Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced new agreement to tackle the coronavirus
The Commonwealth, states and territories are coming together to bear the costs of fighting the coronavirus. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it could end up costing $1 billion.
Illness
Don't miss out on the headlines from Illness. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Aussie stars and Hollywood’s A-list react to coronavirus
- Coronavirus hits travel claims: How it affects you
- What you need for a 14-day coronavirus quarantine
The federal government has agreed to increase health spending to match each state government’s costs in tackling the coronavirus threat.
The new alliance, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced today, could end up costing $1 billion.
Mr Morrison said it was a stand-alone arrangement, with $100 million put down upfront.
It is not linked to any other funding arrangements, he said.
“This is about dealing with the coronavirus, and making sure that the states, as they are leaning forward and responding we are leaning forward and responding with them,” Mr Morrison said.
“We are estimating, based on the advice we have at the moment, this could be as much as about $1 billion – $500 million each – that we would have to be allowing for.
“I know that a significant amount, but as we have said to you, and in numerous briefings over recent weeks, we have to be prepared. We have got ahead, we have got to stay head.”
The commonwealth will contribute $500 million while the states make up the rest.
“It could be more, but we at least have to enter into these arrangements having some sense of the scale of what we’re dealing with here,” Mr Morrison said.
In with current partnership, the Commonwealth pays 45 per cent – five per cent lower than the offer being put forward.
“It will be administered in the normal way by the independent Hospital pricing authority and by the administrator of the National Health Funding Body,” Mr Morrison said.
“I will be formally writing to premiers and Chief Minister today and I hope over discussing it over the course of the week will be able to tie this up by the of next week, when COAG is in Sydney.”
WHO TO PULL OUT ALL ‘ALL THE STOPS’
The World Health Organisation has called on government to pull out “all the stops” to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
As China appeared to be winning its epic, costly battle against the new virus after many arduous weeks, the fight was revving up in newly affected areas of the globe, unleashing disruptions which profoundly impact billions of people.
The UN health agency urged all countries to “push this virus back,” a call to action reinforced by figures showing there are now about 17 times as many new infections outside China as in it.
The virus has infected nearly 97,000 people and killed more than 3,300 worldwide, including a 78-year-old man in Australia.
“This is not a drill. This is not the time for giving up. This is not a time of for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing in Geneva.
“Countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans.”
Meanwhile, four Australians are on board a cruise liner being quarantined off the coast of California amid fears of an outbreak on board.
Thousands of people are stranded on the Grand Princess off the California coast as officials delay its return to carry out tests on people on board.
A 71-year-old man who had been aboard the same ship during its previous voyage to Mexico died after contracting COVID-19.
The vessel belongs to Princess Cruises, the same company which operated the coronavirus-stricken ship Diamond Princess held off Japan last month, where more than 700 people on board tested positive with six dying from the disease.
The Governor of California Gavin Newsom said the Grand Princess was making a round trip from San Francisco to Hawaii when 11 passengers and 10 crew developed symptoms of the virus.
At least 62 passengers as well as a number of crew members have been placed in isolation in their cabins as they are tested for infection — and all 3533 people on-board have been warned they will not be able to leave until the situation has been fully assessed.
FIRST NSW SCHOOL CLOSES
It comes as news emerged Epping Boys High School would shut down after a student tested positive to the coronavirus.
NSW Health confirmed the school — which has about 1200 students — would be closed for one day while authorities work through a “contact and containment strategy”.
The fresh diagnosis of the 16-year-old Year 11 boy brings the number of confirmed cases in NSW to 25.
The state figure has since increased to 26.
Epping Boys High students and staff have been urged to stay at home and self-isolate at the weekend.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the teenager had a “very moderate to mild presentation” of the virus.
“The pathology on this young man only came through late on Thursday (March 5) night,” he said.
“The challenge was to determine whether we can work out all of his contacts in the evening with a view to isolating them.”
UK RECORDS FIRST CORONAVIRUS DEATH
A British woman in her 70s has become the first patient to die in the UK after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said the 75-year-old had underlying health conditions as the number of cases of the killer bug topped 100 across the country.
In a worrying development, medics believe the patient contracted the virus in the UK and health workers are scrambling to track down everyone she had come in contact with.
A spokesman from the trust said in a statement the patient had previously been “in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons” but had tested positive overnight.
The statement read: “Sadly, we can confirm that an older patient with underlying health conditions has died.
“The patient has previously been in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons but on this occasion was admitted and last night tested positive for coronavirus.
“The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
“We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the family’s privacy.”
PREMIER LEAGUE BAN HANDSHAKES
Meanwhile, The English Premier League banned pre-match fair-play handshakes “until further notice” amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.
“The Premier League fair-play handshake will not take place between players and match officials from this weekend until further notice based on medical advice,” a statement read.
“Coronavirus is spread via droplets from the nose and mouth and can be transmitted onto the hands and passed on via a handshake.
“Club and match officials will still perform the rest of the traditional walkout protocol ahead of each fixture.
“On entering the field of play, the two teams will continue to line up, accompanied by the Premier League music, then players from the home team will walk past their opposition with shaking their hands.”
ITALY BANS NURSING HOME VISITORS
Italy has placed temporary restrictions on visiting relatives in nursing homes and is urging the elderly not to go outside unless absolutely necessary.
The Italian government, which closed schools nationwide to try to contain the coronavirus, has opened a campaign to urge ordinary Italians to do their part to limit infections given Italy’s elderly population risks overwhelming the public health system with virus cases.
Italy has by far the highest number of dead in Europe at 148 people.
France has reported six deaths, while Switzerland reported its first virus death this morning.
South Africa has announced its first confirmed case of the coronavirus.
Health Minister Zwele Mkhize said a 38-year-old man had recently returned from Italy with his wife and other travellers.
He fell ill at his home in the KwaZulu-Natal province on Tuesday and was tested.
A health team is now getting in touch with all the people he had contact with.
To date, seven countries in Africa have recorded cases: Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.
MORRISON ANNOUNCES TRAVEL BAN
Prime Minister Scott Morrison put a new travel ban in place for those coming from the Republic of Korea this week and has increased screening measures for travellers coming from Italy.
In NSW, children and staff at a childcare centre have been tested for the coronavirus following the death of two people in the state.
Talk of Australian school closures has also emerged.
The Government will ban arrivals from the Republic of Korea as it ramps up restrictions to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Morrison said the ban on arrivals from China and Iran would continue, and arrivals from South Korea would now also be stopped.
People arriving from Italy will not be barred from arriving but will face enhanced screening at airports.
Travellers coming from Italy will be asked mandatory questions at check-in and anyone failing those checks will be denied.
If anyone gets sick on board biosecurity and health will meet the plane and manage them directly.
On arrival, travellers will not be able to use the smart gates.
They will have to be dealt with directly by an officer.
They will be asked further detailed questions.
They will undergo health screening at the airport which involves temperature checks.
Mr Morrison added Australians quarantined at Howard Springs in Darwin from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have now been released.
“Australia, as I have said many times, we got ahead of it early and we intend to stay ahead of this with measures we have announced today following meetings that enable us to stay ahead of the issue but I say to all Australians, you can help too,” he said.
“You can help by keeping, going about your business, you can help by going about and supporting those who are undergoing self isolation.
“It has been an extraordinary thing to see Australians complying and co-operating with self isolation requirements put in place adding tens of thousands of study and subject to those and those today who were quarantined under the Diamond Princess will be returning today to their families and I know there will be looking forward to that, I know their families will be looking forward to that.”
CHILDCARE CENTRE SCARE AS TESTS UNDERWAY
There are now 56 cases confirmed across Australia as a staff at a childcare centre at Macquarie Park are being tested for the virus.
A group of 17 children from nearby Banksia childcare centre had visited the Dorothy Henderson Lodge where a 95-year-old women died on Tuesday.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the lodge was in lockdown after the department was alerted to an outbreak.
She said families can get their children tested at a clinic being set up.
“We’re to have a clinic later on tonight and invite the families with their children to get assessed,” she said.
“This is out of an abundance of caution because I think it is really important that we understand what viruses are being spread in this childcare centre … to both allay community anxiety but also to absolutely rule out any link between the two events.”
NSW has now also banned visits from childcare groups to aged care facilities after three residents and one worker from Dorothy Henderson Lodge were diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Family and friends of the residents at the lodge have also been banned from visiting.
Residents will be given meals in their rooms.
A 50-year-old aged care worker, an 82-year-old man and the 95-year-old woman were all diagnosed with COVID-19.
A 70-year-old man from a different area within the lodge has been diagnosed with the virus as well.
Other cases in NSW include an elderly female resident at a Macquarie Park nursing facility, a female doctor who works at Liverpool Hospital, a female patient from the Northern Beaches, a male from Cronulla and a female who is believed to have returned from the Philippines.
Earlier, a male aged care resident was being treated after testing positive for coronavirus along with a 50-year-old nurse who had been treating him, who tested positive to the virus.
The nurse has worked at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre, part of Baptist Care, at Macquarie Park where she has worked for two decades.
A lecturer at Macquarie University has also tested positive for the coronavirus after returning home from Iran and is now at Westmead Hospital.
In Queensland, two new cases of the new coronavirus have emerged – an 81-year-old man who recently returned to the Sunshine Coast from Thailand and a 29-year-old woman from Brisbane, who flew home from London, via Singapore.
The two cases take the number of people in Queensland who have the virus to 13.
In South Australia, two new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed taking the total to seven.
The figure includes a baby boy of a 40-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man who arrived in Adelaide on March 3 from Taiwan. They have both tested positive for the coronavirus.
A 24-year-old woman is stable after testing positive on Wednesday.
She was travelling through Europe and may have contracted the disease in Italy.
The 40-year-old woman is stable at the Flinders Medical Centre after travelling from Iran via Kuala Lumpur before falling ill upon her return.
She flew on Malaysia Airlines flight 139 on Sunday. SA Health officials are urgently contacting other passengers.
In Darwin, a tourist has tested positive for the coronavirus in what is the first confirmed case in the community in the Northern Territory.
NT Health confirmed the first case in the community on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old man carrying the virus is in isolation in Royal Darwin Hospital.
The man recently arrived in Darwin via Sydney and has had limited contact with the community, NT Health said in a statement.
The department was undertaking contact tracing and would reach out to those who may have been in contact with the man, the statement said.
SCHOOLS MAY FACE CLOSURE
Schools could be closed in Australia with the nation’s top education bureaucrat saying this would be dependent on medical advice.
The Australian reports Department of Education secretary Michelle Bruniges was questioned by Labor Senator Louise Pratt as to whether schools and childcare centres would be shut down or enforce exclusions for children who were unwell.
Dr Bruniges said although such decisions were made by states and territories, “we need to always take the expert call of health”.
“Some states and territories have thought very long and hard about their planning,” she said.
“Next week we will come together with the states and territories across those two sectors to ask what they have in place and then seek further advice if we need to from the chief medical officer.”
AUSSIE KIDS STILL STUCK IN WUHAN
Twenty-two unaccompanied Australian children aged under two years old are currently stuck in Wuhan, along with five with their parents.
An additional 60 aged between two and 16 years remain trapped in Hubei with relatives or carers.
The youngest unaccompanied Australian child in Hubei is eight months old.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government was focused on their welfare but has tempered expectation of another evacuation flight.
“It’s not something we are ignoring, not at all, but it is not in the immediate prospect that there will be a further flight,” she told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.
China has not allowed Australia to help evacuate children with relatives who are not Australian citizens.
DFAT secretary Frances Adamson said Australia had sought to “test the system” from the start of the COVID-19 outbreak but Chinese authorities had consistently refused.
Strict travel restrictions imposed by China are another major factor behind the limited prospect of further evacuation flights.
“We have not given a time frame because it is beyond our control,” DFAT official Andrew Todd told senators.
DFAT has been in contact with 119 Australian citizens and 236 permanent residents still in Hubei.
The 355 people have expressed interest in Australian government support, including possible evacuations.
PRINCE WILLIAM’S VIRUS GAFFE
As the coronavirus spreads across Australia – causing widespread panic buying – Prince William was caught making an awkward joke.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has also battled questions about the deadly virus and its economic impact as talk of a recession looms.
Prince William’s bizarre joke about coronavirus during his three-day royal tour of Ireland with wife, Kate Middleton.
The Duke of Cambridge met emergency workers at a reception hosted by Britain’s Ambassador to Ireland Robin Barnett at Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse.
During a conversation with Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service, William reportedly said: “I bet everyone’s like ‘I’ve got coronavirus, I’m dying’, and you’re like ‘No, you’ve just got a cough’.
“Does it seems quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?”
It came after the Queen took precautions against coronavirus by wearing gloves for a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
TREASURER: ‘IT WILL BE WORTH BILLIONS’
Mr Frydenberg said a multi-billion dollar stimulus package to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus will soon be released.
The package is expected to include tax incentives to help businesses with cash flow, alongside tax deductions for new investments.
Funding will be also aimed at infrastructure spending, which normally translates to major road and rail projects.
But he said there would be no “cash splash” and the package would not damage the work done on getting the national budget back to surplus. “It will be worth billions in the terms of impact it will have,” he told Sky News.
“The package of measures will be responsible and will be scalable.” The stimulus package is expected to by unveiled next week.
Later, Mr Frydenberg was grilled over the Federal Government’s ability to protect the Australian economy from recession amid the coronavirus crisis.
The Treasurer told Today the bug’s impact had been “severe and significant”, adding it had disrupted supply chains, and hurt both the tourism industry and international market.
He trumpeted December quarter national account results which showed “ through the year growth from 1.8 per cent in September to 2.2 per cent at the end of December”.
But host Karl Stefanovic hit back, saying the results did not take into account the coronavirus or bushfires.
“It took into account a little bit of what was happening with the bushfires. NSW was seeing the impact in December but it spread to other States after that. In terms of the coronavirus, you’re right. That has been a 2020 phenomenon. And the impact of that is significant,” Mr Frydenberg responded.
Quizzed over his responsibility to keep Australia out of recession, Mr Frydenberg said: “Our focus is to ensure the Australian economy continues to grow.
“What I can guarantee is we are doing everything possible to strengthen the economy. We have been lowering taxes, creating new apprenticeships, that is what our focus has been and Australia enters this economic challenge in a much better position
than many other countries.
“We enter this economic challenge from a position of economic strength.”
ITALY’S MEASURES TO CONTAIN SPREAD
Italy has closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107.
The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools — but not universities — taken by Japan.
Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday — the highest single day total to date. The nation of 60 million people has now recorded over 3,000 cases and only trails China in terms of total fatalities.
The government’s other measures included an unpopular month-long nationwide ban on fan attendance at football matches and other major sporting events.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti told the nation that Italy was able to handle the current number of cases but needed a firmer response to keep things from spiralling out of control.
“As long as the numbers are low, the health system can assist (people) effectively,” Conti said in a video message posted on Facebook.
“But in case of exponential growth, not just Italy but any other country in the world would not be able to manage the situation.”
Italy’s soccer league, Serie A, has already been thrown into disarray by two weeks of postponements that have seen some clubs not play at all and others play multiple matches in a week.
Fans are even being prohibited from attending the training sessions of top teams such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in Turin.
The government also recommended to those over 75 to stay indoors and to avoid public places.
The advice extends to those who are at least 65 and suffer from other ailments.
Italy has closed all schools and universities until March 15 to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The government decision was announced moments after health officials said the death toll from COVID-19 had jumped to 107 and the number of cases had passed 3000.
QANTAS AXES FLIGHT OVER CORONAVIRUS PASSENGER
Qantas cancelled a flight to London on Wednesday after a passenger aboard the plane tested positive to coronavirus.
The Sydney to London flight was cancelled so the plane could be cleaned.
The aged care worker remains in a stable condition at the Royal North Shore Hospital.
Mr Hazzard said the aged care worker never travelled overseas and have no idea how she was infected.
“It is concerning when we have somebody present with coronavirus and we can’t track the source. If, in this case, this much-loved staff member had not travelled – had not travelled. She had not been overseas. She had not been to any of the hot spots around the world. So, that raises the question, how did she end up with coronavirus?” he said.
It comes as aged care homes could be locked down and visitors prevented from entering the facility to protect residents if there is an outbreak of COVID-19 in the community where they are situated, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has told a Senate Estimates committee in Canberra today.
Aged care residents with a mild case of COVID-19 will be isolated and treated in their facility and the government is ensuring facilities have enough face masks and protective equipment and will provide extra staff to homes that need them, he said.
If there is a large outbreak in an aged care facility infected residents would be housed together to reduce chance of the infection spreading.
If residents became very ill with the virus they would be transferred to hospital, Professor Murphy said.
TOILET PAPER CHAOS AS TRUCK ON FIRE
Meanwhile, a truck carrying toilet paper caught fire on the Gateway Motorway in Brisbane, blocking lanes and causing traffic delays.
The northbound lanes of the motorway are closed after a truck burst into fire tonight near Murrarie.
Paramedics and firefighters attended the scene. The fate of the toilet paper has not been revealed.
Northbound lanes on the Gateway Motorway at Murarrie are closed due to a truck on fire. Delays expected. Please avoid the area. #qldtraffic pic.twitter.com/TYj5aWH5yb
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) March 4, 2020
It comes as NSW Police confirm an incident where a woman pulled a knife on a shopper in a row over toilet paper at a Sydney supermarket.
Officers reportedly attended Westfield Parramatta about 1.30pm yesterday after reports of a disturbance at Woolworths.
The woman who pulled the knife was escorted out of the shopping centre by police and no charges are expected to be laid.
CORONAVIRUS DELAYS BABY YODA TOY
The “force” is not with Baby Yoda toymaker Hasbro.
The company has confirmed that supply shortages caused by the coronavirus outbreak will stymie production of its highly-anticipated Baby Yoda toys, some of which have already sold out in pre-order.
Industry expert Jim Silver told CNN Business that Hasbro factories in China are still fully operational. But Silver, who spoke with sources inside these factories, warns consumers and shareholders that the worst is yet to come.
“If things aren’t normal by the time June and July roll around, there will be shortages on a litany of toys,” said Silver, the CEO of toy review website TTPM.com.
The threat of insufficient raw materials for the toys, namely resins and plastics available only in China, has become the most significant concern.
“There was difficulty in obtaining some of these raw materials or the same quantity they want to get,” Silver said. He anticipates a production decline of 5 per cent to 10 per cent due to coronavirus, but claims that Hasbro is “close to being able to ship what they originally projected.”
On February 21, Hasbro acknowledged that the deadly infection, now linked with two separate viral pathogens, would pose challenges.
“We are working to mitigate the impact of our manufacturing partner factories being closed longer than anticipated, as well as to reschedule the shipments we have not been able to make,” said their CFO Deborah Thomas.
NEW TEST ON THE WAY
A new blood test that will be able to tell whether someone has had COVID-19 and cleared it will soon be available in Australia, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said.
This test will be able to pick up milder cases where the person thought they had a common cold and will help in understanding the true spread of the virus.
At the moment tests for COVID-19 are only being done on public health laboratories, there are now some commercial tests available and private laboratories want to get involved.
“We will definitely have to expand the testing but we have to work out how to fund them.
In a large outbreak you will need several tests per day,” he said.
In Australia, hospitals will have to cancel elective surgery to free up intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients if there is a big outbreak of the virus, the committee has been told.
People with the virus will be directed to special fever clinics for treatment if the virus becomes widespread, Professor Murphy said.
Access to telehealth services and telehealth triage is being considered so people can seek health advice about COVID-19 and be managed by doctors and nurses over the phone.
Prof Murphy also said Australia does not have enough face masks and personal protective gear to cope if the coronavirus outbreak becomes serious.
The government is currently trying to source more equipment and is looking at whether local producers can be found, he said.
Prof Murphy said the main pharmaceutical in Australia’s pandemic stockpile is the antiviral drug Tamiflu and it is not useful against the coronavirus.
Other medicines in the stockpile are also not relevant for the virus.
Professor Murphy said Australia’s stockpile meant we were well prepared for the coronavirus but the government was doing a very careful stocktake of the supply of personal protective equipment, testing equipment, critical care equipment with a view to advance purchasing.
Intensive care doctors this week reported on the state of supply of intensive care beds (News Corp has been told there are just over 2000) and are working out how to source spare ventilators and how to take over other hospital wards and turn them into ICU wards in the event the coronavirus becomes more widespread.
The committee was also told 19 people from China have been allowed into Australia under special exemption from the travel ban on that country.
Prof Murphy said they were allowed in at the discretion of the Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram.
The state chief medical officers had to be satisfied these people would serve out a 14 day quarantine period once they were in Australia.
As long as the number of exemptions were small health officials were happy with the situation, he said.
Mr Murphy also revealed the global number of COVID-19 cases could be two to three times higher than official figures suggest.
Aggressive isolation of COVID-19 patients in China and Italy has shown you can substantially slow the spread of the virus, he said.
A large number of children in Europe are probably infected by COVID-19 but get such mild symptoms they don’t notice.
The average age of people who have died is well into their 70s and they usually have other chronic illnesses.
Modelling by economist Warwick McKibbon that 100,000 Australians could die from the coronavirus are “theoretically” possible but even in China the attack rate has not been that high, Prof Murphy said.
“While theoretically you could have an outbreak of that nature the assumptions you would need to make to get to that level are unhelpful,” he said.
SUPERMARKETS LIMIT LOO PAPER, RICE
Consumers are being urged to calm down and not make panic purchases amid the ongoing frenzy at supermarkets to snap up essential items.
The race to stock up on essential goods including toilet paper and household staples has resulted in chaos at supermarkets across the country as the global outbreak of coronavirus continues to spread.
And White King, who manufacturers bleach and disinfectant in Shepparton in regional Victoria, is the latest business to run out of warehouse stock – it’s the first time in its 60-year history.
Rival supermarket Coles said they have kept up strong supplies of goods and customers should “only buy what they need”.
On Wednesday, Woolworths also took the unprecedented step of enforcing a quantity limit on toilet paper purchases and Coles followed suit on Thursday.
Coles matched Woolworths in limiting toilet roll purchases to four packs per person.
Both supermarkets have restricted customers to four packs per customer per transaction instore and online.
Costco is limiting customers to two 48-packs of toilet paper, while Aldi is restricting customers to four packs of toilet paper and enforcing a longstanding 10 pack limit on essentials such as long-life milk, tissues, paper towels and hygiene products.
Woolworths also added bulk rice packs (2kg and above) to its limit list of one per customer.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has consulted with Coles and Woolworths and urged Australians not to panic as the global coronavirus outbreak develops.
“They don’t have to not turn up to the footy or go out for a Chinese meal or any of these things,” he told Nine.
The prime minister said Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures toilet paper, was opening up their manufacturing lines in South Australia to deal with the shortages.
The company said it had production lines running 24 hours a day in South Australia to address the increased, short-term demand.
It comes as the World Bank announced an initial $US12 billion ($A18.4 billion) in immediate funds to assist countries grappling with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread quickly from China to over 60 countries.
World Bank President David Malpass said there were still “many unknowns” about the fast-spreading virus, and “much more” aid might be required.
He called on countries to co-ordinate on a regional and international level, saying the speed and breadth of the response would be critical to saving lives.
The ACCC has been called in to help the major retailers work together.
Originally published as Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced new agreement to tackle the coronavirus