Coronavirus live updates: Sydney protest blocked by Supreme Court

China has scratched one of the world's most trafficked animals from its list of approved medicinal ingredients after it was linked to the spread of COVID-19 to humans.

The NSW Supreme Court has blocked a refugee rights rally from going ahead in Sydney this weekend. 

The court granted a NSW Police application for the protest to be declared a prohibited public gathering.

“While the NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals to exercise their right to free speech in normal circumstances, these are not normal circumstances," NSW Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said in response to the ruling. 

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic and the risk to public safety of these protests going ahead is significant."

It comes as a protester who attended a Black Lives Matter rally in Melbourne tested positive for the coronavirus.

The man, who wore a mask at the protest, developed symptoms on Sunday, the day after the protest.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has removed the pangolin - an animal linked to the COVID-19 outbreak - from its official list of approved ingredients for use in traditional medicine.

The pangolin is one of the world's most trafficked animals due to the supposed medicial benefits of its scales, and its meat is considered a delicacy. Research in China has suggested COVID-19 was passed from pangolins to humans at a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, sparking the pandemic.

Now, the pangolin has been dropped from the Chinese government's official medicines list, in a move that's been welcomed by conservation groups.

Globally, there have been more than 7.2 million known coronavirus infections, with a global death toll of 409,617.

In Australia there have been 7285 cases, with 3117 in NSW, 1063 in Queensland, 1699 in Victoria, 440 in South Australia, 601 in Western Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 108 in the ACT and 29 in the NT.