NSW businesses will get a financial support package to help them survive Sydney lockdown under a plan to be announced expected to be announced today.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal and NSW governments have been finalising the details of cash flow support for businesses.
This comes after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: "Where the numbers are, it is not likely - in fact, almost impossible - for us to get out of lockdown on Friday," Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday.
The state government has already committed $1.4 billion to help businesses and was reportedly keen to establish a NSW-funded JobKeeper-style program.
The joint package will include JobKeeper-style increased cash flow payments for businesses to cover costs and wages, so long as no worker is sacked.
People who have lost 20 hours of work or more a week could have their emergency payments increased from $500 to $600. And the payment for those who have lost less than 20 hours a week will receive $375, up $50.
Victorian contact tracers are having trouble nailing down the movements of a Sydney-based removalist team, one of two new COVID-19 scares.
Two of the three-person crew have tested positive upon their return to Sydney after travelling through Victoria and SA for work last week.
Authorities want to pinpoint the removalists' movements to confirm any additional stops on their route from Sydney to Melbourne and onto Adelaide as soon as possible.
While Australia deals with Covid-19 outbreaks, lockdowns and border closures, it's a different story elsewhere.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to show caution when nearly all remaining Covid-19 restrictions are lifted in England next week, saying an increase in cases underlined that the pandemic was by no means over.
But what was once billed as "freedom day" is now being treated with wariness by ministers after a new surge in cases and fears that there could be as many as 100,000 new infections a day over the northern hemisphere summer.