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A Tasmanian woman in her 70s has died of coronavirus, taking the state's death toll to five.
Key points:
- A fifth Tasmanian has died of coronavirus
- The woman in her 70s was being cared for at the North West Regional Hospital
- The Premier, Peter Gutwein has foreshowed further measures in the north west
At a briefing, Premier Peter Gutwein said there had been five deaths too many.
"This is a stark reminder that this virus is deadly," he said.
"It's taken lives, and as I've said it will take more yet."
Eleven new cases were confirmed overnight, all in the north-west where authorities are grappling to control an outbreak at the North West Regional Hospital.
Nine of the new cases are healthcare workers and two are close contacts of healthcare workers.
The Government is set to announce later today, further plans to control the spread of the virus on the north-west coast.
"People have been working around the clock to look at what our options are and we have looked at what we believe is necessary and what we believe will be deliverable," the Premier said.
"I want to ready north-west-coasters for this, because things will change. Things have to change."
Thirty-five health workers on the north-west coast have now tested positive for the virus.
Fifty-three people have recovered from the virus and 75 cases are still active.
Your questions on coronavirus answered:
More arrests as Tasmanians ignore message to stay home
Mr Gutwein said there were still people doing the wrong thing.
"This is serious, Tasmanians need to understand we need to follow the rules," he said.
"If not, we will throw the book at you."
Over the past 24 hours, police charged 17 more people for failing to comply with the Government's strict rules around social distancing and movement around the state.
However, Police Commander Robert Blackwood said for the most part, small coastal communities and shack locations were looking quiet.
"Yesterday at the Bruny Island Ferry, we had 34 vehicles travelling across, and all of those were complying with the regulations, where normally we'd see around 600 cross with the Bruny Island Ferry at that time," he said.
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Topics: covid-19, healthcare-facilities, tas, hobart-7000, burnie-7320
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