Mingling with his ministers and Sydney's high-flyers at a Liberal fundraiser on Tuesday night, Scott Morrison was keen to be convivial.

"I know more about viruses than I care to know and I'm shaking hands with everyone," the Prime Minister was heard to say.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison greets Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the COAG meeting on Friday in Sydney. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Morrison has certainly had to learn a lot about the coronavirus in recent months as he steers the country through a health and economic crisis of unfamiliar and scary proportion.

And now that the virus has reached the inner sanctum of the cabinet - courtesy of Peter Dutton - Morrison is coming face to face with the grim reality of pandemic life.