ABC
Key points:
- The rate of increase has dropped from 25 to 30 per cent a day to 13 to 15 per cent
- The Coronavirus Australia app allows users to navigate the latest advice and information about coronavirus
- In addition to the new features, the Federal Government also detailed its $1.1 billion healthcare package
While the national death toll rose to 16 following the deaths of a woman in Queensland and a man in Victoria, Mr Morrison said the rate of increase had dropped from 25 to 30 per cent a day, to 13 to 15 per cent a day.
Adding the rates of increase were “still strong”, the Prime Minister unveiled a new app allowing users to navigate the latest advice and information about coronavirus in real-time.
Coronavirus Australia, which is available from the Apple App Store and on Google Play, was launched alongside the Government’s new WhatsApp feature.
“[The feature] enables us to talk to Australians in terms of basic health advice, updates on the measures that are being put in place by state and federal governments,” Mr Morrison said.
The Australian Government has released an
official app with the information you need to know about #coronavirus.
Search “Coronavirus Australia” in the Apple App Store and on Google
Play.#COVID19 #coronavirusaustralia #coronavirusau
“And that will assist you to get accurate and timely information about what is being done by governments around the country to support you, as you and your family and your household and your community work through the difficult months ahead because of the coronavirus.”
Mr Morrison added the Coronavirus Australia app would be “a trusted place of advice and information” about the current situation.
Stay up-to-date on the coronavirus outbreak
- Download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest on how the pandemic is impacting the world
- You can also get up-to-date information on the Federal Government’s Coronavirus Australia app, available on the App Store, Google Play and the Government’s WhatsApp channel.
Australia can’t ‘cut and paste’ systems
In addition to the new features, the Federal Government detailed its $1.1 billion healthcare package.
The funding includes $669 million for Medicare subsidised telehealth services, $74 million for mental health support — including a dedicated coronavirus wellbeing hotline coordinated by BeyondBlue — $150 million for domestic violence initiatives and $200 million for emergency relief support.
The expansion of telehealth services means anyone who is self-isolating can access healthcare over the phone or via video conferencing, including consultations with GPs, specialists and allied health professionals.
The Government is also doubling the bulk-billing incentive and making that available for both face-to-face and telehealth consultations, and offering an incentive payment to ensure practices stay open to provide face-to-face services when necessary.
“That is very important because so many health services still need to be face-to-face, involve examination, involve physical consultation,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
Mr Morrison added the Government was being careful to ensure that income support could be delivered in a way “that gets it to people as quickly as possible”.
“When we do these things, it is not a matter of just cutting and pasting ideas from other places,” he said.
“We need to have solutions that will work in Australia and so our approach has been to apply the discipline to the design of measures to deal with unprecedented levels of demand.
“We have even seen where we have moved as part of our second stimulus … even with the significant ramping up of capacity through Centrelink and other government services, that was fairly quickly overwhelmed.
“We are learning from that and ensuring the measures we seek to put in place next will be able to be distributed even more effectively.”
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