have done three Christmases in three consecutive weeks from a standing start. It punches a huge hole in our supply lines and it takes a long time to recover.”

Updated

The $900m loan the New Zealand government has made to the country’s flag carrier, Air New Zealand, shows how a nationalisation or part-nationalisation of Australian airlines could work.

Air New Zealand is in a slightly different position from Qantas or Virgin Australia because the Kiwi government – or more specifically Her Majesty the Queen in Right of New Zealand – already owns about 52% of the company.

The loan is convertible into shares into Air New Zealand. If this was done at the price at which forward order books indicate company stock will trade today, $1.40, the NZ government would end up with almost 70% of the airline.

Different prices would produce different outcomes, but either way converting the loan would probably bring Air New Zealand substantially under control of the Kiwi government.

Updated

Today so far:

  • Air New Zealand has been bailed out by the NZ government with a NZ$900m loan.
  • The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, did not rule out nationalising airlines if they were failing, but said it was “not the focus right now”.
  • He did, however, rule out a permanent increase to Newstart as part of the second stimulus package.
  • The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, said some of the 20,000 stood-down Qantas workers could work stocking shelves at Woolworths or at call centres for Commonwealth Bank.
  • NSW has implemented 24-hour supermarket stocking, following Victoria and SA.
  • NSW’s number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in NSW rose to 307 on Thursday, up from 267 on Wednesday, but the state chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said the vast majority were “mild”. Tasmania’s numbers remain the same at 10.
  • Last night the AFL men’s competition played its first game in an empty stadium.
  • A ban on non-residents and non-citizens entering the country comes into effect at 9 o’clock tonight AEDT.

Updated

As the government readies its second stimulus package, the social services sector is demanding that it extend all business related stimulus measures to the community sector.

The Australian Council of Social Service released a survey today of more than 1,000 community sector workers, with two thirds reporting that poverty and disadvantage increased among the people accessing their services in 2019.

It also found 82% reported demand in the community either ‘increased’ (50%) or ‘increased significantly’ (a further 32%) in 2019.

“So that the community sector can do its important work throughout the current crisis, we’re calling on the Federal Government to urgently deliver a rescue package,” said the Acoss chief executive Cassandra Goldie.

“The rescue package needs to firstly extend all business related stimulus measures to the community sector and other not for profit organisations, and also establish a dedicated fund so that community services can prevent jobs losses and extend services to respond to this crisis.”

Amid reports the government is now considering boosting unemployment benefits, Acoss also renewed its call for a $95 a week increase to Newstart, which would cost about $3.8bn-a-year.

Acoss has stressed its opposition to the creation of a separate unemployment payment designed only for those laid off during the coronavirus crisis and set at a higher rate than the dole.

“Newstart has not been increased in real terms in 26 years and we know that $40 a day is simply not enough for anyone to get by at any time, but especially in the current crisis and as the economy rebuilds,” Goldie said.

Gutwein is asked to respond to Eddie McGuire’s comments that the impact of coronavirus on the AFL has “killed off” the potential of a Tasmanian team.

“I don’t pay much attention to Eddie McGuire, to be frank,” Gutwein says.

Updated

New Zealand bails out Air New Zealand with $900m

The New Zealand government has bailed out its national carrier, Air New Zealand, with a $900m loan.

Air NZ told the Australian exchange, where it is listed, that the deal was conditional on it ditching a planned $123m dividend to be paid on Monday.

The government will be able to convert the loan to shares in the airline.

It follows Australian flag carrier Qantas’s decision yesterday to stand down 20,000 of its 30,000 workers amid continuing speculation the Morrison government may need to nationalise both the flying kangaroo and its rival Virgin Australia.

Updated

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, is speaking now. Yesterday he announced strict measures meaning any person entering the state – even if a resident or a domestic Australian traveller – had to isolate for 14 days.

He is asked whether sole traders will get assistance if they lose money as a result.

He says “health services, transport, freight and logistics” are exempt.

“In terms of ensuring that our freight routes remain open, there’ll be exemptions there. And then specialist skills that are required here in the state to maintain key industries or business.”

Fly-in fly-out workers who live in Tasmania “should not lose their jobs”, but they will still have to undergo the 14-day quarantine.

The number of people with Covid-19 remains at 10, the same as yesterday.

Updated

Yesterday the West Australian government announced that restrictions would be put in place to protect remote Indigenous communities from the spread of coronavirus.

Under new directions, enabled under the state of emergency, a person outside a designated remote Aboriginal community can’t enter, and people outside can’t leave, unless it is an emergency or essential.

A fine of up to $50,000 applies.

“Any person outside the boundary of a remote Aboriginal community must not enter the boundaries of the community,” a statement said. “A person within a remote Aboriginal community must also remain within the boundaries of that community.

“There are exceptions, including access for medical reasons, emergencies and obtaining essential services and supplies.

“The directions will apply to each remote Aboriginal community across the state. These range from large population centres of more than 300 residents to very small communities with [fewer] than 10 residents.”

Updated

Melbourne zoo is live streaming some of its animal habitats and those at Werribee open range zoo for those at home.

You can watch the snow leopards, penguins, giraffes and lions.

If you can’t see them, “That’s because our animals live in areas that are much bigger than what a camera can capture and they have the choice to wander wherever they please.”

Updated

Next week, for the first time in 16 years, Triple J’s popular cover song segment Like A Version will not air on the radio.

“After today’s performance ... there won’t be a new Like A Version for the foreseeable future,” a statement today said.

Travel restrictions, a swathe of concert cancellations and ABC guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus are the reason.

Instead it will play an archived performance every Friday.

Updated

The ASX is expected to rise today, AAP reports, after world indexes and futures contracts rose.

From AAP:

Australia’s stock market seems set to rise after a climb on US and European markets after government and central bank actions to ease the economic pain of the coronavirus outbreak.

The SPI200 futures contract was up 119 points, or 2.47%, at 4,944 points at 0800 AEDT on Friday, suggesting a bounce at the open of trading.

David de Garis, of NAB’s morning call podcast, says some of the optimism is coming from the recent flood of coronavirus management policy announcements and as central banks ease liquidity concerns.

US oil prices surged 35% overnight and the global benchmark Brent also lifted as financial markets assessed the impact of massive central bank stimulus measures.

Updated

NSW implements 24-hour supermarket stocking

The NSW state government has overriden local council rules which stopped supermarkets from restocking shelves and operating loading docks outside business hours.

Lifting these curfews mean shops in the state will be able to accept deliveries 24 hours a day to stop panic buying.

“We are moving quickly so truck drivers can make deliveries to supermarkets around the clock,” AAP reported the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, saying. “It is important that people now stop unnecessary panic buying.”

Yesterday South Australia also implemented extended trading hours, allowing supermarkets to open 24 hours on weekdays.

At weekends, hours have been extended: midnight to 9pm on Saturdays and 9am to 9pm on Sundays.

Those hours will come in to effect from tomorrow and last until 19 April.

Updated

On today’s episode of our podcast Full Story – which has now become a daily coronavirus-focused podcast – the Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, explains how remote Indigenous communities are working to keep the virus out.

There have been widespread calls from land councils to restrict entry to remote communities where testing resources and medical access are often low.

Listen below:

Updated

Steele-John called for a dedicated national hotline for people with disabilities given the existing coronavirus hotline has long wait times.

“We have to recognise that disabled people, older people, cannot self-isolate in the same way that others may be able to,” he says.

He wraps up by saying that this should be discussed at the national cabinet meeting today.

“Absolutely. This is, [and] should be, one of the top national priorities.”

Updated

Support for disabled people has been "appalling", says Jordon Steele-John

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John is on the ABC right now talking about the impact that the coronavirus and restrictions on society will have on disabled people.

He says support so far has been “absolutely appalling”.

“There is not enough thought and planning going into supporting people who are at risk in our community, whether they be older people or First Nations people or disabled people ...

“Every single day I become more concerned that is the case,” he says.

“We saw a meeting of disability ministers yesterday and the results of that meeting were absolutely appalling, quite frankly. They didn’t address half of the concerns that the disability advocacy sector have been flagging with the government for more than a week now and didn’t agree to meet again until 6 April.”

Updated

The Australian Academy of Science has released this video from Prof Raina MacIntyre from the University of New South Wales on why testing is important.

Yesterday we also published this explainer on testing, and have been covering potential supply issues and shortages of testing kits.

Updated

Fifa has announced that it will make 30 World Cup games freely available online – as global sport grinds to a halt.

Football across all major European leagues is suspended, although the A-League will go on behind closed doors.

Updated

Also earlier in the morning, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, ruled out a permanent increase to Newstart.

In the first stimulus package, those on Newstart and other welfare, such as the pension, received a $750 cash payment to boost consumer spending. Social services groups have since asked for this to be combined with a permanent boost to the Newstart base rate, which has not been raised in real terms since 1994.

Frydenberg was quite definite this would not happen in the second stimulus package.

“I’m not going into the details of the particular package, but we have aways been very clear we’re not looking to structurally bake-in long-term expenditure into the budget that we can’t remove,” he said.

“This is gong to be a temporary challenge. It may go for six months or more, but it is going to be a temporary challenge.”

Updated

The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, is speaking on Radio National.

He says some of the 20,000 Qantas workers who have been stood down can work at Woolworths, Telstra or the Commonwealth Bank, and that Australia’s big businesses need to help each other in this time.

Asked if Qantas workers’ skills can be used elsewhere, Joyce said baggage handlers could work stocking shelves at Woolworths as “the tasks are very similar”.

“Commbank phone centres have also been inundated by all the people working from home,” he says, pointing to that as another job opportunity.

Updated

Two million people who work in Australia on temporary visas have been left in limbo as a result of last night’s border closing announcement.

The ban, which comes into effect at 9pm AEDT today, will especially hit the agriculture sector.

Chief political correspondent Sarah Martin has the full story:

Updated

Incredible pictures from the MCG last night, as Richmond defeated Carlton 105 to 81.

Empty stands during the Round 1 AFL match between Richmond and Carlton.
Empty stands during the Round 1 AFL match between Richmond and Carlton. Photograph: Michael Dodge/AAP
Jack Newnes of the Blues gathers the ball.
Jack Newnes of the Blues gathers the ball. Photograph: Michael Dodge/AAP

Nationalisation "not the focus right now", says Josh Frydenberg

The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, would not be drawn on whether the government would nationalise failing private companies.

ABC News Breakfast’s Michael Rowland asked: “If the government had to, would you nationalise private companies?”

“That’s not our focus right now,” Frydenberg said.

“But down the track, might it be?”

“Look, obviously the economic situation has gotten worse and we want Australian companies to get through this. We’ve announced a number of significant measures designed to support the small- and medium-sized business sectors, the wave of apprentices and the like and we will have a second package designed to support the economy.

“But also with yesterday’s announcement ... we’ll do what it takes to support Australian jobs and businesses.”

Rowland asks again: “If a company is deemed essential to Australia, I cite, for instance, Virgin, would nationalisation be an option to the economy?”

“Well, you’re absolutely right, Virgin is essential to the Australian community and our ability to move domestically and internationally. That’s why we announced a package for the aviation sector which involved lower fees and in fact rebating fees that have already been paid. That was done not on a company-specific basis but on a sector-wide approach.”

Updated

Hello everyone and welcome back to our continuing coverage of coronavirus in Australia.

Last night, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced a ban on non-residents and non-citizens entering the country, which the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said could last up to six months.

As new social distancing measures take hold, the AFL men’s competition played its first game behind closed gates. The nearly empty stadium was an eerie sight for those watching at home.

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in NSW has risen above 300, up from 267 on Wednesday. However, the state’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant, says it is reassuring that many coronavirus cases are mild.

Italy’s death toll rose to surpass China’s overnight, and this morning the US president, Donald Trump, has given a press conference telling Americans to avoid all travel overseas and come home as soon as they can.

Updated

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