National cabinet considers virus response

NATIONAL CABINET CONSIDERS COVID-19 RESPONSE:

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern joined Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders for a national cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

THE WORK PROBLEM

* Need to get one million Australians back to work but this can't occur without a COVID-safe economy

* Virus restrictions are costing the economy $4 billion a week

* One million JobSeeker claims processed

* Five million people on JobKeeper payment

* One million people accessing $10 billion of their own super

* 384,000 businesses accessing $7 billion in cash flow assistance

* 11 per cent fall in GDP

THE WORK SOLUTION

* Outbreaks are expected but what matters is how businesses respond to them

* Workers should download COVIDSafe app

* Businesses can take basic steps such as using personal protective equipment, and taking extra hygiene and cleaning measures

* Safe Work Australia website has 1300 pages of information with answers to specific questions from 23 different industries

* Busineses should reconfigure work sites to be COVID-safe

* Businesses should have a plan to respond to incidents, trace, track and treat people, and then safely restore the work site to full operation.

HEALTH

* No decisions from Tuesday's meeting on health issues. More to come on Friday.

* Five million have downloaded COVIDSafe app so far.