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The United Nations Secretary-General has called for a global cease-fire amid the coronavirus crisis, noting the world's most vulnerable "pay the highest price".
It comes as Germany plans to take on debt for the first time since 2013 to mount a trillion-dollar stimulus package, and Spain records its highest daily coronavirus death toll.
This story is being updated regularly throughout the day. You can also stay informed with the latest episode of the Coronacast podcast.
Tuesday's key moments
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UN chief calls for COVID-19 ceasefire
The UN Secretary-General has called for a global cease-fire to tackle coronavirus crisis.
"It is time to put armed conflict on lock down and focus together on the true fight of our lives," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
"The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly. Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world.
"The most vulnerable — women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalised and the displaced — pay the highest price.
"They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19."
The plea comes after Syria confirmed its first case of COVID-19: a 20-year-old woman.
Syria's health system and infrastructure has been ravaged by nearly a decade of civil war and humanitarian workers fear a catastrophe if a major coronavirus outbreak takes place there.
Germany announces trillion-dollar stimulus package
Germany has announced a stimulus package worth up to 750 billion euros ($1.392 trillion) to mitigate the damage of the coronavirus outbreak on Europe's largest economy, with Berlin aiming to take on new debt for the first time since 2013.
The new measures massively bolster a previous pledge of at least 460 billion euros in loan guarantees to help handle the fallout of running down public life to a minimum.
The measures amount to more than 30 per cent of Germany's GDP, making the package "one of the largest around the world and the largest in the country's history," according to Oliver Rakau, chief German economist at Oxford Economics.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Government will borrow 156 billion euros to finance the packages and cover an expected shortfall in tax revenue.
This announcement comes as Mrs Merkel herself returned a negative result for a coronavirus test.
The Chancellor went into quarantine at home on Sunday evening after being informed that a doctor who had administered a vaccination against pneumococcal infection to her on Friday had tested positive.
There are also signs emerging the exponential upwards curve in new coronavirus infections in Germany is flattening off thanks to strict social distancing measures, the head of Germany's public health institute said.
Early testing for the virus and restrictions on public gatherings over the past week appeared to be working, said Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute.
As of Sunday, there were 22,672 cases of coronavirus in Germany, with 86 deaths, the Institute said.
Australia's coronavirus testing criteria set to change
The Department of Health has told the ABC that the testing criteria for COVID-19 will broaden in the near future.
So far, those who qualify for a coronavirus test have to meet the following:
- You have returned from overseas in the past 14 days and you develop respiratory illness with or without fever
- You have been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days and you develop respiratory illness with or without fever
- You have severe community-acquired pneumonia and there is no clear cause
- You are a healthcare worker who works directly with patients and you have a respiratory illness and a fever
But on last night's episode of Q+A, Australia's deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said new test criteria would be announced "over the coming days".
"We'll be removing the traveller component, but we're working on that at the moment," Mr Kelly said.
In comments delivered to the ABC after the episode, the Health Department said it continues to "review the testing criteria" as more is known about the virus.
"In light of our stronger travel restrictions the focus logically moves to the community with COVID-19 symptoms, on top of returned travellers and close contacts of cases," it said.
"Professor Kelly flagged that the CDNA will change the testing guidelines for public health units in the near future."
Spain records its highest daily coronavirus death toll
Spain's coronavirus death toll has reached 2,182, adding 462 fatalities overnight, marking its highest daily coronavirus death toll — equivalent to a rise of more than 26 per cent over the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, 4,000 health workers are believed to be infected with the coronavirus, which equates to more than one in 10 of total confirmed cases.
"We have some data we do not like, because we should try to control it, such as having 3,910 health workers affected," health emergency chief Fernando Simon told a news conference.
The number of cases registered in Spain rose to 33,089, up from 28,572 cases on Sunday. This means health workers account for nearly 12 per cent of the total.
After Italy, Spain is Europe's worst-affected country having recorded 2,206 deaths in total, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University. However, there have been 3,355 recoveries.
Your questions on coronavirus answered
South Korea records lowest number of new cases
There is hope that Asia's largest coronavirus outbreak outside of China may be abating.
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 64 new cases on Monday, taking the national tally to 8,961. The death toll rose to 118, from 110.
But the new numbers marked the 12th day in a row the country has posted new infections of around 100 or less, compared with the peak of 909 cases recorded on February 29.
Of the new cases, 13 were from overseas travellers who tested positive after the government toughened border checks and imposed a two-week mandatory quarantine for all long-term arrivals from Europe.
South Korea began taking a 15-day intensive social distancing policy on Sunday, including restrictions on high-risk events such as religious, sports and entertainment gatherings.
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
Australia's case numbers
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia has passed 1,600.
Here is a state-by-state breakdown of the cases:
- NSW: 669 (six deaths)
- Victoria: 355
- Queensland: 319
- WA: 140 (one death)
- SA: 134
- Tasmania: 28
- ACT: 32
- NT: 5
These figures come from state and territory databases of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The latest update was at 1:15am AEDT on Tuesday, March 24.
ABC/wires
Topics: covid-19, respiratory-diseases, emergency-care, emergency-planning, health-policy, business-economics-and-finance, international-financial-crisis, australia, germany
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