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Home visits cleared, NSW virus toll now 37
The NSW premier has warned the number of COVID-19 cases in the state will inevitably rise as restrictions on house visits ease from the end of the week.
A maximum of two adults will from Friday be permitted in NSW to visit another household for social or care reasons, with children permitted to come along.
The measure fulfils the state government's earlier promise to reassess restrictions at the end of each month. Plans for students to resume face-to-face schooling from May 11 have already been announced, while an uptick in NSW retail activity is also expected.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Tuesday admitted health authorities expected the changes to increase the number of new COVID-19 cases but said hospitals had bolstered their capacity throughout April and sourced extra protective gear.
Those aged over 70 should continue to remain at home as much as possible.
Helping our kids through COVID-19
PARENTS may be concerned their children - particularly teenagers - are spending too much time on screens and social media as families adjust to social distancing and isolation.
But Newcastle psychologist Lynn Jenkins says now, perhaps more than ever, it is important for teenagers to stay connected to their friends.
"I know it's a huge conversation - but it is the way they socialise," Ms Jenkins said.
"It is a big part of their social world, and right now, they need that connection.
"But, with more time on their hands, it might be worth upping the random checks. The main thing you have to watch in this situation is that with all of these changes, we could get a bit more narky and agitated - so you just have to watch that there's not any bullying going on.
"Violent games and that kind of thing are never really a good idea."
No coronavirus cases in Canberra's hospitals
There are now no patients with coronavirus in Canberra's hospitals.
It comes as the ACT has gone another 24 hours without a new case of COVID-19.
While one coronavirus patient was in a stable condition in hospital on Monday, they have since been discharged.
ACT Health have said there are just two active cases of coronavirus in Canberra, down from three on Monday.
Those two active cases are self-isolating at home.
Health authorities have said there are no more cases under investigation.
The last case that was under investigation, a young woman, was found to have acquired the virus while she was overseas.
Figures show the total number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the ACT remain at 106, while 101 have recovered from the virus.
The death toll in the ACT still stands at three.
NRL slaps fines on stars for breaching COVID-19 orders
THE NRL has slapped Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr with $50,000 fines for breaching COVID-19 health orders but stopped short of rubbing them out of on-field action over their now infamous camping trip last weekend.
New interim CEO Andrew Abdo confirmed that breach notices had been issued to the duo, as well as Penrith star Nathan Cleary over a separate breach, with 60 per cent of all fines suspended along with a suspended one-game suspension.
Cleary was hit with a $10,000 fine, as was Knights player Tyrone Roberts-Davis who was on the same camping trip and Mitchell and Addo-Carr, also with 60 per cent suspended. They also had a one-game stand-down suspended.
All will have five days to respond to the breach notices, though many will consider them fortunate to not miss any games if they accept the penalties.
Images uploaded to Addo-Carr's Instagram account showed he, Mitchell and Roberts-Davis riding motor bikes and sitting around campfire with 10 other men with a clear disregard for social distancing measures
Isolation casualty: 80yo woman spends four days on the floor after breaking hip
Authorities have issued another reminder about looking out for the vulnerable during COVID-19 restrictions after an 80-year-old Queensland woman spent four days on the floor of her home with a fractured hip.
Police kicked in the door of her Beaudesert house and found her on the lounge room, crying for help.
Beaudesert Police Station officer-in-charge Ken Murray said police heard the woman's cry for help as they checked on her welfare last week.
"The officers only just heard her voice and they forced entry to find she had had been incapacitated after a fall," he said.
"It took her four days to crawl from her bedroom to the lounge room. She had a fractured hip."
"I think this could serve as a reminder for everyone to keep in touch with each other and check up on the elderly," he said.
"We contacted the Beaudesert Uniting Church and they are now working to make the house nice for when the lady comes back, and we will make sure she has better, more regular assistance."
She elderly woman is stable and resting comfortably at QEll Jubilee Hospital in Brisbane.
Faster employment hit than Depression
Unemployment is rising faster than in the Great Depression with some jobs and businesses set to be permanently lost, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said on Tuesday.
"We have never seen an economic shock of this speed, magnitude and shape," he told a Senate inquiry into the coronavirus response.
Unemployment was expected to top 10 per cent in the June quarter. It had risen to higher levels in the Great Depression but over a couple of years.
"These movements are happening in just a couple of months," he said.
More than 540,000 businesses had enrolled for the government JobKeeper wage subsidy by Monday afternoon, covering about 3.3 million workers, officials told the hearing. The wage subsidy is $1500 a fortnight for workers in all businesses impacted by the coronavirus downturn.
The government predicted it would cover about six million workers. Dr Kennedy said numbers were "broadly on track", but "we will wait and see".
Snowfall forecast for region, temperature to plummet on Friday
The Bathurst region may be welcoming snow on the first day of May on Friday, with widespread falls predicted for the region.
Weatherzone is forecasting a high of just 7 degrees on Friday, which would make it the coldest Bathurst day since a high of just 9 was recorded on Saturday, September 7, 2019.
Weatherzone meteorologist Esteban Abellan said the cold front will come over the region on Thursday night, with temperatures expected to dramatically fall.
"The cold front will reach the area on Thursday night, so the temperature will plummet right after the cold front," he said.
"Rain forecast may become snow.
"To have an idea [in the change in temperature] we are looking at 10 degrees at about 1500 metres on Thursday morning. The following morning, the temperature will drop to zero degrees at 1500 metres.
If it does snow in the Bathurst region Friday, it'll be the first significant snowfall since August last year, which resulted in Group 10 premier league matches being abandoned in Oberon and Orange.
Police seize $10m worth of cannabis at Ballimore, charge seven people
Seven people have been charged and nearly $10 million worth of cannabis seized from a property at Ballimore.
In December 2019, detectives from the State Crime Command's Drug and Firearms Squad established Strike Force Emerstan to investigate the cultivation and supply of cannabis across the Central West.
Their inquiries uncovered a rural property near Dubbo being used for the cultivation of cannabis.
On Monday, strike force detectives executed a crime scene warrant at a Ballimore property, with assistance from Orana Mid-Western Police District, Western Region Enforcement Squad and the Dog Unit.
"When officers arrived there they came upon a dedicated cultivated of cannabis, a huge plantation comprising 13 industrial-sized grow houses. There was 2440 cannabis plants growing there but over bad above that, 350 kilograms of drying cannabis head was located strewn throughout the property," Drug and Firearms Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent John Watson said.
Farmers rejoice as wet autumn relieves coronavirus pressure
CROPPERS are pouncing on two good rains as they begin laying down seed across the region.
Early weather breaks like this autumn's have been rare over the last 15 years, Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey said.
It has posed particular challenges for graziers who like an autumn break big enough to feed stock over winter, he said.
"There were times back in the 1970s and 80s when early breaks were par for the course and farmers were often sowing into moisture," Mr Grey said.
"So for people old enough, this season would certainly be more reminiscent of periods when earlier autumn breaks were more common."
Last weekend's 25mm downpour in the Bendigo area came just before the traditional season began, Mr Grey said.
"We also had a really good opening rain in early April, which pushed up the weeds and pastures in farmers' paddocks.