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As the day unfolded: Scott Morrison announces $130 billion 'JobKeeper' package to support Australian workers through COVID-19 pandemic

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.

Megan Gorrey, Mary Ward and Megan Levy

Updated March 30, 2020 — 10:33pm,first published March 30, 2020 — 12:09am

Summary

Australia’s death toll stands at 18, after the death of two women in their 80s in Tasmania and the ACT. 4163 Australians have tested positive for COVID-19. The NSW rate has 'stabilised', with 127 new cases announced today
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a $130 billion package to support the wages of up to six million Australians throughout the coronavirus crisis.
Public gatherings will be limited to two people, reduced from the previous cap of 10 people, under stricter social-distancing measures. These will be enforced with fines in NSW and Victoria from Tuesday.
Banks will allow commercial landlords with loans of up to $10 million to delay their loan repayments by up to six months, on the condition tenants are not evicted due to the coronavirus crisis.
The US has recorded its 2000th coronavirus death, with the country's top infection expert, predicting between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans will die as the US becomes the epicentre of the pandemic. Italy has recorded its second successive fall in the daily death rate, reporting 756 deaths on Sunday.

10.40pm on Mar 30, 2020

That's a wrap

By Megan Gorrey

Thanks for joining us today.

Here's a quick look at today's major developments, which included the federal government's remarkable hundred-billion dollar package to subsidise the wages of potentially millions of laid off workers.

Australia’s COVID-19 death toll stands at 18, after the deaths of two women in their 80s in Tasmania and the ACT. 4163 Australians have tested positive for COVID-19.
The rate of infections in NSW has 'stabilised', with 127 new cases announced today
NSW will enforce strict social distancing rules on public gatherings that begin at midnight, with fines of up to $1000 for breaches. The rules limit more than two people congregating outside at a time.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government will spend $130 billion on a wage subsidy scheme that will provide businesses with $1500 per employee to pay stood down workers each fortnight.
More than 30,000 people signed up to the new JobKeeper scheme within hours of the announcement

You can read more on reactions to the federal government's wage allowance package here.

Our chief political correspondent David Crowe provides his take on the scheme here:

"The extraordinary scale of this new wage subsidy will be a relief to many but a warning to all about the damage to come from the coronavirus crisis," he writes.

"Only the most extreme threat warrants an expense so large to pay a basic wage – yes, too basic for some – to millions of workers who would otherwise lose their jobs.

"The astonishing question is whether it will be enough."

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

10.10pm on Mar 30, 2020

Social distancing rules, fines to kick in at midnight

Given the time, let's quickly recap the social distancing rules - and the fines you risk for breaking them - that are set to kick in throughout NSW at midnight.

The state government's restrictions are based on those set out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison last night:

A Willoughby Council worker places hazard tape on outdoor playground equipment at Gore Hill.Getty

Public gatherings are limited to two people
People should only leave their homes to shop for food or other essential supplies, seek medical care, exercise within the allowed guidelines, or travel to work or education if this cannot be done remotely
Those aged 70 and older (and those over 60 with chronic illnesses and Indigenous people aged over 50) should stay home and "limit contact with others as much as possible"
Group bootcamps are banned, but one-on-one personal training sessions are allowed. Outdoor gyms, skate parks and playgrounds will close

In terms of enforcing these restrictions, the focus in NSW will be on limiting public gatherings.

Premier Gladys Berejikilian said this morning that “gatherings outside or inside should not be more than two people, unless it’s your immediate family and that is something we will enforce”.

In NSW the penalty is either a $1000 on the spot fine, or a the threat of a six month jail term.

9.58pm on Mar 30, 2020

Two Coles staff in Melbourne test positive to COVID-19

By Rachel Eddie

Two Coles staff have tested positive to the coronavirus and co-workers have been put into isolation just as shoppers strip the store's shelves.

The supermarket giant confirmed it carried out "extensive cleaning" of its stores at Brandon Park shopping centre in Mulgrave, in Melbourne's south-east.

One of the staff worked at the Coles and the other worked at the adjoining Liquorland. The stores will remain open, a Coles spokesman said, following advice from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Read the full story here.

9.48pm on Mar 30, 2020

Increased social isolation could shift infection peak to early October

Increased social isolation to combat COVID-19 in NSW could shift the peak period of infection to early October with intensive care units at their busiest in mid-November, expert modelling suggests.

But even if restrictions on movement reduce the reproduction rate to 1.6 - meaning each individual with the disease infects 1.6 others - the state's ICU capacity could still be overwhelmed, an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday finds.

"Under the scenario of increased social isolation, the peak infection will shift to early October and peak ICU utilisation will shift to mid-November and would be around one-third the size of the business-as-usual peak," the authors write.

At that point, some five per cent of the population could be symptomatic, with more than 14,000 people in hospital across NSW and 5100 patients in intensive care.

"This represents 585 per cent of the state's baseline ICU capacity prior to the epidemic," write the article's authors from the University of Sydney, Monash University and James Cook University.

The infectious diseases modellers note that prior to the current coronavirus epidemic there were 874 intensive care beds in NSW.

They argue that even with a doubling of existing services "the available supply is estimated to be substantially less than the peak requirement".

Hospitals and ICU facilities "are likely to be overwhelmed unless transmission can be reduced significantly", the authors suggest.

Without social distancing measures, peak transmission would be much earlier, in late-June, with peak hospitalisation in early July.

Sixteen per cent of the population could be symptomatic with more than 35,000 people hospitalised and close to 11,800 UCI beds needed, the modelling suggests. That's 1349 per cent of baseline capacity.

The authors admit, however, that their "compartmental model" approach has several limitations.

It depends upon assumptions including the current reproduction rate which remains uncertain.

The authors acknowledge the trajectory of the epidemic will be highly dependent upon the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.

"The present report does not estimate the effect of more intensive suppression strategies which would be likely to reduce the peak ICU requirement," they write.

AAP

9.43pm on Mar 30, 2020

Boris Johnson's chief adviser isolates with COVID-19 symptoms

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, is the latest senior government figure to show symptoms of the new coronavirus.

Johnson's office says Cummings developed symptoms over the weekend and is self- isolating at home.

British PM Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.AP

Johnson announced Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has also tested positive, while the chief medical officer of England, Chris Whitty, says he is self-isolating after showing symptoms.

Senior UK officials have been criticized for continuing to hold face-to-face meetings until recently, even while urging the rest of the country to stay home and avoid all but essential contact with others.

9.04pm on Mar 30, 2020

Cabinet to weigh relief measures for tenants on Friday

By David Crowe

Help for tenants will be considered at the national cabinet meeting to be held this Friday, after federal and state leaders referred the issue to their next meeting.

With calls growing for new measures to help residential and commercial tenants under financial stress, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the state and territory leaders agreed on Monday night to take the matter to their next meeting at the end of the week.

In a statement after the meeting, Mr Morrison said the coming meeting would consider arrangements for early childhood and childcare facilities as well. He noted the advice on schools has not changed.

"We will be living with this virus for at least six months, so social distancing measures to slow the spread of this virus must be sustainable for at least that long to protect Australian lives," Mr Morrison said in a statement.

The national cabinet meeting ended without any change in the guidance to Australians on social distancing.

8.47pm on Mar 30, 2020

$130b scheme will be 'paid back for years to come': Frydenberg

By Megan Gorrey

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government's $130 billion coronavirus wage allowance package will be "paid back for years to come", as more than 30,000 people rushed to sign up to the scheme within hours.

In an interview on ABC's 7.30, Mr Frydenberg said there had already been "high demand" for the program announced hours earlier but denied the huge spend indicated the government expecte half of Australia's workforce to lose their jobs.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison announce the scheme on Monday.Alex Ellinghausen

"What it means is that people will either be stood down or continue to work and that their employers will be eligible for this particular scheme

"What we've tried to do here is to reduce the cost to businesses of employing people, so that more people stay in a job.

"Also, to ensure that there is a formal connection between employers and employees because we know there's going to be a recovery phase after the coronavirus and if we have that formal connection maintained, then the recovery will be a lot quicker and easier."

Mr Frydenberg said the $1500 fortnightly JobKeeper payment per employee was "an equal payment, regardless of what people earn and I think that's very much an Australian way to go".

"This will be paid back for years to come. There's no secret in that. We will enter into discussions with the credit rating agencies over due course. Australia has entered into this crisis from a position of economic strength."

He said casuals who had not been with their employer for 12 months or longer would "go on to the Jobseeker supplement which is available to them at $550, on top of the old Newstart or Jobseeker payment".

You can find more details about the JobKeeper payment for employers here, and employees here.

8.19pm on Mar 30, 2020

Analysis: The scariest part about the coronavirus pandemic is speed

It’s not the virus itself, though that is bad enough. It’s not the looming financial catastrophe nor the mass school closures nor the porcine stupidity of people panic buying toilet paper and long-life milk.

It’s not even the suggestion, as a doctor friend told me, that emergency department staff have been instructed not to perform CPR on those dying from coronavirus, for fear of bringing up virus-laden material out of their lungs.

No, the scariest part about what is happening now is speed, writes Tim Elliott. The speed with which rumours become reality and the implausible becomes normal. The speed with which our assumptions are overturned.

8.13pm on Mar 30, 2020

City of Sydney approves $50 million relief for businesses, creatives

By Matt Bungard

Councillors at the City of Sydney have given the green light to a $50 million funding package to provide financial relief to business, creative and community sectors throughout the coronavirus crisis.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the $47.5 million scheme expanded on measures flagged last week, bringing the city’s help for businesses, cultural and creative industries and the community support sector to $72.5 million.

Councillors voted to approve the funding package on Monday night at an extraordinary general meeting - the council's first to be held entirely online.

“Our community faces a very serious public health crisis, and the City of Sydney continues to work with NSW Health to ensure we respond urgently and effectively, including through implementing physical distancing measures,” Ms Moore said.

“It’s important that we practise physical distancing, but sadly, the measures that save lives also hurt the livelihoods of many in our community”

She acknowledged that with most businesses closing, opportunities for work had quickly diminished, particularly for artists, actors and musicians.

“What we’re trying to do is support them through this period of survival, to continue creative development and make sure they’re ready for the renaissance when we’re able to move past the coronavirus,” she said.

The new package includes a $1 million creative fellowships fund, $2 million for small business grants, the acceleration of $23 million worth of capital works projects, and a $1 million donation to OzHarvest.

“Our strong financial management over the past 16 years provides a strong foundation to withstand a once in a generation shock of this nature, and provide support to our residents, businesses, creative and community sectors during this time of need,” Ms Moore said.

7.38pm on Mar 30, 2020

Cruise passengers to be partly reimbursed for Uruguay rescue flight

By Anthony Galloway

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has promised more than 100 Australians who are stuck on a cruise ship in South America they will be partly reimbursed for a rescue charter flight out of Uruguay.

Australians aboard the Ocean Atlantic ship moored at Montevideo, in Uruguay, have begged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to expedite their charter flight home after its cost nearly doubled when the ship they were sharing it with was denied entry to the port.

The passengers were originally being charged $5000 by travel company Chimu Adventures, but are now being told the cost would significantly increase.

Senator Payne said the Australian government had been working closely with the Uruguayan government and Chimu Adventures to get 127 Australians off the Ocean Atlantic cruise ship and onto a flight home.