Morning mail: new limits on socialising, moratorium on evictions, what to watch in lockdown

Good morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 30 March.

Coronavirus

Scott Morrison has announced further restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, including a new limit of two people for outdoor gatherings. In his Sunday evening press conference, the prime minister also told the over-70s to stay at home altogether and said people should only leave the house for essential trips, such as to the supermarket. He closed public areas like playgrounds and placed a six-month moratorium on evictions from rental properties. The death toll in Australia is now at 16, an increase of two in 24 hours, but there was some optimism about the number of recorded cases. Morrison said the daily rate of increase had declined from 25-30% a week ago to as low as 9% on Sunday. The health minister, Greg Hunt, went as far as to say there were “early signs of flattening of the curve”.

Australians who have lost work as a result of the virus will be offered a UK-style wage guarantee but there are fews details yet on how this will work. Federal public servants have finally been told they can now work from home. And there was relief for Australians stranded on a cruise ship in northern Italy, who were told they would be flown to Perth. Those who test positive to Covid-19 will not be allowed on the plane.

Spain recorded 838 deaths in a 24-hour period on Sunday, bringing the country’s death toll to 6,528, with 78,797 confirmed cases. Fernando Simón, the head of Spain’s centre for health emergencies, said the situation was stabilising but “the main problem is making sure intensive care units aren’t overloaded”. Deaths in Lombardy, the region in northern Italy hardest hit, look to be slowing down. Meanwhile in Germany, Hesse state’s finance minister, Thomas Schäfer, has killed himself. “We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” said the state premier, Volker Bouffier. The UK is also in mourning after the death of a consultant doctor from Covid-19. NHS England said Amged el-Hawrani was the first confirmed hospital frontline worker to die after testing positive for coronavirus. The UK has recorded 209 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,228. The country’s oldest coronavirus victim is Hilda Churchill, 108, from Salford, who survived the Spanish flu in 1918.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

The leading US government infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has predicted coronavirus could kill as many as 200,000 Americans. On Sunday morning the US had recorded nearly 125,000 cases of Covid-19 and 2,188 deaths. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told CNN’s State Of The Union: “As the president fiddles, people are dying.” The US response to the outbreak seems to be falling along partisan lines, with Democratic governors imposing restrictions and Republicans refusing to do the same.

Treatments for Covid-19 continue to evolve. The NHS is trialling an experimental antibody treatment, where patients are given plasma from people who have survived. The treatment is for people admitted to hospital with pneumonia in the hope it reduces the number who end up on ventilators.

Australia

The government will check all proposed foreign investments into Australia, amid fears the economic fallout from Covid-19 will make assets vulnerable. As the western world locks down economies, China has made moves to restart its own economic activity, raising concerns that distressed foreign assets could be bought without appropriate checks and balances.

A 91-year-old woman has died after she and four other people were attacked by three dogs on the NSW south coast. The woman died at the scene after sustaining serious injuries.

2019 was probably the worst year this century for the environment in Australia. Record heat and drought affected river flows, tree cover and wildlife on an “unprecedented scale”, according to a new report.

The world

Church services all over the world have defied Covid-19 lockdowns to hold packed services. While millions worshipped online, dozens of parishioners, many of them elderly, crowded into Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg to receive communion.

The British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is under consideration for clemency. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year jail sentence in Iran, is seen by some as a bargaining chip in a wider diplomatic dispute with the UK.

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday. South Korea described the timing as “inappropriate”.

Recommended reads

Michael McGowan reports on the personal toll of the outbreak. In Sydney he talks with Jazmin Weatherall, who used to work at a cinema until it had to close down. In Victoria, Bruce Roberts and his partner Cory, both flight attendants, face having no income. “There’s so many of us with so many questions” he says. In Melbourne, Marlee Jane Ward, a 37-year-old writer and receptionist, says: “My job that paid the bills was casual so I had no leave entitlements or redundancy. It’s really revealed how fucking tenuous everything was to begin with.”

Benoît Jacquot’s 2012 film Farewell, My Queen, follows three days in Versailles on the eve of the French revolution. Now streaming on SBS On Demand, the plot of the French-language film revolves around a servant, Sidonie (Léa Seydoux), who is the assistant reader to Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger). Even though we know, thanks to history, where the story ends, Farewell, My Queen still manages to feel like a workplace thriller, with the story focused on the ladies’ maids and palace librarians who wonder if the revolutionaries will want to dispose of them too. It isn’t exactly relaxing, but something about stories of extremely wealthy people not sharing their resources feels essential at this moment.

And a round of applause for the world’s grandparents, doing their duties from self-isolation and using new technology to stay in touch with their grandchildren. “The last time we had any physical contact was the 14th of March,” says Susan Slaughter from Brisbane. “All my time was geared around the children but it’s all changed. They’re not allowed into the house any more and so we see them over the fence and on FaceTime.” Daisy Dumas reports on how Australian families are keeping young children apart from their older relatives.

Listen

Today’s Full Story podcast looks at how the Ruby Princess was allowed to disembark at Sydney and spread Covid-19 across Australia. The ship docked on a warm autumn day in Sydney Harbour to let its 2,700 passengers off. Not long afterwards, passenger after passenger was confirmed to have contracted the virus. In this episode of Full Story we look at who was ultimately responsible for a breakdown in Australia’s biosecurity safeguards.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.

Sport

The financial stability of all 16 NRL clubs will be a chief concern for the players’ union in one of the biggest meetings in the game’s history. Both the NRL and Rugby League Players’ Association are confident a deal will be reached early this week on pay.

Media roundup

Australian news websites are focused on the new coronavirus restrictions. The Australian describes the situation as “Australia’s new social order: three’s a crowd”, before going on to report that even the crowds at Bondi seem to be getting the message. The Sydney Morning Herald has a more global look, with its live blog reporting on restrictions in the UK, and the falling death rate in Italy. The West Australian leads with news that the stricken German cruiser Artania would be able to send 29 passengers to the Joondalup health campus, rather than the Hollywood and Bethesda hospitals, where staff said they were not prepared to treat Covid-19 patients.

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