Prime Minister Scott Morrison is asking the states and territories to sign up to a $1 billion hospital package to pay for the expected impact of the coronavirus on the health system.
Mr Morrison said the Commonwealth would pay half, $500 million, and he put an initial $100 million on the table on Friday. He hoped to have an agreement in place by next Friday when leaders meet.
His announcement comes as the NSW outbreak worsens, with two more cases diagnosed overnight, bringing numbers in NSW to 25. By Friday there were 60 cases nationwide and still none in Canberra - although Australian Medical Association president Antonio Di Dio said it was "astonishingly unlikely" that that would last.
Another NSW hospital was caught up in the outbreak, with a person with coronavirus discovered to have worked two shifts at Canterbury Hospital while infectious. A doctor at Ryde Hospital and another at Liverpool Hospital have also been diagnosed. In all three hospitals, staff and patients are being isolated, tracked and tested.
A second staff member at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge has been diagnosed, bringing numbers at the Sydney aged care centre to six, including a 95-year-old resident who died.
A Year 11 student at Epping Boys High School was also diagnosed, prompting authorities to close the school on Friday while they decide on the next step.
A link was established between the Year 11 student and the doctor diagnosed on Monday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant confirmed. The boy's mother, who had tested negative, had been in contact with the infected doctor at Ryde Hospital.
Mr Morrison would not say what case numbers the government had used to calculate the expected $1 billion hospital cost.
But he wouldn't say what case numbers the figure was based on.
On Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the government was modelling scenarios "from the most benign through to some millions of people being infected over a period of several weeks".
"We need to be sure that we plan for every eventuality and build capacity where we think it may be under pressure if we have one of the worst case scenarios," he said.
Mr Morrison said the Commonwealth normally paid 45 per cent of hospital costs but was offering 50 per cent for the coronavirus crisis. On top of up to $500 million for hospitals, the government was also paying all of the extra costs of extra Medicare services such as telephone consultations and home visits, extra pathology services and the national medicine and equipment stockpile.
Mr Morrison also suggested a travel ban could be imposed on travel from Italy in the coming week or more as numbers of cases spiral there. On Thursday, Australia banned travellers from South Korea, adding to bans already in place on travel from China and Iran. But visitors from Italy, the other major centre of the virus, are still allowed in, subject to more stringent health checks on arrival.
Mr Morrison said the different treatment was based on advice from Border Force officials that they could handle the health checks for Italian arrivals, but not Italian and South Korean arrivals at the same time. When and if they had the capacity, the South Korean ban could be lifted, he said.
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the outbreak would worsen.
"There's no doubt that we're not anywhere near the worst of this, let's make that clear," she said. "We haven't even hit the winter months."
In Canberra, Dr Dio said the vast majority of patients presenting with respiratory symptoms were not being tested for coronavirus.
"Unless they've got a significant history or examination finding that puts them at risk then you certainly wouldn't waste resources by testing people at extremely low risk," he said.
But he had nevertheless done tests each day last week. The key message for people with symptoms was not to go straight to the GP, but to call from home first, or from outside the GP practice. Not every GP had the gowns and other gear to conduct tests and in many cases last week patients were directed the to Weston Creek walk-in centre for testing.
"It's a statistical inevitability that we'll get a case eventually. Canberrans do an enormous amount of travel and its spreading so it's astonishing unlikely that we wouldn't get a case here too.
"Our challenge is to work collaboratively to make sure that there are as few negative outcomes as possible in terms of illness and, god forbid, deaths."
Kirsten Lawson
It's about the truth for me. That means asking questions. Then asking more questions. On the best days, we get answers.
It's about the truth for me. That means asking questions. Then asking more questions. On the best days, we get answers.
