Pubs and clubs close in Australia, Germany bans social interactions between more than two people, and a US senator who voted against bills funding the fight against coronavirus tests positive.

Updated
March 23, 2020 12:01:04
Pubs and clubs have started closing in Australia, Germany has banned social interactions between more than two people, and a US senator who voted against bills funding the fight against coronavirus has tested positive.
This story is being updated regularly throughout the day. You can also stay informed with the latest episode of the Coronacast podcast.
Monday’s key moments
Strict new rules come into effect in Australia
Last night, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced new restrictions on public venues that he expected would be in place for “at least six months”.
The following businesses are no longer able to open after midday today (local time) to limit the spread of coronavirus:

• Pubs
• Clubs
• Cinemas
• Casinos
• Nightclubs
• Indoor places of worship
• Gyms
• Indoor sporting venues

Cafes and restaurants will be able to operate, but only to offer takeaway and delivery services.
Victorian schools closing, NSW wants parents to keep kids at home
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that he’s bringing forward school holidays as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, making today the last day of schoolfor pupilsbefore the start of the Easter break.
But he says these holidays should not be treated as normal.
“Every Australian has been advised not to undertake non-essential travel, and I’m advising every family that school holidays, where kids might be going and staying at friends’ places, kids might be going to shopping malls and doing all the usual things, that is not appropriate,” he said.
Mr Andrews said Victorian families should still plan for term two to begin on April 14, but said the state was planning for “remote, flexible, distance learning” in case that became necessary.
In New South Wales, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said schools in the state would remain open, but encouraged parents to keep their children at home.
“For parents that have no option, for parents that are workers, school is safe for children to attend and schools will remain open,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said about one-third of children in the state were absent from school last week.
States and territories go their own ways on schools
These are some of the other announcements we’ve had on schools:

• In Canberra, the ACT Government said most students should stay home from Tuesday onwards, but exceptions would be made for children of “essential” workers
• In Tasmania, Premier Peter Gutwein said public schools would remain open “for the time being” and term dates would not change, but parents who wished to keep children home may do so from this Wednesday
• In Queensland, schools will remain open until the last day of term (April 3), but parents can choose to keep their children at home
• The NT Government says from tomorrow, for the rest of this term, the decision to send kids to school will be a choice for parents

ASX plunges after opening this morning
At 10:20am AEDT, 20 minutes after the start of trade, the ASX 200 had fallen 8.20 per cent.
By 11:40am AEDT, it had regained some of the losses but was still down 6.81 per cent.
It comes as large parts of the Australian economy shut down amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak, with the closure of non-essential businesses and some states shutting their borders.
The Australian dollar is down 1 per cent to 57.4 US cents.
myGov website crashes as people try to access Centrelink
The myGov website has crashed as Australians try to access government services like Centrelink online.
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert says the site itself is fine, but it cannot cope with the unprecedented demand.
He is urging people to be patient and to try logging in later today or tomorrow, if possible.
Photos showed queues outside some Centrelink offices stretching around the block this morning.
The Government is doubling dole payments as it seeks to cushion the economy from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.
Queensland Premier says people should stay in their suburbs, but elections going ahead
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the state is considering further border restrictions, adding that people should “stay in your state and stay in your suburb”.
But she says local elections scheduled for March 28 are still going ahead.
“It is absolutely important that when you go to cast your vote, that you actually keep that social distance,” she said.
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young says there will be no sausage sizzles or fetes.
“Just go straight in, vote, and straight out. The risk of doing that is absolutely minimal,” she said.
Queensland’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen by 60 in the past 24 hours, to a total of 319.
Victoria Police taskforce to enforce coronavirus shutdown
Victoria has announced a special taskforce of 500 policeto enforce a shutdown of non-essential venues and businesses in the state.
Premier Daniel Andrews said many Australians had been “acting selfishly” by ignoring social-distancing rules, and warned “people will die” if the measures were not followed.
It comes as Victoria recorded another 59 cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total to 355.
Germany bans groups of three or more, Merkel in quarantine
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced in a televised press briefing that Germany will ban public meetings of more than two people.
“The great aim is to gain time in the fight against the virus,” she said, citing an agreement between the federal government and regional states.
For at least the next two weeks, people will not be allowed to form groups of three or more in public unless they live together in the same household, or the gathering is work-related.
Ms Merkel went into quarantine on Sunday (local time) after coming into contact with a coronavirus-infected doctor.
She will continue her work from home and will submit to repeated tests over the next few days, her spokesman said in a statement, adding it was too soon for a conclusive test yet.
Germany has the fifth-highest number of coronavirus cases globally at 23,794, based on data collated by Johns Hopkins University. The data also shows that 266 Germans have recovered from the virus, while 92 have died.
All McDonald’s stores in the UK and Ireland to close
McDonald’s says all of its restaurants in the UK and Ireland will be closed by 7:00pm Monday local time at the latest, in order to protect its employees and customers.
“This is not a decision we are taking lightly, but one made with the wellbeing and safety of our employees in mind as well as in the best interests of our customers,” the company said in a statement.
There are about 1,300 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK, with approximately 120,000 employees.
US senator tests positive, mobile hospital centres to be sent to California and New York
Republican senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who voted against bills to fund the fight against coronavirus, has tested positive for COVID-19.
The announcement was made on the Trump ally’s Twitter account:
Mr Paul was among eight Senate Republicans who voted against a bill that provided more than $US100 billion ($173 billion) to boost testing for the coronavirus and guarantee paid sick leave for millions of workers.
He was also the only Republican senator to oppose an earlier bill authorising $US8.3 billion ($14.4 billion) for the initial response to the pandemic.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ship mobile hospital centres to the hard-hit American states of Washington, California and New York amid the coronavirus pandemic.
For New York, that would mean another 1,000 hospital beds.
State and local leaders have appealed to the White House to provide far more. Mr Trump has so far held off on using his full authorities under the Defence Production Act to marshal the private sector’s capabilities.
Deaths in Italy jump by 651 in 24 hours
The number of deaths of people with coronavirus in Italy has jumped 651 to 5,476 in 24 hours, while new infections rose by 10 per cent to over 59,000.
The head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, Angelo Borrelli, noted that the increases had narrowed from recent days.
“We hope that this trend can be confirmed in the coming days. We should not lower our guard,” he said.
On Saturday (local time), the death toll rose by 793 and new cases increased by 6,557.
UK citizens warned of tougher measures
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned Britain may need to impose curfews and travel restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus if people do not heed the Government’s advice on social distancing.
Pubs, clubs and gyms have already closed, but social media on Sunday was awash with pictures of people congregating in parks and food markets, apparently ignoring advice to stay two metres apart.
“You’ve got to do this in line with the advice, you’ve got to follow the social distancing rule, keep two metres apart,” Mr Johnson said at a news conference at Downing Street.
Mr Johnson said tougher measures like curfews needed to be timed right for maximum impact.
The latest official statistics show the UK’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 5,683 on Sunday, up from 5,018 on Saturday suggesting they are now rising more rapidly in Britain than they did in either China or Italy at the same stage, according to a Sky News analysis.
Emirates grounds entire fleet, then doesn’t
Emirates, one of the world’s biggest international airlines, announced it would ground its entire passenger fleet this week and cut staff wages by as much as half because of the coronavirus and its impact on travel demand.
The state-owned Dubai carrier had already announced the suspension of nearly 70 per cent of its network, asked staff to go on unpaid leave, and frozen recruitment as the industry faces one of its biggest-ever challenges.
It initially said it would stop all passenger flights by Wednesday, not saying when they would resume, though cargo flights will continue.
However, a short time later the airline announced it would cancel only “most” international flights, with the exception of flights to Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, and USA.
Stay up-to-date on the coronavirus outbreak
Four-week deadline for Olympics
The International Olympic Committee has set a deadline of four weeks to decide what to do with the Tokyo Games.
It is the first time since the start of the coronavirus outbreak that the IOC has conceded it is considering postponing the event. The change in stance followed a conference call involving the IOC’s executive board overnight.
The IOC said a scaled-down version of the Games would also be considered, but that cancellation was not an option.
In a letter addressed to athletes, IOC President Thomas Bach said he understood they might find the uncertainty “unsatisfactory”.
“I know that this unprecedented situation leaves many of your questions open. I also know this rational approach may not be in line with the emotions many of you have to go through,” he said.
“A decision about a postponement today could not determine a new date for the Olympic Games because of the uncertain developments in both directions: an improvement… in a number of countries… or a deteriorating situation in other countries.”
Gene sequencing to be used to watch for emerging mutations
UK scientists will track the spread of coronavirus and watch for emerging mutations by using gene sequencing to analyse the strains causing thousands of COVID-19 infections.
Researchers will collect data from samples from infected patients in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“Genomic sequencing will help us understand COVID-19 and its spread. It can also help guide treatments in the future and see the impact of interventions,” Patrick Vallance, the British Government’s chief scientific adviser, said in a statement.
At least 281 Britons have died from COVID-19.
Thailand posts its biggest daily case increase
Thailand has posted its biggest daily increase in confirmed cases.
On Sunday, it announced 188 new cases, bringing the country’s tally to 599.
Our South-East Asia Correspondent Amy Bainbridge says Bangkok is extremely quiet, with most businesses now shut down.
Five provinces surrounding Bangkok have followed measures introduced last week that were aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
Supermarkets and pharmacies are open, and restaurants can offer take away food.
Authorities say most of the new infections are linked to a previous cluster of cases of people who attended a boxing stadium earlier this month.
Your questions on coronavirus answered:
Australia’s case numbers
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia is 1,354.
Here is a state-by-state breakdown of the cases:

• NSW: 533 (six deaths)
• Victoria: 296
• Queensland: 259
• WA: 120 (one death)
• SA: 100
• Tasmania: 22
• ACT: 20
• NT: 5

These figures come from state and territory databases of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The latest update was at 7.35pm AEDT on Sunday, March 22.
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
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First posted
March 23, 2020 04:48:34