DAILY BLOG, April 11: Stay up to date with all the latest Tasmanian coronavirus news

Tasmania has recorded another 11 cases of COVID-19, all part of the North-West outbreak of the virus. REPLAY TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

Get all the latest updates on the coronavirus crisis sweeping the state and country.

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9pm: 11 NEW COVID-19 CASES, ALL FROM NW TASMANIA

TASMANIA has confirmed an additional 11 cases of coronavirus, all of the new cases are from the north west coast.

The 11 new cases recorded since 6pm last night, bring the State’s total cases to 133.

Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch said seven of the cases are women, four are men.

Three of the cases are in their 20s, five are in their 30s, one is in their 40s, and two are in their 60s.

Dr Veitch said Public Health Services is following up household and social contacts of all confirmed cases.

The situation with coronavirus is changing regularly. People can stay up to date by visiting the Department of Health coronavirus website www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au or the Australian Government Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au

4.15pm: PEOPLE DIRECTED TO LEAVE HOLIDAY HOT SPOTS

PREPARE to be stopped and spoken to about why you are away from home as police continue to target shack hot spots across the state with eyes in the sky and on the ground.

Since the beginning of the Easter break, about 20 people have been charged with failing to comply with a direction of the Director of Public Health. Most of these cases relate to people charged with other offences.

In the 24 hours to midday Saturday, police pulled over 89 vehicles and spoke with the occupants to ensure they were complying with COVID-19 restrictions.

Commander Robert Blackwood said 20 people were warned to return to their primary residences.

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11.20pm: FURTHER QUARANTINE MEASURES ANNOUNCED

HEALTH Minister Sarah Courtney has announced further quarantine measures in an effort to protect Tasmania’s North-West from an outbreak of coronavirus.

Eight of Tasmania’s new coronavirus cases yesterday were healthcare workers who have worked at the North West Regional Hospital and/or the North West Private Hospital, and two cases were patients at the NWRH.

“We’ll be extending the quarantining measures to households of healthcare workers that we have already asked to quarantine,” Ms Courtney said this morning.

“So from the last shift a healthcare worker did, both them and their household will be asked to quarantine.

“We’re also going to ask households of patients that have been discharged from the 27th of March to also self-quarantine at their homes.”

Premier Peter Gutwein said most Tasmanians had been following quarantine rules.

“However, yesterday, we did have 90 people by late afternoon that had been turned around that were heading to the coast or to places that they shouldn’t have been, many of them with caravans and camper trailers,” Mr Gutwein said.

“This is not on. We want to ensure that we protect these coastal communities. Twenty people have been directed to leave their shacks and to return to their primary residence, and four people have been charged.”

11am: WATCH THE DAILY COVID-19 UPDATE

10am: GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Premier Peter Gutwein and Health Minister Sarah Courtney will provide a coronavirus update at 11am.

In a statement on Friday evening, Acting Director of Public Health Scott McKeown said 11 new cases had been confirmed since 6pm on Thursday, bringing the state’s tally to 122.

Eight healthcare workers who have worked at the North West Regional Hospital and/or the North West Private Hospital are among those who tested positive.

Ten of the new cases are from the North-West and one is from the South.

Nine cases are women, two are men.

One of the cases is a teenager, two are in their 20s, three are in their 30s, one is in their 40s, one is in their 60s and three are in their 70s.

Eight of the cases are healthcare workers who have worked at the North West Regional Hospital and/or the North West Private Hospital, and two cases are patients at the NWRH.

The situation with coronavirus is changing regularly. People can stay up to date by visiting the Department of Health coronavirus website www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au or the Australian Government Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney addresses the media during a COVID-19 update. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

TASMANIAN WORKERS AT COALFACE OF CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

9.37am: COVID-19 COULD DIE OUT ‘WITHIN WEEKS’, SAYS MEDICAL CHIEF

Australia may be close to winning the battle against coronavirus, one of the leading architects in our fight against the disease has predicted.

However health and social restrictions could remain for another six months as authorities fear a second wave of COVID-19 infections as winter closes in.

Three months after Australia recorded its initial case of COVID-19, our Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has said the disease could “die out” in areas across the country in a matter of weeks.

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9am: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON LEAVES INTENSIVE CARE

Boris Johnson is back on his feet after a remarkable recovery from COVID-19 that put him in intensive care for three days.

Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds sent him a baby scan and a letter for each day he was in hospital to lift his spirits and keep him fighting.

The British Prime Minister was able to walk around the ward at St Thomas’ Hospital in London early Saturday Australian time.

However Downing Street said Mr Johnson’s improvement was still in the early stages.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is embraced by his partner Carrie Symonds. Picture: STEFAN ROUSSEAU

7pm Friday: TASMANIA RECORDS FOURTH CORONAVIRUS DEATH

ANOTHER elderly Tasmanian has fallen victim to coronavirus, with a man in his late 70s dying in Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital on Friday.

It is Tasmania’s fourth death from the virus from 111 confirmed cases, representing a mortality rate of 3.6 per cent — the worst in the country.

The death comes as health authorities take drastic steps to try and bring under control an outbreak of the virus at the hospital which now accounts for more than one fifth of Tasmania’s cases.

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