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As the day unfolded: Australia records lowest number of COVID-19 cases in 24-hour period since early March, US death toll passes 46,000, Australia's death toll stands at 76

If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.

Matt Bungard, Michaela Whitbourn and Latika Bourke

Updated April 23, 2020 — 10:01pm,first published April 23, 2020 — 12:25am

Summary

The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 183,000. There are more than 2.6 million known cases of infection but more than 709,000 people have recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said when Australia relaxes restrictions it would consider reopening its border with New Zealand first
He also confirmed government agencies would not be allowed to access data generated by the federal government's contact tracing app
The Australian Tax Office said it had approved $3.8 billion in withdrawals for early access to superannuation
The Ruby Princess cruise ship, which has been at the centre of the nation's biggest COVID-19 controversy, has departed the south coast of NSW this afternoon and is bound for the Philippines

10.01pm on Apr 23, 2020

We are closing the blog for the evening

Thanks for joining us. We're wrapping up the blog for the night.

Here's what you may have missed today:

The Ruby Princess has left Australia and is on the way to the Phillippines.

A fourth resident has died from COVID-19 at Newmarch House aged care facility in western Sydney, as the facility's operator says it remains understaffed despite federal government assistance.
Desperate small businesses are being pushed to the edge of collapse as they try to cover monthly wage bills that have in some cases doubled as up to 1.7 million workers get a pay rise under the JobKeeper program.

NRL teams will be allowed to have 20 players available for selection up to an hour before kick-off in case of last-minute withdrawals due to positive coronavirus tests under plans to relaunch the league season.

There are now more than 2.6 million cases around the world, but Australia only had eight new cases on Thursday .

One in 10 Australians say they expect to spend less money after the coronavirus shutdown ends, new research has revealed.

The Morrison government will not intervene in state bidding wars to rescue Virgin Australia as the troubled airline fields bids from investors and governments to help it recover from a financial collapse.
The death toll in Australia is now 76.

Our coronavirus coverage will continue overnight and into Friday in a new blog, which you can read here.

Matt Bungard signing off.

9.44pm on Apr 23, 2020

Greece extends coronavirus lockdown by a week

Greece on Thursday extended its general coronavirus lockdown by a week to May 4, saying any relaxation would be staggered over May and June.

Greek authorities imposed a blanket shutdown of public life from mid-March to stem coronavirus contagion, and the country has recorded a significantly lower outbreak of the COVID-19 respiratory disease than many other European nations.

Restrictions, which allow people to move around only with an official permit, will be extended to May 4 from April 27, government spokesman Stelios Petsas told a news briefing.

"The objective of the confinement measures is not to remain in a glass bowl, stuck in our homes. The objective is to take our lives back and win back our way of life which was temporarily deprived of us by this cunning and invisible enemy," Petsas said.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would map out the transition in a public speech early next week, Petsas said.

By Wednesday evening, Greece had reported 2408 cases of COVID-19 and 121 deaths.

The country shut schools and places where large numbers of people congregate on March 10, followed by strict restrictions on movement from March 23.

Those measures limited any risk of the health system collapsing from mass admission of patients or from many people falling ill at once, Petsas said.

Greece is already dealing with austerity and the painful economic reforms it was required to introduce in response to three bailouts between 2010 and 2015.

Reuters

9.23pm on Apr 23, 2020

Editorial: COVID-19 is on the ropes but it could still fight back

Australia is now more than three weeks into the stage three lockdowns introduced to fight COVID-19 and the truly encouraging news is that the disease is losing.

When the lockdown was declared Australia was recording more than 300 new cases a day. On Thursday the national figure was just seven. We are the envy of countries around the world but our success creates new dangers.

The most obvious of these is succumbing to the growing pressure to scrap social distancing restrictions and fully restart the economy.

Read the Herald's editorial here

9.06pm on Apr 23, 2020

Australia making significant strides in April

The latest data from the COVID-19 Australia Twitter page highlights how much progress has been made in the last couple of weeks:

View post on X

There were eight new cases recorded on Thursday, but the number of infected dropped by 95 and now sits at 1537.

8.57pm on Apr 23, 2020

Grandstand named after football legend who died of COVID-19

Leeds United, the former home of Socceroos stars Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka as well as countless others, today announced they would be re-naming the southern stand of their stadium in honour of Norman Hunter, who died last week of COVID-19.

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Hunter was a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad and maintained a close relationship with his former club, who he played for 540 times.

“Naming the South Stand after Norman is the very least we could do to recognise the lifetime of hard work and dedication he gave to our football club – firstly as a hugely successful player and secondly as an ambassador for Leeds United," team owner Andrea Radrizzani said.

8.42pm on Apr 23, 2020

Anglicare CEO, experts, meet with families online

After a fourth death at the nursing home, family members of residents at Newmarch House have tonight been given an insight by Anglicare and health experts into the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak and what is being done to provide care for their loved ones.

Anglicare’s webinar was led by CEO Grant Millard and included experts from the Commonwealth Department of Health, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, NSW Health, and the Older Persons Advocacy Network.

"We are all in this together and we are resolving this together,” Mr Millard said.

“Given the experience from other aged care sites that have had an outbreak of COVID-19, it’s very likely we will be dealing with this for around 50 days."

Deputy Secretary for the Commonwealth Department of Health Michael Lye said the organisation was "working hand-in-glove" with Anglicare, the commission, and NSW Health.

"We’re in very difficult times as the COVID-19 outbreak has challenged everybody,” Mr Lye said.

An experienced team of managers, who have already dealt with COVID-19 situations for engagement by Anglicare aged care commissioner Janet Anderson said.

“We have learned that every instance of an outbreak at an aged care facility pushes aside business as usual. Managing an outbreak is an extremely challenging task," she said.

8.23pm on Apr 23, 2020

India's biggest airline reverses pay cuts despite virus pressure

IndiGo, Asia's biggest budget airline by market value, has reversed a decision to slash employee salaries after the Indian government urged companies to avoid such practices, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The airline, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., had proposed pay cuts of as much as 15 per cent for most staff but will no longer go through with them, the people said, asking not to be identified as the decision isn't public.

Top management will, however, take as much as a 25 per cent reduction in pay, the people said.

IndiGo's move stands out at a time when airlines throughout the world are cutting operations, furloughing staff or even collapsing completely as the coronavirus pandemic brings the industry to its knees.

Passenger numbers have slumped globally and carriers have slashed seat capacity on domestic and international routes. In India, airlines aren't allowed to fly at all while the nation is in lockdown until at least May 3.

A representative for IndiGo, which had cash and cash equivalents of 200 billion rupees ($4.1 billion) at the end of December, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

IndiGo's employee costs for the three months ended December 31 were 12.5 billion rupees, according to its quarterly earnings report.

Bloomberg

8.00pm on Apr 23, 2020

Borders to remain closed for months, government weighs NZ travel

By Dana McCauley

Australia's borders look set to remain closed for months but the Morrison government is weighing a proposal to open up travel to and from New Zealand that could inject much-needed money into the collapsed tourism sector.

The so-called 'trans-Tasman bubble' plan would open up a market of millions of potential tourists and enable business travel between the two nations, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday were on "similar trajectories" in tackling COVID-19.

The Morrison government is considering opening travel to New Zealand if the two countries both keep COVID-19 under control.Lachlan Fox

"If there is any country in the world with whom we can reconnect with first, undoubtedly that's New Zealand," Mr Morrison said, saying he had discussed the matter recently with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Travel industry and business leaders welcomed the comments, which came after Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told a Senate committee that Australians should not expect international travel to resume for at least three to four months.

A Qantas spokesman said opening the border to New Zealand would be "a welcome step in the recovery of the tourism industry", which has collapsed since international borders were closed in March.

“Kiwis are the second biggest source of tourists and business travellers into Australia," the spokesman said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has drawn attention to Australia's comparatively low death toll in the coronavirus pandemic.

New Zealand is second only to China as a source of tourists. In 2018, 1.8 million Kiwis travelled to Australia and spent $2.6 billion.

Click here to read the full story.

7.32pm on Apr 23, 2020

Ruby Princess at centre of outbreak in Tasmania, chief medic says

By Lucy Cormack and Alexandra Smith

The Ruby Princess has departed NSW as Australia's Chief Medical Officer says it was likely a deadly COVID-19 outbreak in north-west Tasmania originated from the troubled cruise ship.

The Ruby Princess departs Port Kembla on Thursday.Janie Barrett

The boat, which has been linked to 21 coronavirus deaths and more than 650 infections nationwide, was led out of Port Kembla, south of Sydney, at 5pm on Thursday, bound for the Philippines.

About 500 crew members remain aboard after another 300 disembarked on Thursday morning. More than 150 crew have also tested positive.

While the Ruby Princess has departed Australia it remains the focus of a special commission of inquiry which on Thursday heard from the ship's hotel manager who said he expected NSW Health to board for a health assessment before allowing passengers to disembark.

Read the full story here

7.10pm on Apr 23, 2020

Indonesia finds 357 new coronavirus cases, 11 new deaths

Indonesia on Thursday reported 357 new COVID-19 cases and 11 new deaths, taking the total number of infections and fatalities to 7775 and 647, respectively, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

The number of patients who have recovered from the novel coronavirus was 960, Yurianto said, adding that more than 48,600 people have been tested.