As the day unfolded: COVID-19 cases pass 1 million worldwide, Australian death toll stands at 28

A Melbourne bus driver says he was racially abused on Friday afternoon by a passenger, blaming him for "bringing the virus to Australia".

"She called me corona, she called me China," the driver told Nine News.

"It's terrible, it's disgusting."

Premier Daniel Andrews said nobody should be racially abused, adding the bus driver was one of many essential workers doing it tough during the pandemic.

"He is doing really important work and he is putting himself in harm's way in terms of the virus and all the pressures and challenges that he is facing," Mr Andrews told reporters on Friday.

"No-one deserves to be treated like that and it is simply wrong. But I want to say thanks to bus drivers, truck drivers, people stacking shelves, to everybody who is working hard for Victoria, thank you."

Singapore will close schools and most workplaces except for essential services like supermarkets and banks for one month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says, as part of stricter measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

While the city has won international praise for its efforts to stem the spread of the virus, its infections have been rising sharply in recent weeks, to 1114 on Friday, and five people have died.

"We have decided that instead of tightening incrementally over the next few weeks, we should make a decisive move now, to pre-empt escalating infections," Lee said in a speech, and promised more support for households and businesses.

Food establishments, markets and supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transport and key banking services will remain open.

Reuters

About 100 staff have been sent home for isolation from The Alfred since last week, a spokeswoman at the hospital said.

The staff work in the haematology and oncology unit, where three cancer patients have died with the coronavirus since last Wednesday.

Two other cancer patients at the hospital have also tested positive and are in a stable condition.

Ten haematology and oncology ward staff have also contracted the virus and are recovering in their homes.

A company has been allowed to slash a planned pay rise for its staff to zero because the coronavirus pandemic is jeopardising its business, in a decision other employers are likely to follow.

Attorney-General Christian Porter has also echoed some of the Fair Work Commission's reasoning in a submission to the annual minimum wage review, in which the government called for no increase this year.

"The panel should take a cautious approach, prioritising the need to keep Australians in jobs and to maintain the viability of the businesses, particularly small businesses, that provide those jobs," Mr Porter said.

The submission puts Mr Porter a gulf away from the union movement, which has called for a 4 per cent increase to stimulate the economy by giving more income to the 2.2 million workers whose pay depends on national minimum wage.

Read more here. 

More than one in 10 workers may be without a job at the peak of the economic contraction due to the coronavirus pandemic, which 15 top economists on average predict will push the budget to a record $140 billion deficit next financial year.

The most pessimistic forecast was for the deficit to blow out to $300 billion in 2020-21 and 20 per cent unemployment.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age surveyed the economists for a special edition of the biannual Scope survey focused on how the virus and measures to slow the spread will affect jobs, economic growth and government spending.

The panel on average expects the budget to fall into deficit by $87 billion in 2019-20 and $140 billion the following year.

Read more here. 

Geelong have organised for meals to be made available to staff and players stood down during the coronavirus shutdown after a benefactor came forward to the club to donate funds specifically for the purpose.

The Cats – who are operating under tight budgetary restrictions imposed by the AFL on all clubs – accepted the offer on the condition the donation was used specifically to support club employees affected by the shutdown.

More than 100 employees have taken up the opportunity to accept the meals which are cooked twice a week and made available to be picked up under conditions that adhere to the strict social distancing measures in place to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.

A club source said the benefactors wanted to give those affected by the shutdown one less thing to worry about during the period.

Read more here.