LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
* Victoria recorded 450 new COVID-19 cases and 11 more deaths on Friday.
* 11 new cases were reported in NSW, and the mandatory hotel quarantine system for residents returning from Victoria is now in place.
* Limits on the number of Australians able to return home from overseas will be maintained until October as the coronavirus pandemic continues as leaders agree to uphold the current limits so ensure the hotel quarantine system is sustainable.
* The prime minister and state and territory leaders have agreed to ongoing audits of the aged care sector, which will look at preparedness to cope with the disease, which has killed 181 aged care residents in Australia.
* Queensland's border with NSW has officially closed with road access blocked to everyone except essential workers and locals living along the interstate boundary.
* Australian doctors are increasingly critical of the expert advice on protective equipment, saying surgical masks protect the patient but "are not designed to shield the clinician".
* Authorities have moved to a put a "double ring" around a worrying cluster of coronavirus cases in Adelaide. Five cases linked to the cluster has prompted the closure of the Thebarton Senior College, forcing 94 close contacts into supervised hotel quarantine and more than 1100 others into home isolation.
* Australia's top medical officers are more hopeful about the likelihood of a vaccine against coronavirus following recent scientific developments.
* Victorian members of federal parliament will have to quarantine for two weeks before they attend.
* All Victorian year 12 students will be assessed for adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their final ATAR score.
* Gyms across NSW are being urged to introduce temperature checks for members as community transmission of COVID-19 increases across the state
* Western Australia's chief health officer has again recommended delaying a move to phase five amid concerns over coronavirus outbreaks in the eastern states.
--
ECONOMY
* The Reserve Bank has set out three scenarios for the economic outlook in its latest quarterly statement on monetary policy given the "high degree of uncertainty" caused by the impact of the coronavirus.
* In its quarterly statement on monetary policy released on Friday, the RBA says negative interest rates would be a stimulatory benefit by putting downward pressure on the Australian dollar.
* Business groups believe the federal government's latest JobKeeper changes aimed at virus-hit Victoria will ensure more people stay in work. Access to the wage subsidies program is easier with the injection of a further $15 billion, taking its total funding to just over $100 billion.
--
SPORT
* Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has concerns about the mental wellbeing of players fighting for their AFL futures in quarantine hubs.
* Three Brisbane staff members including Allan Langer will not travel with the team for Friday's NRL match against South Sydney due to a potential COVID breach.
* The hit of COVID-19 on rising Australian boxer Jai Opetaia's world title ambition has been a heavy blow.
--
KEY DATES
* August 2 to September 13 - stage four lockdown for Melbourne, including a nightly curfew, and stage three lockdown for regional Victoria.
* August 7 - NSW residents returning from Victoria will be required to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel at their own expense.
* August 8 - Queensland to shut its border with NSW and ban ACT residents, with road access blocked to everyone except essential workers and border residents.
* August 29 - The last remaining restrictions on gatherings to be removed in WA.
* August 31 - Tasmania's borders will remain shut until at least the end of the month.
--
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 463 new cases across Australia on Friday and 11 deaths.
* The national death toll as of Tuesday is 266: Victoria 181, NSW 52, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 19,266,947
* Deaths: at least 717,799
* Recovered: at least 12,365,521
Data current as of 1800 AEST August 6, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Australian Associated Press
