05-08-2020, 05:51 AM
3976
Re: Chinese Coronavirus
Non-essential retail stores in Melbourne will shut at 11.59pm tonight as part of the city's stage four lockdown. Today is the first day of the return to total remote learning in Victoria, with the federal government expected to announce a rescue package for the state's childcare centres.
Victoria has recorded 725 new cases today. Fifteen Victorians have died overnight, the highest daily death toll and case total of the pandemic.
People wanting to enter NSW from Victoria will be required to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine from Friday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced. NSW has recorded 12 new cases today, including one locally acquired case with no known source. A preschool in Sydney's south-west has closed today after a child tested positive.
Queensland will enact a hard border closure with NSW and the ACT from Saturday, with returning Queenslanders required to pay for hotel quarantine. The state has also overruled the national exemption to COVID-19 rules for diplomatic and consular staff, after a private security worker claimed it in circumstances under investigation and subsequently tested positive.
The global coronavirus case count has passed 18.4 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll is expected to pass 700,000 soon: it is currently at more than 696,000.