As the day unfolded: Scott Morrison says Australia's COVID-19 restrictions to remain in place for at least four weeks, nation's death toll stands at 65

Thanks for following along today. Here are some of the day's main developments:

• The Australian death toll has increased to 65 people, while the number of coronavirus cases hit more than 6500.
• Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says the coronavirus tracing app being developed by the national cabinet will be key to containing the virus.
• Police will probe second Ruby Princess voyage as part of the criminal investigation.
• At least 50 per cent more people died in China's virus epicentre of Wuhan than previously counted. 
• Tax breaks for big business, deregulation and wide-scale industrial relations reform will form part of the Morrison government's attempts to lift the nation out of the economic woes caused by the pandemic.

We'll continue our live coverage overnight and into Saturday. Thanks for joining us.

The NRL is pushing ahead with plans to start the competition on May 28 despite high-level broadcast discussions on Friday, with the New Zealand Warriors set to apply for a federal government exemption from the mandatory 14-day quarantine policy for international arrivals.

Lake Ainsworth at Lennox Head, a recreational facility on NSW’s far north coast, will be put forward as part of a proposal to the Australian government for exemption from the strict hotel lockdown rules in place for offshore arrivals.

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys, who remained tight-lipped about the details of Friday’s video link conference with Nine chief executive Hugh Marks and Foxtel boss Patrick Delany, will resume negotiations with the game’s broadcast partners early next week about an end-of-May comeback.

Read the full story here. 

Austrian cultural spaces including museums, libraries and bookshops will be allowed to reopen from mid-May as part of the country's step-by-step loosening of its coronavirus lockdown, the government said on Friday.

Austria took a first step in relaxing its month-old lockdown on Tuesday by letting DIY stores, garden centres and smaller shops reopen. Other shops and hairdressers should follow from May 1.

The conservative-led government says the action it took early in the outbreak and the fact infections are increasing by less than one per cent a day make it possible to reopen parts of the economy, but it will make adjustments if infections accelerate.

"From mid-May it will be possible for presentation venues in the artistic and cultural field, definitely museums ... to reopen," Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler of the junior coalition party, the Greens, told a news conference, adding that a specific date had not been set yet.

Junior minister for art and culture Ulrike Lunacek said libraries and bookshops would also be allowed to reopen then but the state-owned federal museums, which include some of Austria's top attractions like the Belvedere in Vienna that houses Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss", have decided only to reopen in late June.

A specific date for when in mid-May all museums will be allowed to reopen has not yet been set, Kogler said, adding that large events involving many people standing close together, such as music festivals, would remain banned until August 31.

Reuters

Over the past few weeks, the Herald's photographers have documented how people are coping with the coronavirus lockdown and the unusually quiet city. See the full gallery here. 

Over the Easter long weekend, the Sydney Fish Markets limited the number of customers allowed on site. Credit: Steven Siewert

Public transport across Sydney has seen a decline in passenger numbers since the coronavirus lockdown.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Circular Quay is normally filled with tourists, but social distancing measures are keeping people away. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts has told staff the organisation would have run out of cash in four months if drastic action was not taken, painting a grim picture of the governing body’s finances.

Cricket figures are asking questions as to where the money has gone at Jolimont as it emerged CA stands to lose tens of millions of dollars due to the stock market tanking amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CA’s cash assets dropped to just $26.6 million last June, according to its 2018/19 financial report, down some $175m in just three years. A similar fall this financial year would leave it in strife.

An already dire situation threatens to worsen if world powerhouse India are not allowed into the country to play next summer in a series worth $300m to the game. CA would also miss out on a significant fee from the International Cricket Council if the Twenty20 World Cup does not go ahead. The 2015 World Cup was worth some $100m to the game.

Read the full story here. 

Spain reported the biggest increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in more than a week, pushing the total in Europe's most extensive outbreak close to 190,000.

There were 5,252 new infections in the 24 hours through Friday, the most since April 9, taking the total to 188,068, according to Fernando Simon, the government's top scientific adviser on the pandemic. Data on the latest daily death toll were not immediately made available.

Spain's health minister said this week that the peak of the virus had been reached and the focus is turning to "bending" the infection curve. Spain has suffered more deaths per million inhabitants than any other nation.

Bloomberg

Australian shares posted strong gains to end the week, supported by US President Donald Trump’s plan to restart the US economy along with speculation over a potential treatment to successfully combat the coronavirus.

Having been up more than 2.5 per cent at one point in early trade, the local market’s gains were trimmed towards the close with benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finishing the session up 71.2 points, or 1.3 per cent, at 5487.5.

The Short Squeeze looks at the unusual business and central bank behaviour caused by lockdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus. Credit: Louie Douvis

Mirroring the reaction to another raft of weak US economic data released on Thursday, investors looked through news that China’s economy contracted by a record amount in the March quarter, along with weaker-than-expected retail sales and fixed asset investment data for March.

For the week, the index gained 1.9 per cent, the fourth increase in a row. The benchmark has now rallied 24.7 per cent from the lows struck on March 23.

Despite the massive rebound, not everyone is convinced it will be sustained given the likely deterioration in global economic data ahead.

Read more: ASX rally resumes on hopes for an end to virus shutdowns

The Australian Taxation Office says there have been 881,600 expressions of interests from people hoping to access their superannuation.

While applications for the COVID-19 early release of superannuation does not open until April 20, people are able to register their interest with the ATO and will be notified when the application form becomes available, a spokesperson said.

Street-artist Banksy has followed official advice to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis by creating a new artwork in his bathroom that shows his trademark stencilled rats running amok around the sink and toilet.

The elusive artist posted photos of the work on his Instagram site on Wednesday, along with the comment: "My wife hates it when I work from home".

Banksy follows stay-at-home orders and makes bathroom art during coronavirus crisis.Credit: Instagram/@Banksy

Banksy, whose identity remains a secret, uses the site to authenticate murals after they are painted in public locations, most recently in the English cities of Bristol and Birmingham.

The new work, like much during lockdown, can only be experienced online.

Read more here. 

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has demanded China be more transparent about the origins of coronavirus, as the United States explores the possibility that it started in a Chinese laboratory.

In the strongest comments yet by an Australian minister on claims the COVID-19 virus began in a lab in Wuhan, China, Mr Dutton said the families of more than 60 Australians who have died from the disease deserve answers about how the outbreak originated.

US intelligence agencies are currently looking at the possibility the virus spread from the Wuhan lab to a wet market as part of multiple theories being pursued by investigators.

"I think it is incumbent upon China to answer those questions and provide the information so that people can have clarity about exactly what happened," Mr Dutton told Nine’s Today show on Friday.

“Well, the US is saying they’ve got documentation which demonstrates that the virus had a particular path or origin. I think they’ll detail all of that information.

“I do think there will be a reset about the way in which the world interacts with China. We do want more transparency.”