As it happened: Australia in recession as GDP drops 0.3 per cent; Victoria records seven new COVID-19 cases as Australian death toll stands at 102

A 53-year-old man who died in Bali late on Tuesday night may be the first Australian to perish of coronavirus in Indonesia.

A copy of the man's passport obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age said his name was David William John Sparenburg, and that he died in a boarding house in Munggu, Mengwi Village, in Badung regency.

David William John Sparenburg may be the first Australian to die of coronavirus in Indonesia.

The victim had complained of shortness of breath on Tuesday evening before he died and police had attended the scene in full protective gear as a precaution against COVID-19, in line with new rules on the island.

Mengwi Police Chief I Gede Eka Putra Astawa said the Australian was "complaining of difficulty breathing around 11pm local time [1am AEST on Wednesday] to a witness named Eka Surtika".

Some local media have reported the Australian man may have had a history of heart disease.

"There is no history of COVID-19 in the area. We hope to get the test results back in a day or two. We did find a health record from a local hospital, he went to get a check-up a few months back. It is unclear what kind of check-up he did back then."

You can read the full report here.

An Australian economy battered by bushfires and the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic shrank by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter, the first quarter of negative growth in nine years.

In figures that put Australia halfway to the popular definition of a recession of consecutive negative quarters of growth, the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday said a collapse in consumer spending on services and falls in government capital expenditure and household construction contributed to the result.

The negative quarter is only the fourth time this century the economy has gone backwards in a three month period. The last recession was in 1990-91.

The last time Australia's national accounts should a contraction in economic growth was in March 2011.

Read the full story. 

A major packaging company has told more than 100 workers from its Port Melbourne facility to stay at home after a worker returned a positive COVID-19 test on Sunday.

A spokesman for Amcor Flexibles said the factory was not operating when the company was notified of the positive result, but it had followed "strict measures" by completely locking-down the site and undertaking deep-cleaning of the building.

"Contact tracing and COVID testing of co-workers who may have come into contact with the employee commenced immediately," the spokesman said.

"The company is monitoring the status and wellbeing of all its employees and is in regular communication with them. The site will re-open once we are certain the spread to other co-workers has been eliminated."

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said she believed there was "about eight workers who are known to be close contacts" of the COVID-19 positive employee.

"As a precaution, the company has gone above and beyond and all of the workers there are being tested. This is a demonstration of a system working well, having a business working very closely with our public health team."

The Port Melbourne facility is expected to reopen on Wednesday afternoon.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended the state government's attempt to freeze public sector wages, saying it was a decision that had to be made against a backdrop of looming unemployment.

Speaking with ABC News Breakfast this morning, Ms Berejiklian said public servants would have a job guarantee for the next 12 months, while "hundreds of thousands" in the private sector were on JobKeeper.

"Once JobKeeper runs out, we don't know how many of those employees will stay employed and how many will join the Centrelink queues," she said. "It's a very difficult time."

She said a combination of the horrific bushfire season, storms, the drought and the coronavirus pandemic meant the state government had to make decisions it didn't usually have to make.

"They're not decisions we're happy to take, they are decisions we have to take," she said.

"We're thinking and looking to the future, because literally, by the end of the year, I shudder to think how many people in New South Wales will be without a job," she said.

The governor of Tokyo has issued a coronavirus alert for the Japanese capital amid fears of a resurgence of infections only a week after a state of emergency ended.

Governor Yuriko Koike issued a "Tokyo alert" on Tuesday, local time, after 34 new cases were confirmed in the city, where confirmed infections had slowed to a few per day in late May.

Koike said: "The alert is to precisely inform the people of the status of infections and to advise caution."

Lighting on Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge will be changed from rainbow-coloured to red as a sign of alert. However, the alert does not mean restrictions that just got eased will be reimposed immediately.

Experts say the rise in new cases reflects the increased movement of people since mid-May and could increase further.

"I want to remind everyone once again that we are fighting against an unknown virus as we still don't have any vaccines or treatment for it," Koike said.

Under the second phase of a three-part plan for resuming business activity, Tokyo's theatres, fitness gyms and other commercial facilities reopened. Night clubs, karaoke parlours and other highest-risk establishments are still closed.

Kitakyushu in southern Japan is also experiencing what local officials say is a second wave of infections. New cases exceeding 110 in the last 10 days following a three-week hiatus.

AP

Thanks for following our live coronavirus coverage today and for your comments. Our team will be blogging again from 6am tomorrow.

For those tuning in late, here are some of the major developments of the day:

• Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Australia was on track for a recession with the first quarter of negative growth in nine years.
• Sweden’s top epidemiologist has admitted his strategy to fight COVID-19 resulted in too many deaths.
• The Morrison government is preparing a revamp to its $70 billion JobKeeper program.
• There were no new coronavirus cases in NSW, or Queensland but one new case in WA and seven new cases in Victoria.
• Victoria’s Premier says they will work with La Trobe University to find ways to support it, as it is “too important” to go broke.
• Amcor reopened with COVID-19 free workers after 100 Melbourne staff were told to stay at home due to a worker testing positive for COVID-19.
• Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says he is 'very certain' the Trans-Tasman travel bubble will happen.
• The NSW Coroner will investigate the outbreak of COVID-19 at the Newmarch House aged care facility in Sydney where 19 residents have died.
• A 53-year-old man who died in Bali may be the first Australian to die of coronavirus in Indonesia.

If you want more on the unfolding impacts of coronavirus, you can sign up for our newsletter below.

Again, thanks for following along and have a great night.

A 53-year-old man who died in Bali late on Tuesday night may be the first Australian to perish of coronavirus in Indonesia.

A copy of the man's passport obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age said his name was David William John Sparenburg, and that he died in a boarding house in Munggu, Mengwi Village, in Badung regency.

David William John Sparenburg may be the first Australian to die of coronavirus in Indonesia.

The victim had complained of shortness of breath on Tuesday evening before he died and police had attended the scene in full protective gear as a precaution against COVID-19, in line with new rules on the island.

Mengwi Police Chief I Gede Eka Putra Astawa said the Australian was "complaining of difficulty breathing around 11pm local time [1am AEST on Wednesday] to a witness named Eka Surtika".

Some local media have reported the Australian man may have had a history of heart disease.

"There is no history of COVID-19 in the area. We hope to get the test results back in a day or two. We did find a health record from a local hospital, he went to get a check-up a few months back. It is unclear what kind of check-up he did back then."

You can read the full report here.

A public artwork commemorating the coronavirus outbreak will be built on Sydney's northern beaches after the local council approved spending more than $100,000 to help support the arts community.

Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan says the artwork commemorating the coronavirus pandemic is not a 'giant germ statue'.

Cr Regan defended the artwork plans after one councillor labelled it "absurd" and some community members lodged concerns of a "giant germ statue on a beach".

Last week councillors endorsed the commissioning of the artwork for the coastal walk under construction between Manly and Palm Beach.

Councillor Penny Philpott, who put forward the proposal, said it was intended "to remember, as a narrative, how the northern beaches community responded during the COVID-19 pandemic".

Read the full story here.

The Morrison government is preparing a revamp to its $70 billion JobKeeper program that could cut the $1500-a-fortnight payment for some workers despite Treasurer Josh Frydenberg conceding the nation is in its first recession in three decades.

The March quarter national accounts revealed the economy shrank by 0.3 per cent through the first three months of the year, dragged down by the biggest fall in household consumption since 1986 and softer government capital expenditure and home construction.

Mr Frydenberg, pressed on whether the country was already in recession, conceded it is "on the basis of the advice that I have from the Treasury Department about where the June quarter is expected to be".

The centrepiece of the government's response to the downturn has been its JobKeeper program with up to 3.5 million Australians' wages supported by the subsidy. But the program has been criticised by some employers while Labor has argued it could be better targeted at individuals and industries in need.

A Treasury review into the scheme is to start soon and will feed into new government economic forecasts to be released on July 23. Those forecasts had been slated to be released next week.

You can read the full report here.

Swinburne University in Melbourne has warned staff to brace for job losses as it faces a deficit of more than $150 million due to a reduction in overseas students caused by the coronavirus crisis.

A week after Deakin University announced it would cut 400 positions, Swinburne has followed step, telling staff it must “consider difficult decisions” to ensure its financial viability.

The warning to Swinburne staff comes as The Age revealed on Wednesday that La Trobe University could go broke within weeks unless it secured a financial lifeline and an agreement from staff on pay cuts.

Victorian universities are reeling from the loss of international students since the coronavirus pandemic crunched the sector this year.

Read the full report here. 

South Korea reported 49 new cases of COVID-19, continuing a resurgence as millions of children are returning to school.

The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday brought national totals to 11,590 cases and 273 deaths. All but one of the new cases were reported from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where hundreds of infections have been linked to entertainment venues, church gatherings and a massive e-commerce warehouse.

Mayors and governors in the greater capital area have shut thousands of nightclubs, hostess bars, karaoke rooms, churches and wedding halls to slow the spread of the virus.

But despite the spike in transmissions, the government has been pushing ahead with a phased reopening of schools, which began with high-school seniors on May 20. Nearly 1.8 million more students were to return Wednesday.

But South Korea's education minister says 519 schools so far have been forced to go back to remote learning because of virus concerns.