NSW Health has confirmed that a court user, suspected of having COVID-19, had a false positive result and was not infectious at the time the person was in Sutherland Local Court. As a precautionary measure, the Department of Communities and Justice arranged for the court to be forensically cleaned before it re-opened on Tuesday 21 July 2020.

The District Court will not be resuming jury trials at Grafton, Nowra and Parkes for the time being. The recommencement and continuation of jury trials remains subject to any change in advice from NSW Health.

Further information for the legal profession about how courts and tribunals are changing to respond to the pandemic is available on the Law Society’s COVID-19 portal.

New rules around “higher risk” activities will come into force in NSW from 12:01am tomorrow, as the pandemic enters a new phase of community transmission. Compliance measures for hotels will be extended to restaurants, bars cafés and clubs. More here.

Information on the location of confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW is available here. This information will be updated if further locations are identified.

Under the Public Health (COVID-19 Border Control) Amendment Order 2020, the NSW Government has established a strict new border zone, tightened permit conditions and stronger enforcement powers to further restrict entry to NSW for Victorians. More here.

The Economic and Fiscal Update, released today by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our nation's finances. The Government has provided economic support for workers, households and businesses of around $289 billion or the equivalent of 14.6 per cent of GDP. The economic support, coupled with declines in taxation receipts of $31.7 billion in 2019-20 and $63.9 billion in 2020-21, has significantly impacted the budget position. Payments variations, including in demand driven programs, also increased by $15.7 billion, predominantly as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. More here.

The JobKeeper Payment will be extended by six months to 28 March 2021 and the temporary Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support will be extended until 31 December 2020. More here.