Two more COVID-19 cases have been discovered in Sydney's Crossroads Hotel cluster, bringing the total number linked to the outbreak to 30.
Two men in their 20s were confirmed as having the virus after they came forward for testing when it was revealed a confirmed case of the Crossroads Hotel outbreak visited the same gym as them.
Anyone who attended the Planet Fitness Gym at Casula from July 4 to 10 to immediately self-isolate and get tested.
It comes as Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a string of new restrictions on pubs following the increase in cases.
Australia has recorded a total 10,061 cases of COVID-19, with 4224 in Victoria, 3316 in New South Wales, 1071 in Queensland, 443 in South Australia, 636 in Western Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 113 in the Australian Capital Territory and 30 in the Northern Territory.
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Updates
Masks mandatory in UK shops from July 24
Face masks will be mandatory in England's shops and supermarkets from next week in a government U-turn on the policy.
After weeks of wrangling from ministers over mask's effectiveness, the new rules will come into play from July 24.
"The Prime Minister has been clear that people should be wearing face coverings in shops and we will make this mandatory from July 24," Boris Johnson's office said.
"There is growing evidence that wearing a face covering in an enclosed space helps protect individuals and those around them from coronavirus."
Anyone who fails to comply risks a fine of up to $181, with police to carry out enforcement of the new rule.
"There is no end date"
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says Australia needs to learn to manage COVID-19 outbreaks because "there is no end date" to the pandemic.
"We don't know how long it will take before there's a vaccine. I should say an available vaccine," she told ABC's 7:30.
"If there is a vaccine tomorrow, it would take time to develop and distribute it to all corners of the world.
"As much as we'd love to have elimination, as much as we’d love to be able to be in that state, it's not going to happen in New South Wales.” – NSW Premier @GladysB on #coronavirus. #abc730pic.twitter.com/obEZhXGemd
"We don't have an end date. What we know now is a lot more than what we knew six months ago.
"What we need to do is use those learnings to communicate to our citizens, to ask them to please take the advice, know your personal actions can have a huge, devastating impact on others but similarly, your own good actions can save lives by taking the health advice.
"If you have a symptom, getting tested, staying home or if you have been to a venue where you know there's been an outbreak, doing the right thing each of us.
"Who would have thought that each of us can save lives doing the right thing by everybody?
"That is a very powerful position to be in for individuals and I ask and implore of everybody to think of that before you may undertake activity that could pose a risk to yourself or others."
Lockdowns "not a path we want to take", NSW Premier says
Speaking to ABC's 7:30, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has again said she doesn't want to send her state's coronavirus-affected suburbs back into lockdown, after making similar comments on A Current Affair earlier.
"Well, look, that's not a path we want to take," Ms Berejiklian said.
"What we determined the best course in managing this pandemic is what we call a suppression strategy.
"Unfortunately what we all have to accept is that as restrictions have seized and as people start to go back to work and to daily lives, we will see case numbers increase."
"Every time we have an outbreak we can't afford to lockdown, reopen, lockdown, reopen. That's no way to live or to be able to instill confidence to businesses to keep employing people." – NSW Premier @GladysB. #abc730#coronavirus
Ms Berejiklian said it was possible Victorians who weren't aware they were infectious had travelled to NSW for "business or pleasure" and "may have created pockets of community transmission".
She added her state is on "high alert", which is why she'd taken the "unprecedented step" of closing the border to Victoria.
"Every time we have an outbreak, we can't afford to lockdown, reopen, lockdown, reopen. That's no way to live or to be able to instil confidence to businesses to keep employing people and that's why we have taken time in NSW to quadruple our health capacity, get the protective equipment for the front-line workers, put processes in place to make sure we can do what is required to contain the spread."
The NSW Premier has said it's unlikely NSW will ever properly eliminate COVID-19. Picture: Supplied
Ms Berejiklian said it would be "dishonest" of her to say NSW could ever achieve elimination, because of the size of the population, adding it was important we find a way to "co-exist with the virus".
"Of course, health and safety comes first but so does making sure people can work to earn a living, to put food on the table, to make sure the services that all of us rely on keep happening, the continuity of business. The supply chains we rely on to get our basic supplies," she said.
"All of this needs to continue and our strategy in NSW has always been to accept that as much as we would love to eliminate the virus, it's just not possible."
"Too risky" to keep schools open
Head of the Paediatrics Department at the University of Melbourne, Sarath Ranganathan, has told ABC's 7:30 schools should remain closed for the entirety of Victoria's lockdown.
"At the moment, it's too risky to keep schools open and that balance has shifted towards locking the schools down again," Professor Ranganathan said.
The debate over how safe children are attending schools during the pandemic has been reignited after a virus outbreak at Melbourne's Al-Taqwa College approaches 150 infections.
"I think it's really hard at home for kids to adjust to this sort of stop-start lockdown," he said.
"I know from my own experience as a parent, we're almost at the point where we're sort of writing off a little bit of the last term of education."
NSW Premier rules out state-wide lockdown
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has essentially ruled out a state-wide lockdown, despite a steadily growing coronavirus outbreak in Sydney.
"We have a challenge, until we have a cure, we have to live with it. We cannot shut down every time we have a cluster," Ms Berejiklian told A Current Affair tonight.
"It creates chaos for businesses who are employing people and it makes us lose confidence in the future.
"We want to achieve, where we are able, to have a good quality of life, even though we have to live with restrictions for the pandemic."
Melbourne McDonald's employees required to don masks
McDonald's will make wearing a mask mandatory for all its workers in the Greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire areas, the ABC reports.
The 190 stores – which employ roughly 20,000 workers – are already operating as takeaway, delivery and drive-thru only under the Victorian Government's stage-three lockdown.
"We are providing employees with three-ply surgical masks, as to not affect the supply of N95 masks, used in hospitals," a McDonald's spokesperson said.
The fast food giant closed 12 restaurants across Melbourne in May after a truck delivery driver tested positive to coronavirus.
The closures followed the discovery of a coronavirus cluster at a restaurant in Melbourne's north, where at least 12 staff and their close contacts became infected.
The issue of face masks during the coronavirus pandemic has been at times confusing, complicated and contradictory, but as case numbers jump in Melbourne and Sydney, more Aussies are choosing to wear one just to be safe.
Victorians living in locked-down suburbs have been advised by authorities to don one whenever they're leaving the house, or are in a situation where they can't ensure correct social distancing.
Malcolm Turnbull has added his two cents to the debate over Australia's coronavirus response.
The former PM agrees with Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton, among others, that there's a "lot of merit" in considering a switch from suppression to an elimination strategy – which would see the nation adopt a lockdown similar to the one employed in New Zealand.
"The question I guess is are we, is it too far gone in Victoria, and potentially New South Wales, to be able to do that?" Mr Turnbull told the ABC earlier this afternoon.
Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has weighed in on Australia pursuing an elimination COVID-19 strategy. Picture: Supplied
"Obviously the other states look like they have pretty much eradicated the virus, New Zealand appears to have done so.
"If that is achievable, that is the next best thing to having a vaccine, let's face it."
Mr Turnbull commended all of Australia's Premiers, Chief Ministers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison for doing a "terrific job" throughout the pandemic.
"You know, when you look at the catastrophic way in which this pandemic is being managed in a number of other countries, not least of which, our powerful and good friends in the United States, you know, you've got to show that our governments, by and large, are doing a very effective job," he said.
"I'm sure they're all staying up at night fretting about how they can do it better but when you look at the rest of the world, we're not doing too badly here."
Two more cases linked to Sydney pub
Two more COVID-19 cases have been linked to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, bringing the total number linked to the outbreak to 30.
Two men in their 20s were confirmed as having the virus after they came forward for testing when it was revealed a confirmed case of the Crossroads Hotel outbreak visited the same gym as them.
Anyone who attended the Planet Fitness Gym at Casula from July 4 to 10 to immediately self-isolate and come forward for testing.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said it was vital that anyone who attended the gym on the dates specified get tested and self-isolate for 14 days since they were last on the premises even if they return a negative result.
“We now have three confirmed cases associated with this gym and we are identifying the close contacts of these new cases to ensure they are also isolating and getting tested,” Dr Chant said.
The gym, which is across the road from the Crossroads Hotel, has since been closed for testing.
Picture: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Stowaways found on freight train
Four men have been arrested after being caught allegedly stowing away on an interstate freight train.
At about 9.30am today police were notified that four stowaways had been seen onboard an Adelaide inbound interstate freight train which was en-route to Perth.
The train had departed Melbourne at 10.30pm yesterday and stopped at the Adelaide Freight Terminal at Regency Park this morning where the men were located.
Police descended on the train yard with police dogs and quickly located the four suspects.
None of the four men, aged 22, 26, 29 and 29, have a fixed address but they are all believed to be from Victoria.
The stowaways were arrested and charged with breaching COVID-19 directions.
They have been refused police bail and are expected to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court tomorrow.
Police have arrested four stowaways, believed to be Victorian, hiding on a freight train this morning. It had travelled from Melbourne to Adelaide overnight. @9NewsAdel has been speaking with the train company, whose staff spotted them. Full story tonight pic.twitter.com/rkGeXGlKr7
$5000 fine for venue after social distancing failures
A licensed premises in Jindabyne has become the first venue in NSW to be shut down for a period of time after a series of COVID-19 restriction breaches.
Three formal and several informal warnings were issued to a venue in in Jindabyne between May 5 and July 11.
These warnings related to intoxication levels and public health and safety issues, including large groups of people failing to social distance.
At about 7.30pm on Saturday police attended the premises and forced the venue to close.
The premises remained closed for a 72-hour period and has since been spoken to by police regarding their COVID-19 safety plan
Earlier today the venue was issued a $5000 fine for failing to comply with COVID-19 requirements.
The maximum penalty for this offence is an $11,000 fine or six months in jail.
Monaro Police District Commander, Superintendent Paul Condon, said police will continue to work with businesses in relation to their COVID-19 safety plans and provide advice and guidance.
“The safety of the Snowy Mountains community is paramount, and we will continue to take action against those businesses that choose to ignore ministerial directions,” Supt Condon said.
“When we launched Operation Snow Safe last month, we made it clear to the community that this season will not be business as usual.
“We have been working closely with our partner agencies and local businesses to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the health and safety of our community.”
One Aussie state has revealed its next move on a major vaccine development project – which promises to change the way it responds to future health challenges.
