Good evening, and welcome to our daily roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Justine Landis-Hanley bringing you the main stories on Tuesday 21 April.

Some elective surgery restrictions lifted

The national cabinet has agreed to lift some elective surgery restrictions after Anzac Day, Scott Morrison announced. The prime minister said state governments would ease restrictions on all category two or equivalent procedures in the private sector, as well as selected category three and other procedures. These include IVF, all screening programs, post-cancer reconstructive surgeries, all procedures for children under the age of 18, joint replacements and eye procedures.

More than 517,000 jobseeker claims processed

A year’s worth of unemployment welfare applications have been processed in the last six weeks, Morrison announced on Tuesday. He said that since 16 March the government had processed 517,000 jobseeker claims.

Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest figures reveal almost 800,000 people – 6% of the nation’s workforce – lost their job in the first three weeks of coronavirus restrictions. The report, released on Tuesday, shows Australian workers have seen a 6.7% decline in take-home pay, with those under the age of 20 suffering the biggest losses in jobs and wages.

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RBA paints ‘sobering picture of the state of our economy’

Reserve Bank governor Phillip Lowe has warned the Australian economy faces “the biggest contraction in national output” since the Great Depression, with unemployment expected to hit 10% by June. Even if restrictions are eased this year, Lowe said it’s likely unemployment will be around 6% or more for several years, and wage growth will stay below 2%.

Virgin Australia in voluntary administration

Virgin Australia has entered voluntary administration after failing to secure a government bailout to cope with the financial impact of coronavirus travel restrictions. Virgin appointed four Deloitte partners as joint administrators to deal with the company’s $4.8bn pile of debt. The administrators said there were no plans to make any of the airline’s 10,000 employees redundant during this administration period.

China baulks at Australia’s call for an independent investigation

China has dismissed Australian foreign minister Marise Payne’s call on Sunday for an international investigation into the origins and handing of coronavirus. China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, accused Australia of “dancing to the tune” of the United States, adding that “Australian foreign minister Payne’s remarks are not based on facts”.

NSW schools to reopen one day per week

New South Wales school students will return to school one day a week starting 11 May, gradually increasing to full-time by term three, the state’s premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced. The NSW education minister, Sarah Mitchell, said the government wanted schools to have “about a quarter of students on campus each day, but how they break that group up will be a matter for [schools]”.

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