The Australian death toll rose to 13 on Thursday after four patients, including a person in their 60s, died from COVID-19. Stage three is likely to see schools close, all non-essential shops shut down and a greater enforced isolation for vulnerable and high-risk Australians, with Victoria and NSW leading calls for a harder, faster, crackdown to slow the spread of the virus as soon as next week. Brendan Crabb, the head of Melbourne's Burnet Institute, one of Australia's leading medical research units, called for an immediate nationwide lockdown and the "strongest possible containment measures" on Thursday, echoing the majority but not unanimous advice given to chief medical officers by 22 experts from Australian universities last week. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said if social distancing orders were not obeyed and the curve did not flatten, months of tougher restrictions would follow.

"We need to take this seriously otherwise there may well be further measures," he said. In line with advice from chief medical officers, the federal government's preferred position is to have all school students complete term one of school and keep as many employees in work as possible. But pressure from the teachers union is mounting and one option being considered by the national cabinet is to bring forward school holidays in NSW by one week to next Monday. Victoria's school term finishes on Friday. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Businesses in Australia have now moved ahead of the government's regulations. Scores of operators across the retail sector have closed up before any official lockdown. Customer numbers at cafes and restaurants have plummeted following a take-away only rule and there is a ban on pubs. More than 30,000 workers were stood down on Thursday alone as Premier Investments shut brands including Jay Jays, Just Jeans and Portmans. They followed Athlete's Foot and Sketchers and others at the Accent Group, as well as Tarocash and YD at RAG Group, along with General Pants.

Just Cuts, the largest hairdressing chain in Australia, said keeping hairdressers open was "bonkers". Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "Calling for the sector to be shut down might seem counterproductive but it simply must happen in the interests of people's health," chief executive Denis McFadden said. "Without hairdressing being on the shut-down list, it is incredibly difficult for our franchise owners to take the heartbreaking but necessary steps to stand down workers." The growing business anxiety comes as community alarm about the coronavirus outbreak surges.

Three-quarters of Australians are now "extremely concerned" over the situation, compared to 63 per cent last week and 45 per cent a fortnight ago, according to the latest tracking survey from Newgate Research. The Newgate survey of 1000 Australians, taken between Monday and Wednesday, also revealed a significant weekly jump in the proportion of people who believe Australians are not taking the issue seriously enough, up from 26 per cent last week to 42 per cent. Victoria Police said up to 10 per cent of returning travellers who had been ordered to self-isolate were not at home when they visited on Thursday. The survey found confidence in the response of governments was holding, and a toughening approach was broadly in step with community concerns and expectations.

Loading Just 10 per cent believed the measures that had been taken were an overreaction. The overwhelming majority of respondents said they were now avoiding all non-essential contact, avoiding shaking hands, staying at home more and avoiding going to public events. Further restrictions on indoor gatherings of under 100 people and a total border closure to all international visitors from last week saw traffic in Sydney and Melbourne fall to 23 per cent of normal capacity on Tuesday. Barcelona, New York and Paris are now operating at between 4 and 8 per cent of their usual traffic, according to the Citymapper data, which tracks users through maps on their smartphones.