As the day unfolded: NSW eases COVID-19 restrictions as pubs, clubs reopen; Australian unemployment rate soars as nation's death toll stands at 98

Thanks for reading again today, and this week. This is Jenny Noyes signing off.

Our live and free coverage of the pandemic continues tomorrow. For now, here's the main stories you need to be across from today:

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used his press conference after today's National Cabinet meeting to announce a $48 million National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan and cleared the way for states to resume more elective surgery.
• Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warned that "the virus is still there", with the total number of cases in Australia passing 7000. There have now been 7019 cases in Australia, with roughly 20 new cases recorded each day this week.
• Case in point: hundreds of McDonald's workers in Melbourne are now in isolation after a worker tested positive for COVID-19, in what may become the second McDonald's-related cluster in the city.
• In Queensland, there are fears of a looming outbreak at an aged care home where a nurse was working while symptomatic before testing positive. So far however, nobody else at the home has tested positive despite all being tested today.
• The AFL will resume its season on Thursday June 11, while the NRL has revealed its draw, with an Eels v Broncos showdown to open the season on May 28.
• Sydney cafes, pubs and diners are cautiously hopeful as restrictions eased today to allow up to 10 patrons to sit in. But south of the border, Melbourne restaurant owners are worried about the prospect of a cluster breaking out at their premises.
• Virgin Australia is down to its last $100 million amid revelations mining tycoon Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is behind one of eight bids received today.

We'll continue our live coverage of the pandemic overnight and into Saturday in a new blog, which you can read here.

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Enormous doses of stimulus spending are offering relief from coronavirus damage, but their lifelong legacy of debt could seed future crises by hobbling economic growth and worsening poverty, especially in developing countries.

Central banks and governments worldwide have unleashed at least $US15 trillion ($23.2 trillion) of stimulus via bond-buying and budget spending to cushion the blow of a global recession tipped to be the worst since the 1930s.

But the steps will pile even more debt on countries already struggling with the aftermath of the 2008-9 financial crisis - total global debt has risen $US87 trillion since 2007, and governments, with $US70 trillion, accounted for the lion's share of that increase, the Institute of International Finance estimates (IIF).

This year alone may see the global debt-GDP ratio rise by 20 percentage points to 342 per cent, the group said, based on 3 per cent economic contraction and a doubling in government borrowing from 2019.

Taking on that kind of debt doesn't go unpunished: the most pain will be in highly indebted states, whether relatively wealthy ones such as Italy, or those such as Zambia which were already under strain before the virus hit and are now careering towards default.

Read the full story here. 

Economists and experts are warning against public sector wage increases, arguing the money should be spent getting young people into work and boosting the economy through infrastructure projects.

The teachers' and nurses' unions are gearing up for industrial action if the NSW government moves to freeze wages in the public sector to help the budget during the coronavirus pandemic.

Commonwealth public servants had their wages frozen in April for six months while in Victoria the Community and Public Sector Union is negotiating with the state government for a 3.5 per cent pay rise.

Former NSW treasury secretary Percy Allan warns the economic recovery will be slower unless Australia embarks on a massive investment program — something wage rises will not deliver.

Read the full story here.

House-sharing can be curly at the best of times, but throw in a pandemic and things can become a whole lot more complicated. From dealing with sudden isolation together and navigating Zoom meetings with your new (probably loud) colleagues to handling costs after employment changes.

But they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and this rings true for Brigid Davis, 29, and her three housemates, Lizzie, Maddy and Matt.

There's no denying there have been issues. A fifth housemate moved out of their Melbourne rental at the start of lockdown and Matt sadly lost work. But the foursome has been overcoming hurdles together and finding themselves closer than ever.

To unwind, they've been having mini dance parties while watching live-streams of music sets, setting fitness challenges and enjoying big weekend cook-ups.

The toughest part has been the search for a fifth replacement housemate. "A lot of people are out of work or have moved back in with parents," Davis says. "[But] we don't want to keep paying an extra person's rent."

Read the full story here. 

The Sydney Morning Herald's photographers have been capturing the mood of the city in lockdown, and now slowly returning to some favourite places as restrictions on cafes, pubs, playgrounds and pools eased a little today. View the full gallery here. 

NSW Treasury Secretary Michael Pratt says the state and nation is likely already in recession as a result of the coronavirus, which he said had had a "profound impact on the NSW economy".

Mr Pratt delivered this assessment on Friday at a NSW upper house inquiry, which is scrutinising the Berejiklian government's response to the COVID-19 crisis.

"It is likely that national and state economies have entered a period of recession, the first in nearly three decades," Mr Pratt told the hearing.

NSW Chief Economist Stephen Walters echoed this view, saying: "It's pretty clear that the economy of NSW is in a recession."

It is the first time the NSW Treasury has publicly commented on the likelihood of a recession in NSW since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Read the full story here.