As the day unfolded: Australia records lowest COVID-19 case numbers in 24 hours since early March, Ruby Princess scheduled to depart Port Kembla on Thursday as nation's death toll stands at 74

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has cancelled planned training sessions for next week as the NRL considers sending independent spies into clubs to ensure biosecurity protocols are being followed.

With speculation rife that several clubs were planning secret sessions next week, and that some teams may have already breached government rules, the NRL emphasised the severity of punishments that would be applied during a phone hook-up with clubs on Wednesday afternoon.

The NRL threatened to dock competition points and hand down heavy fines for those clubs in breach of the rules.

It comes as ARLC chairman Peter V'landys met with Channel Nine chief executive Hugh Marks at the network's Willoughby offices on Wednesday morning to continue discussions around a potential three-year broadcast rights extension with the current partners.

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Virgin Australia has told staff its subsidiary Tigerair will remain an essential part of its low-fares offering after the troubled company emerges from voluntary administration.

Staff dialling into a briefing on Tuesday have also been told Virgin's administrators are "not contemplating redundancies at this point", The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have confirmed.

Tigerair staff had been facing a nervous wait for news after Virgin Australia called in administrators on Monday night.

In March, Virgin Australia announced it would make all pilots at its budget wing redundant after flights were grounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, there have been questions about the future of Tigerair.

Despite the assurances, Flight Attendants' Association of Australia industrial relations manager Stephen Reed said Tigerair staff remained nervous about the company's future.

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Belgrade: Serbia's elderly have ventured outside for the first time in more than a month as authorities eased some of the strict measures that have been in place against the new coronavirus.

The government now allows people over 65 years old to go out for a walk three times a week during a daily curfew when the rest of the population must stay indoors. Authorities say they want to keep the vulnerable elderly residents safe.

Serbia has introduced some of the toughest rules in Europe as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus. People over 65 were only allowed to go shopping for groceries once a week and very early in the morning.

Most people who ventured out on Tuesday evening, local time, were wearing face masks and some couples were holding hands. One man said he was out for the first time in 35 days.

The country has reported 6890 cases of new coronavirus infection, while 130 people have died.

AP

The state's 2200 public schools will have access to enough soap and hand sanitiser to last 12 months when they start returning to classrooms next month.

The Herald also understands 10,000 thermometers will be available to allow teachers to do temperature checks.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian's push to have all students back at school full-time by term three includes a significant roll-out of key products to ensure schools can meet strict health requirements.

Forehead thermometers will be handed out to schools as part of the staggered return to classrooms as NSW continues to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and teachers will have priority for testing.

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The final health report lodged by the Ruby Princess before passengers were allowed to disembark was out-of-date and did not include all passengers who had symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

As a special commission of inquiry into the cruise ship began on Wednesday, the hearing was told the senior doctor on board did not finalise the illness log until the day after passengers disembarked.

Bret Walker SC, is the commissioner overseeing the inquiry into the Ruby Princess debacle, which has seen more than 650 cases of COVID-19 in passengers and 21 deaths. There have also been more than 150 coronavirus cases diagnosed in the ship's crew.

The commission heard the last "human health report" provided to Australian authorities on March 18 was incomplete and did not include all passengers and crew who had acute respiratory or influenza-like symptoms.

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The family of a Victorian cancer patient who died in an isolation ward while awaiting a coronavirus test say they feel “some measure of satisfaction” after receiving an apology from Frankston Hospital.

Mother-of-two Gill Rayson who had terminal lung cancer was refused a transfer to palliative care in her final hours in late March. Her children were allowed just five minutes to say their goodbyes and Mrs Rayson's mother was banned from visiting her while she was in isolation.

Frankston Hospital told Mrs Rayson's family that the case had since been reviewed by senior doctors and that the hospital would make changes to the way such patients were treated in future.

“Gill would like to know that someone benefited from our traumatic experience, because that’s the sort of person she was,” said her husband, Mark Rayson.

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