COVID-19 Informer: Fears for the future affect young Australians' mental health

Headspace hief executive Jason Trethowan said there were serious concerns for the future wellbeing of Australia's young.

"This sense of fear and uncertainty has the potential to be quite significant," he said.

The federal government has helped to secure two direct freight routes to Hong Kong and Singapore for south east Queensland farmers to get their produce into key overseas export markets.

From Sunday, Cathay Pacific will start a weekly direct freight flight carrying local beef, pork, eggs, fruit and vegetables from Toowoomba's Wellcamp Airport to Hong Kong.

In Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that from June 21, pubs and clubs will be able to serve drinks without a meal for up to 50 people, while cafes and restaurants will also be able to increase their capacity to 50 patrons.

The progress being made around the world to develop a vaccine to conquer COVID-19 is encouraging, but Australia's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan says its development can't be rushed.

"There are very encouraging signs all over the world of different vaccines that may have early promise," Ms McMillan said.

The University of Queensland and Australian drug maker CSL has said they will have the capacity to make vaccines in the next to 12 to 18 months.

NSW recorded nine new Covid-19 cases from 13,591 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.

Eight of the cases are among returned travellers in hotel quarantine and one is a teacher at Laguna Street Public School in southern Sydney.

All students at the primary school have been deemed close contacts and have been told to self-isolate.

There is no longer a cap on funeral attendance as long as the four square metre rule is applied while the 50-person limit at cafes, restaurants, and churches will be scrapped in a further easing of NSW's COVID-19 restrictions.

Outdoor cultural and sporting venues with a capacity of up to 40,000 will from July 1 also be allowed to seat 25 per cent of their normal capacity. The events must be ticketed and seated.

Queensland announced no new coronavirus cases and just five active cases across the state.

Western Australia has reported no new cases of Covid-19 overnight, with the state's number of cases remaining at 602.

Perth's Optus Stadium could be allowed to hold more than advised by the national cabinet under the next phase of easing COVID-19 restrictions, given low infection rates in Western Australia.

WORLD

According to the Johns Hopkins University there have been 429,666 known coronavirus deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

The number of cases stands at 7,764,977.

Death toll: US 115,436, Brazil 42,720, UK 41,747, Italy 34,301, France 29,401, Spain 27,136. Mexico 16,872.

China has 57 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest daily number of cases diagnosed since April 13.

The National Health Commission said in a statement on Sunday that 38 of the new confirmed cases were locally transmitted, with 36 of them in Beijing.

That's the highest daily infection count for China's capital since authorities started releasing data.

New York saw its lowest death toll since the pandemic started on Friday. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the lowest number of hospitalisations since late March

Chilie now has the highest number of confirmed cases per million people in Latin America, reporting 167,355 cases on Saturday and 3,101 deaths.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants all British schools open in September. Detailed work is underway with schools, councils and unions to make sure all children are able to return in September if it is safe to do so.

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