National Cabinet expands coronavirus testing criteria to aged care staff and residents

In its third meeting in four days, the Cabinet agreed anyone who has a fever or acute respiratory infection and meets one of the following criteria will now be eligible for testing:

• all health workers
• all aged/residential care workers
• geographically localised areas where there is elevated risk of community transmission as defined by the local public health unit
• where no community transmission is occurring, high risk settings where there are two or more plausibly-linked cases, for example:
• aged and residential care
• rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• detention centres/correctional facilities
• boarding schools
• military bases (including Navy ships) that have live-in accommodation.

The Cabinet also agreed to suspend all non-urgent elective surgery – seemingly an attempt to clear beds in anticipation of a wave of hospitalisations from the virus.

They next meet today (pictured is Prime Minister Scott Morrison who made the announcements).