LATEST NEWS ABOUT COVID-19:
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NUMBERS
* Confirmed cases in Australia: 4245. NSW remains the worst hit with 1918.
* Australian deaths: 18 (eight in NSW, four in Vic, two in WA, two in Qld, one in Tas, one in ACT).
* Four people have died at Sydney nursing home Dorothy Henderson Lodge, three women aged 95, 90 and 91 and a man aged 82.
* Eight people have died after being infected on cruise ships, the youngest 62, with the majority aged in their 70's.
* Rate of daily case increase is now nine per cent, well down on 25 per cent last week.
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MEASURES
* $130 billion package to subsidise wages at $1500 a fortnight for six million workers
* $1.1 billion package to help with mental health, domestic violence prevention and other health measures
* Australians returning home from overseas will be quarantined for two weeks in hotels or other accommodation before being allowed home.
* Gatherings of more than two people have been banned indoor or outdoor, including private properties, unless members of the same households. States are enforcing the new rule.
* People flouting social distancing, isolation or quarantine orders face fines of $1000 or more in most states, up to $13,345 in Queensland.
* Pinprick blood tests which detect COVID-19 in minutes to be imported within days
* Borders closed in Queensland, Tasmania, SA, NT and WA. Freight and essential travel excepted.
* Non-essential travel should cease.
* Australians, excluding aid workers and compassionate travel cases, are banned from international travel.
* A limited number of international rescue flights will be made for stranded Australians.
* People aged over 60 with chronic illness are discouraged from leaving their homes unless essential for medical care.
* Still open: supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, public transport, some schools, hairdressers, petrol stations, postal and freight services, bottle shops, newsagents, retail shops. Restaurants restricted to take-away/delivery in most states.
* Closed: schools in Victoria and ACT, gyms, indoor sports venues, pubs, cinemas, nightclubs, casinos, places of worship, theme parks, auction houses, food courts in shopping centres, beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours, galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSL clubs, swimming pools, amusement parks, arcades, indoor and outdoor play centres, social sports that involve large groups, outdoor and indoor markets, outdoor playgrounds, outdoor gyms, skate parks.
* School holidays in Queensland, SA and WA also brought forward with only children of parents who have essential jobs allowed to stay.
* All elective surgery in public facilities put on hold.
* Testing extended to include anyone with a fever or acute respiratory infection who works in health care or aged care, lives in areas with an elevated risk of community transmission, or where there are two or more plausibly linked cases.
* People will be able to access Medicare-funded online consultations.
* Hotels in Queensland to provide accommodation for women and children needing to flee family violence during the lockdown
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KEY QUOTE
* "We're not doing this for any other reason than this is life and death...if we allow our health system to be overrun, then people will die. That is a price that is not worth paying."- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on the tough new laws banning people from socialising.
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SPORT
* A Newcastle Jets soccer player became the first professional footballer in Australia to test positive.
* The AFL, NRL, A-league soccer, Super Rugby and netball competitions are postponed.
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ECONOMICS
* An unprecedented $130 billion package giving employees a $1500 flat rate, fortnightly subsidy for six months
* Federal parliament has also passed packages worth $17.6 billion and $66 billion.
* Moratorium on renters being evicted for the next six months. Commercial renters will see new rules in the coming days.
* Struggling regional airlines were promised $198 million and offered an additional $100 million if needed.
* Major retailers including Myer, Premier Investment, and fashion chains such as Country Road have closed retail shops, but continue to trade online.
* Economists predict the unemployment rate will soar above 10 per cent by Easter.
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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS
* Cases: at least 723,732
* Deaths: at least 34,000
* Recovered: at least 151,833
*Source: State government updates and worldometer website at 1830 AEDT
Australian Associated Press
