Hundreds of economists have cautioned the Morrison Government against relaxing social distancing measures too early, warning such a move could cause unnecessary loss of life and impede Australia’s economic recovery. The open letter — released Monday — has more than 200 signatures and growing, including current Reserve Bank board member Ian Harper, former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin, former Treasury …

Government Services Minister Stuart Robert has slapped down Barnaby Joyce for threatening to not download the federal government’s COVID-19 tracking app, saying the former deputy prime minister just doesn’t understand it. A number of federal politicians, including Mr Joyce, have cited privacy concerns about the Covid tracker, which will be available in the next couple of weeks, and helps to …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged from a London hospital where he was treated in intensive care for COVID-19. Mr Johnson was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital on April 5 with a persistent fever and cough and was moved to intensive care two days later after his conditions “worsened”. His condition stabilised a few days later before he …

Australia’s effort to slow the spread of coronavirus is earning praise from the federal Health Minister but it’s coming with a warning that there’s no end in sight to the restrictions that have shuttered swathes of the economy. Greg Hunt lauded Australians for adhering to the Prime Minister’s demand to stay home at Easter, amid fears travel could lead to …

China has imposed restrictions on the publication of academic research on the origins of the novel coronavirus, according to a central government directive and online notices published by two Chinese universities, that have since been removed from the web. Under the new policy, all academic papers on COVID-19 will be subject to extra vetting before being submitted for publication. Studies …

Yesterday in America, 1,940 people died from coronavirus. In a single day, 31,935 new infections were recorded. I personally know five people who have been told they have COVID-19. Only one of them was able to get a test and it came back inconclusive. The rest were told by their doctors “don’t bother” because there weren’t enough test kits to …

Australia could be “on the cusp” of slowing the infections of coronavirus to the point that the epidemic “dies out”, Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer says. Professor Paul Kelly said the number of people infected by one person with COVID-19 was a key component in understanding how it spreads. “Ideally where you want to be is below one, so less …

Embattled New South Wales cabinet minister Don Harwin has resigned after being fined $1,000 for breaching the ban on non-essential travel due to coronavirus. The NSW Arts Minister was photographed at his Central Coast holiday home, but he argued his travel happened before the strict rules were in place. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said no-one was above the law …

President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US funding to the World Health Organisation, saying it “missed the call” on the devastating coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump made the announcement at a White House press briefing on Tuesday (Washington time) as deaths and infections across the United States continued to rise. Mr Trump criticised the organisation, saying it “called it wrong” …

Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral has been vandalised, with the words “rapist” and “no justice” graffitied across its doors a day after Cardinal George Pell was acquitted on child sex abuse charges. “Rot in hell, Pell” was also scrawled across the doors of the cathedral at the centre of allegations the cardinal abused two choirboys in the 1990s. The words “the …