You might have heard NSW police are fining people for having two occupants in a car.
News.com.au reporter Matt Young called to clarify:
Police would not confirm if direct family members were excluded.
Coronavirus Australia live updates: Medical professionals ignored quarantine rules
A group of medical professionals skipped quarantine and flew interstate after flying into Sydney Airport from South America on Friday.
Dozens of medical professionals ignored police orders to quarantine and jumped on domestic flights home after flying into Australia from South America on Friday.
The news came as Western Australia recorded 23 new cases of coronavirus, with 16 of them linked to a cruise ship, bringing the state's total to 278 cases.
READ MORE: Follow more coronavirus news
More than 3600 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across Australia, with 1617 in New South Wales, 685 in Victoria, 625 in Queensland, 287 in South Australia, 278 in Western Australia, 71 in the ACT, 58 in Tasmania and 15 in the Northern Territory.
Fourteen people have died, including eight in New South Wales, 3 in Victoria, 2 in Western Australia and 1 in QLD.
Here's how Saturday unfolded.
Updates
Fines for too many people in cars?
RM Williams to close all stores
RM Williams has announced it’s closing all stores effective immediately.
“After great deliberation, knowing this will impact each of us and our RMWilliams family in different ways, we are closing our Australian stores effective the 28th March,” it said on Saturday night.
The iconic bush outfitter said it had endured wars, droughts, and bushfires, but the coronavirus crisis had thrown the company into “unprecedented times”.
“At this moment in these unprecedented times, it is hard to see past the headlines and understand what lies ahead,” it said.
“The COVID-19 crisis has stopped us mid stride so to say, on a global level, affecting humanity at every level.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-RY2qrnnVF
Medical professionals skipped quarantine
Dozens of medical professionals ignored police orders to quarantine and jumped on domestic flights home after flying into Sydney Airport from South America on Friday.
Twenty-seven people skipped the mandatory 14 days in isolation and flew interstate after returning into the country, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
They will now be served with public health orders.
Another six were located at the domestic terminal and sent back into quarantine, a NSW Police spokesperson said.
"Disappointed to hear medical professionals chose to ignore rules in place to save lives and protect the most vulnerable in our community. No-one is above the law," Police Minister David Elliot said.
The Herald reported the medical professionals had flown into Australia from Santiago in Chile after attending a health convention onboard two Antarctic cruises.
23 new cases in Western Australia
There are now 23 new cases of coronavirus in Western Australia, taking the state's total tally to 278.
Four of those were confirmed to be from regional WA, with cases in the Wheatbelt, the Great Southern and the South West.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said cruise ships are responsible for 16 of those cases, including nine people taken off the MV Artania yesterday.
They will be treated at two private hospitals in Perth.
Those who tested positive are seven males and 16 females, aged between 22 and 76 years of age.
Another 46 people also on board the MV Artania ship are known to have symptoms of the virus.
Darwin man, 30, tests positive
A 30-year-old man from Darwin has tested positive to COVID-19 after he traveled from South America last Sunday.
He was in self-isolation before becoming unwell, and is now being treated in isolation at Royal Darwin Hospital.
He arrived in the NT after flying from Melbourne to Alice Springs on QF796 and then from Alice Springs to Darwin on QF2974, The Northern Territory Government said.
This brings the tally to 15 cases in the Territory, all related to overseas travel.
Virtual festival on now
Just a reminder that the second edition of the “socially (media) distanced music festival” Isol-Aid has kicked off on Instagram.
It features some of Australia’s best musicians who are streaming sets live from their living room.
But don't worry if you miss it because it's on again tomorrow with an equally as impressive lineup.
The artists perform 20 minute sets on their Instagram accounts.
Some of the acts include Middle Kids, Alex Lahey, Courtney Barnett, Montaigne and Ali Barter.
30 new cases in South Australia
There are now 30 new cases in SA bringing the state's total to 287 cases.
Eight have been linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship and four cases of community transmission are suspected, the ABC reports.
There is currently five people at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, three of them in critical condition, while one patient has left the intensive care unit, according to the publication.
So far, 171 people in NSW have tested positive with Covid-19 after they left the Ruby Princess cruise ship, while 32 people in QLD also on the ship tested positive on Friday.
SA now have 61 cases linked to the Ruby Princess, and 21 cases in the ACT.
David Jones closes two small-format stores
David Jones' 45 large-format stores will remain open with two smaller-sized stores closing down, news.com.au can confirm.
The small-format stores are located in James Street, Brisbane and Barangaroo in Sydney.
Employees from these stores will be redeployed to other David Jones stores in Brisbane and Sydney.
Due to their small size, the retail giant cannot guarantee social distancing measures and have decided to close them down as of today.
"Our online business will remain available throughout this period and we have seen a significant increase in our customers using this service," a David Jones spokesperson told news.com.au in a statement.
"We have made the decision to continue to keep our large format physical stores open as long as we are confident that we can operate our stores safely and to the standards required by all current government health and safety directives."
The news came as it was announced fashion stores Country Road, Mimco, Witchery, Trenery and Politix will all close tonight with the 500 staff stood down.
The Country Road network of 280 stores will remain closed for four weeks.
Earlier on Saturday, Iconic Aussie brand Cotton On also made the decision to close nationwide.
From 5pm Sunday 29 March, all Australian Cotton On stores will be temporarily closed.
The Cotton On Group’s seven brands (including Typo, Rubi, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Cotton On Kids and Supre) have more than 670 stores scattered throughout Australia – all of which will shut their doors by Sunday night.
The nationwide closures will send the total jobs lost in the retail, hospitality and entertainment sectors this month in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to more than 100,000, The Australian reports.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer: Is the healthcare system ready?
The Australian Government Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly has addressed questions on whether Australia has enough ICU beds.
"I want to also address the issue of intensive care beds and hospital beds. And this question that keeps coming to us from various places, is Australia ready? Is the healthcare system ready?
"Well, I can really assure people that the healthcare system in Australia is very adaptable. And it is absolutely ready for this matter.
"In terms of intensive care, we have double the capacity and there are beds available right now with the ventilators right now to deal with people if they require it. It is a very small component of those now 3400 cases in Australia. Only 30 in total. And less than that currently.
"We have doubled the bed capacity in Australia right now and we are ready, well and truly ready, and we will not be seeing a peak on the 10 April, as has been reported in some places. That is not the case."
Deputy Chief Medical Officer: Local cases had clear contact
The Australian Government Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, said of the locally acquired cases, most of those "have a very clear contact with a known case of Covid-19.
"This demonstrates that we are finding the cases we need to find, tracing their contacts, and dealing with those issues so that they are isolated from the community and to decrease the transmission from person to person of this very infectious disease," Mr Kelly said.
Nation eradicates deadly disease
A nation has finally declared victory in a century-long battle against one of the world’s most feared tropical diseases.
Read more
Mum’s 4L-a-day water habit ends in disaster
A Queensland woman said she was “slowly drowning herself” with her excessive habit after being told to drink more water.
Read more
Shock ‘aggressive’ cancer finding revealed
Young adults who develop colon cancer tend to be diagnosed at later stages – and have more aggressive tumours, new research has found.
Read more