LATEST NEWS ABOUT COVID-19:
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NUMBERS
* Confirmed cases in Australia: 2799, up from 1709 on Monday and nearly tripled since Saturday
* NSW is the worst hit, with 1219 cases
* Victoria added 54 cases overnight to 520
* Australian deaths: 13 (seven in NSW, three in Vic, two in WA, one in Qld)
* More than 178,000 tests conducted, with a positive rate of 1.5 per cent
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MEASURES
* Borders closed in Queensland, Tasmania, SA, NT and WA. Freight and essential travel excepted
* Non-essential travel should cease
* Australians, excluding aid workers and compassionate travel cases, are banned from travelling overseas
* Non-essential services urged to close
* A limited number of international rescue flights for stranded Australians
* Still open: supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, public transport, some schools, hairdressers no longer limited to 30 minutes, 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 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
* School holidays in Queensland, SA and WA also brought forward with only children of parents who have essential jobs allowed to stay
* Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people, but states can provide exemptions; weddings restricted to the couple, celebrant and two witnesses
* All elective surgery other than the most urgent to be put on hold
* Testing extended to include anyone with a fever or acute respiratory infection who works in health care or aged care, lives in areas with an elevated risk of community transmission, or where there are two or more plausibly linked cases
* All patients will be able to access Medicare-funded online consultations from next week
* A National COVID-19 Coordination Commission has been set up to advise governments
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COMMENT
* Quote: "If you're sick, stay at home. If you're in quarantine, you stay at home. If you're in self-isolation, you stay at home. If you are a contact with someone with COVID-19, you stay at home. If you have just come back from overseas in the last 14 days, you stay at home.
"I don't know how much clearer I can make it, seriously." NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant urges people in NSW to self-isolate.
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SPORT
* Wimbledon organisers will consider cancelling the tennis tournament in an emergency meeting next week
* Racing suspended after a jockey tested positive for the virus
* This year's Tokyo Olympic Games postponed until 2021
* The AFL, NRL, A-league soccer, Super Rugby and netball competitions postponed
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ECONOMICS
* Finance: The ASX200 rose 2.3 per cent higher to close at 5,113.3 while the All Ordinaries index added 2.58 per cent, to 5,135.2, with all sectors higher.
* 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 and will buy a further $4 billion in government bonds
* US politicians have reached a deal on a massive $A3.3 trillion emergency stimulus
* South Australia announces a new $650 million support package for key industries and local businesses to help save jobs
* Tasmania will double its state government stimulus package to $1 billion to support local businesses.
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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS
* Cases: more than 471,759 - including Prince Charles
* Deaths: more than 21,297
* Recovered: at least 114,696
*Source: Australian Department of Health website at 1730 March 26, plus NSW government at 0800 and worldometer website at 0532 GMT
Australian Associated Press