Millions more Australians can now apply for $1,500 coronavirus handout as Scott Morrison gives disaster payment the green light - here's who is eligible
More Australian workers can now apply for a coronavirus payment if they're ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.
New South Wales is the latest state to have the $1,500 pandemic leave disaster payment approved by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The lump sum payment is available to eligible workers unable to earn an income because they've been ordered by health authorities to self-isolate for two weeks due to close contact with an infected case - or need to care for a loved one with COVID-19.
The financial relief is available to workers aged 17 and older who don't have access to personal, care or pandemic sick leave.
NSW workers are the latest Australians who could be eligible for a coronavirus payment if they're forced to self-isolated for two weeks and will lose income as a result. Pictured are Sydeysiders in Pitt Street Mall last week
Eligible workers in NSW must show they're been ordered by health authorities to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days on or since September 17 - and prove a loss of income.
'We didn't want to declare a State of Emergency in NSW, which is what the criteria was to get the pandemic leave,' Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Sunday.
'I wrote to the prime minister saying "please can you support us in that way" and he very gladly accepted.'
'We want to make sure, first and foremost, that those who need to isolate do so.'
Parents caring for a child under the age of 16 with coronavirus or advised to self-isolate for 14 days are also eligible.
For couples, both parties can claim the $1500 payment.
The $1,500 lump sum will be available to workers workers who don't have access to personal, care or pandemic sick leave but are ordered to self-isolate to contacted with an infected case. Pictured is a waitress at Sydney's Opera Bar in Circular Quay
'Our first and foremost priority is to keep the community safe,' Ms Berejiklian added.
'If you have been asked to isolate whether you have been a close contact or whether you have symptoms or for any other reason, please follow those instructions and the government is here to support you.'
Victoria was the first state to introduce the payment, followed by Tasmania and most recently Western Australia, despite no community transmissions of coronavirus in months.
The pandemic leave disaster payment approved by Prime Minister Scott Morrison
'If we've learned anything from our counterparts on the east coast, it is complacency is deadly, complacency can bring down the state and will undo all the hard work each and every member of the community has given,' WA Premier Mark McGowan said last week.
'I hope that Western Australians don't have to take-up this payment arrangement however knowing it is available should we need it ensures we are prepared for the worst.'
Other states are also eligible if they request access to the payment.
About $13.3 million in pandemic leave disaster payments have already been paid out to 9,000 Australians since since August 6.
NSW is the fourth state to have the $1,500 pandemic leave disaster payment approved
Just two new COVID-19 cases were recorded in NSW on Sunday, which included a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
The state recorded its first coronavirus fatality since August 16 when a man in his 70s died at Royal North Shore Hospital on Saturday, bringing the state's death toll to 55.
There are fears NSW case numbers may rise in the coming days after a COVID-19 positive taxi driver worked in Sydney's south-west while potentially infectious for up to nine days between September 8 and 18.
His trips during that time spanned the suburbs of Moorebank, Bankstown, Chipping Norton, Liverpool, Lidcombe, Warwick Farm and Milperra in Sydney's south-west.
Virus-riddled Victoria recorded 14 new cases and five deaths on Sunday, its lowest number of new daily cases in months.
The NSW Premier wanted to ensure those who need to isolate do so can do so without worrying about a loss of income. Pictured is an employee with a customer at Apple's flagship store in Sydney on Friday
CORONAVIRUS IN AUSTRALIA: THE LATEST
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
* Victoria reported just 14 new coronavirus infections along with a further five deaths, taking the state's toll to 761.
* Another person has died in NSW, with the state's COVID-19 toll now standing at 55.
* With the six additional deaths, the national figure stands at 849.
* Victoria's daily case number - the smallest since June 16 - also pushed metropolitan Melbourne's 14-day rolling average down to 36.2, well below the target of 50 for lifting restrictions.
* Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria's numbers are cause for great optimism, and promised the state's budget will include "exciting, targeted, tailored and innovative" policies to help it rebound.
* Meanwhile, more than 100 live music venues across Victoria will share in $13 million in grants to help support on-stage and backstage jobs during the pandemic.
* The federal government has pledged almost $6 million in additional research and development for three Australian COVID-19 vaccines.
* An additional $305 million will also be put aside for families and childcare providers, largely in Victoria in light of its second-wave lockdown.
* NSW recorded two new cases, with a major contact tracing operation underway after a COVID-positive taxi driver worked while potentially infectious. The driver was one of two new infections recorded on Sunday.
* Premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced NSW workers were now eligible for paid pandemic leave under a deal struck with the federal government.
* Queensland recorded two new cases amid reports US actor Tom Hanks is back and staying at a luxury Gold Coast mansion rather than in a government-mandated quarantine hotel.
* Western Australia had one new case - a teenage boy in hotel quarantine who recently returned from overseas.
KEY DATES
* September 14 to September 27 - stage four lockdown for Melbourne with some changes, including the curfew moving back an hour to 9pm.
* September 27 - NSW, Queensland and WA will start taking more international arrivals.
* September 28 - if average daily cases are 30-50 in metro Melbourne over the previous 14 days the city will move to the 'second step', including increased limits for public gatherings and a staged return to school for some students.
* October 26 - Tasmania's state of emergency due to expire. In Melbourne, the overnight curfew will be dropped if - over the previous fortnight - the average number of new cases falls below five and there are fewer than five cases from an unknown source.
* November - Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry report due.
* November 23 - If there are no new cases for 14 days in Melbourne the city will move to the 'last step'. That includes all retail shops opening, public gatherings of up to 50 people allowed outdoors, and up to 20 visitors at a time allowed into a home.
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 19 new cases in Australia - 14 in Victoria, two in NSW, two in Queensland and one in WA. Victoria announced an additional five deaths and NSW one.
* The national death toll is 849: Victoria 761, NSW 55, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 30,782,000
* Deaths: at least 957,000
Data current as of 1715 AEST September 20, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.