LATEST NEWS ABOUT COVID-19:
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NUMBERS
* Confirmed cases in Australia: 2423 (as at 3pm AEDT Wednesday), up from 1091 on Saturday
* NSW is the worst hit, with 1029 cases including 2 children
* Victoria added 55 cases overnight to 466
* Australian deaths: nine (seven in NSW, one in WA, one in Qld)
* Social distancing: one person per four square metres
* Unemployment rate forecast to jump to 11 per cent in next few months
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MEASURES
* Borders closed in Tasmania, SA, NT and WA. Queensland from midnight on Wednesday. Freight and essential travel excepted
* Non-essential travel should cease
* Australians, excluding aid workers and compassionate travel cases, will be banned from travelling overseas
* Non-essential services urged to close
* Still open: supermarkets, pharmacies, public transport, some schools, hairdressers restricted to 30-minute appointments, petrol stations, postal and freight services, bottle shops, newsagents, retail shops, restaurants restricted to take-away/delivery in most states
* Closed: schools in Victoria and the ACT, gyms, indoor sports venues, pubs, cinemas, nightclubs, casinos, places of worship, theme parks, auction houses, food courts in shopping centres, beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours, galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSL clubs, swimming pools, amusement parks, arcades, indoor and outdoor play centres, social sports that involve large groups, outdoor and indoor markets
* Parents urged to keep children home from school in NSW, Queensland
* Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people; weddings to the couple, celebrant and two witnesses
* Large social gatherings in homes banned
* A limited number of international rescue flights for stranded Australians
* NSW Police able to arrest or fine people $1000 and businesses $5000 for breaching public health orders
* All elective surgery other than the most urgent to be put on hold
* A National COVID-19 Coordination Commission has been set up to advise governments
* Boot camps and personal training limited to 10 people with enforced social distancing
* Profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to things as medical supplies and masks, illegal.
* Updated testing guidelines expected to be announced soon
* All patients will be able to access Medicare-funded online consultations from next week
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COMMENT
* Quote: "We know that this virus will come and go...we want to be well-positioned to make sure that we restore people's jobs and livelihoods as quickly as we can afterwards."- National COVID-19 Coordination Commission chair Neville Power, on the purpose of the new government advisory body.
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SPORT
* IOC and Japan's Prime Minister postpone this year's Tokyo Olympic Games for 2021
* The AFL, NRL, A-league soccer, Super Rugby and netball competitions postponed
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ECONOMICS
* Finance: The ASX200 closed 5.54 per cent higher at 4,998.1 while the All Ordinaries index added 5.32 per cent, to 5,006.2.
* Parliament has passed two packages worth $17.6 billion and $66 billion in response to the outbreak of the virus
* The Reserve Bank injected $6.9 billion into the financial system on Tuesday and will buy a further $4 billion in government bonds
* US politicians have reached a deal on a massive stimulus package
* Queensland has announced a $4 billion economic and health package
* WA to announce another stimulus package
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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS
* Cases: more than 422,952
* Deaths: more than 18,906
* Recovered: at least 109,143
*Source: Australian Department of Health website at 0600 March 24, plus NSW government at 0800 and worldometer website.
Australian Associated Press