Thirty-three medical professionals who landed at Sydney Airport on a flight from South America on Friday night disobeyed police orders to go into quarantine at an airport hotel and instead headed to the domestic terminal to fly home.
Police Minister David Elliott said he was "disappointed to hear medical professionals chose to ignore rules in place to save lives and protect the most vulnerable in our community".
"No one is above the law," Mr Elliott said.
Australian Federal Police at the International Airport Rydges Hotel, one of 10-15 hotels that will be used for mandatory quarantine.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
A NSW Police spokesperson said the Australian Federal Police managed to locate six of the 33 medical professionals in the domestic terminal and send them back to quarantine. But the remaining 27 had already departed interstate.
The relevant state or federal police will serve public health orders on those who absconded.
People will be barred from gathering in groups on Surf Coast beaches after beachgoers flocked to the coast today.
The Surf Coast Shire said, as of Sunday, people will not be allowed to sit down at the beach. Only people going in the water or walking/running through the beach will be permitted in the area.
Victoria's chief health officer, Brett Sutton, criticised those who did not obey social distancing rules, calling the behaviour "really crap" and saying it could lead to an "unstoppable spread".
"We've taken this action after evidence today there were still large gatherings of people at a number of beaches in the shire," the council said in a statement.
Port Phillip Council announced similar restrictions yesterday.
Can you really have a social life while in social isolation?
Absolutely, say some of Australia's most imaginative folk, who are trying to brighten their angst-riddled days by filling their social calendars with everything from virtual trivia nights, to "nice-olation" cocktail parties, dance-offs, DJ sets, book clubs, poker games, baking sessions and birthday bashes.
House-bound Australians have been finding solace in apps such as Zoom, FaceTime, Instagram and House Party, where they can hang out on video with friends and family in their pyjamas – before maybe settling in for a movie together on Netflix Party.
Some are using videoconferencing services to drink beers or cocktails with friends, spawning a new passtime: "quarantini hour."
It was the last question in a friendly Tuesday night chat on Sky News just a few days before Australia Day, when everyone had already grown weary of an emotionally draining, long, hot and smoky summer.
Political staffer turned conservative commentator Peta Credlin had allowed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to talk up his government's response to the bushfires that had ravaged almost every state and canvassed the merits of efforts to reduce emissions.
When Credlin was "just about out of time", she asked for a quick response about the breaking news that a man recently returned from China had been tested for a new strain of coronavirus.
"Now, I know people at home will be concerned, this is sort of SARS-like symptoms," she said. "What's being put in place at a national level in relation to airports and people who might be arriving into Australia?"
It was the first time Morrison had spoken publicly about this little-known new virus. He told Sky viewers he'd been advised it was "not at the sort of extreme level" of SARS but it was "still early days".
"There's an incident response group that has already been stood up here nationally to monitor this very, very closely and I'm getting daily updates ... to ensure that we're all over this," he said.
Two days later, with Chinese authorities reporting 571 cases of infections and 17 deaths, Morrison stood alongside Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy at a press conference. They declared that, despite no confirmed cases in Australia of what would become COVID-19, a national incident response room had been activated for "a human coronavirus with pandemic potential".
Behind the scenes, a national network of public health officials, researchers and medical experts had been quickly assembled to plan for an outbreak should the virus take hold in Australia.
Over the coming weeks, the nation's best and brightest would gather twice a day with the latest research, views and opinions in an attempt to form a consensus approach and bring it to the attention of the country's decision makers and political leaders.
A Melbourne nurse said she was "shocked" as she filmed beachgoers defying government advice on social distancing at Point Addis on Saturday afternoon.
Video taken by Stephanie Durran shows hundreds of cars parked on the sides of the road and people headed to the beach. It came less than 24 hours after beaches in Port Phillip were closed due to people ignoring social distancing.
Ms Durran said she was driving to fill up fuel and thought she would drive to an isolated area as she had been cooped up in a hospital.
"I'm a nurse so I've been inside all week," she said.
"We didn't think that anyone would be down there, honestly, we just thought it was going to be empty.
"I was shocked when we got down there and there were all these people and I grabbed my phone and videoed it, just to have some proof.
"Then we got out of there because we were like, we don't want to be around all these people.
"It was just enough to show that people aren't abiding by rules and regulations, which is really sad and very disappointing.
"Ms Durran said nurses were under increased stress as the hospital prepared "for what's to come in coming weeks".
The Logie Awards will "not proceed as planned" on the Gold Coast in June, Bauer Media said on Saturday.
The event was to be held on June 28 at The Star casino. However, Bauer Media's Fiona Connolly confirmed that the organisation was working on a TV broadcast alternative.
It's not clear if the event will have an awards ceremony with actors and industry figures in attendance.
"Given the global COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 TV WEEK Logie Awards will not proceed as planned on the Gold Coast on Sunday, June 28, nor any of the ancillary public events," Ms Connolly said.
"But we will continue with our nominations announcement and online voting campaign and are working with our partners on a TV broadcast alternative and will advise of those details when we have them."
Nominations will still be announced in May but the winners will not be announced on June 28.
Thousands more workers will be stood down by one of the country's biggest retail operators, Cotton On Group, when it shuts its 650 stores on Sunday.
A company spokeswoman was unable to say how many jobs will be impacted but full-and part-time workers will receive their full pay for the next month, as a first step.
Cotton On will shut its stores.Credit:Stefan Postles
Chief executive Peter Johnson said: "While this crisis continues to throw curveballs daily, we're confident that we have the right plan in place to come out the other end and bounce back quickly."
The company was also connecting with Woolworths and Coles to try to find opportunities for its casual workers who have been stood down.Cotton On Group owns several brands including Rubi, Supre, Factorie, Typo and all the Cotton On spin-offs such as Body and Kids.
Read more about today's retail closures here.
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