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Covidsafe app: how to download Australia’s coronavirus contact tracing app, how it works, what it does and problems

The app will ask for your name (or pseudonym), age range, postcode and phone number. Scott Morrison says the Australian government’s covid safe tracking app won’t be mandatory to download and install, but its uptake numbers could play a part in easing Covid-19 restrictions

The Australian government has launched Covidsafe, an app that traces every person running the app who has been in contact with someone else using the app who has tested positive for coronavirus in the previous few weeks, in a bid to automate coronavirus contact tracing, and allow the easing of restrictions.

Here’s what we know about the app so far.

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Coronavirus Australia numbers: how many new cases are there? Covid-19 map, statistics and graph

Is Australia flattening the curve? We bring together all the latest Covid-19 confirmed cases, maps, stats and graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response.

Due to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in Australia.

Here, we’ve brought together all the figures in one place, along with comparisons with other countries.

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The three-step plan for reopening Australia after Covid-19 and what Stage 1, 2 and 3 looks like

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing the stages to be determined by the states

Scott Morrison and the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, have laid out a three-step plan to reopen Australia after the coronavirus crisis. Morrison said he hoped step three could be achieved in July, but it would be up to each state and territory when they moved from one step to the next.

Below are some of the areas that will be opened up at each stage, according to the plan – and you can see the timeline for easing restrictions in each state here.

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Friday the 13th at 40: the maligned slasher that's haunted pop culture

The morality brigade loathed the hit teen horror on release but hockey mask-wearing villain Jason Voorhees has been with us ever since

Before production on the teen slasher A Long Night at Camp Blood had even started, before a final draft of the screenplay had even been submitted, thirtysomething writer-producer-director Sean S Cunningham decided to make an audacious statement. Not only would he use an advert in the industry paper Variety to confirm an inarguably ingenious title change but he would also use it to declare that his next film would be the most terrifying ever made, after a decade that saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House on the Left (which he also produced), The Exorcist and Halloween.

Related: Final Destination at 20: the bleakest teen horror film ever made?

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Blind date: ‘I'd had quite a lot to drink and broke into song’

Harry, 32, a TV producer from London, meets Jayson, 25, a journalist from Hong Kong, in our latest virtual date

What were you hoping for?
A fun chat that didn’t involve a quiz.

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'It's a really weird realisation': when cancelled holidays come with silver linings

From accidentally making money due to currency fluctuations, to paying down debt, for some Australians cancelled overseas trips have had surprising windfalls

From June 2018 to June 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australians made a record 11.3 million trips overseas – double the number of trips just 10 years ago. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of Australians have been forced to cancel or alter their international travel plans.

This has left many Australians struggling to get refunds from travel providers. Flight Centre was charging $300 in processing fees per person, in some cases leading to fees that cost more than the value of the refund, until the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission stepped in and threatened legal action, causing the company to waive fees for trips cancelled by travel providers. The ACCC also warned travel providers against retroactively changing their cancellation policies after tour companies including Topdeck and Intrepid attempted to retrospectively apply updated refund policies that would force customers to take credit rather than cash for cancelled trips.

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Angie McMahon, Cut Copy, Alex the Astronaut and others: Australian music for isolated times

Each Saturday we add 15 (or so) new songs to a Spotify playlist to soundtrack your physical distancing amid coronavirus – and help artists you love get paid


We’ve published a bunch of articles about how the coronavirus crisis has impacted the Australian arts industry. But there are small things you can do. It’s an imperfect solution, but streaming Australian music can help.

Each week, in partnership with Sounds Australia, Guardian Australia will add some 15 new songs to a playlist for you to put on repeat.

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Pandemic nesters: what it's like to move back with your parents during lockdown

Some people have found returning to the family home a blessing, but for others it has been anything but smooth sailing

Covid-19 has reshaped geographic boundaries. It has left many financially distressed. Expatriates have returned from overseas for indefinite periods of time, and vulnerable people require more help than usual. For all these reasons, and many more, adult children have found themselves doing something that might previously have been unthinkable: moving back in with their parents.

Some are finding the experience transformative. One woman, who left New York for her parent’s rural home, told me that the space and country air have made her reconsider whether she will ever return to the city. But there are also downsides. “I’m craving male attention more than I ever have before,” she confessed. When flirting over apps stopped cutting it, she wound up ordering a vibrator in an unmarked box, and fended off her younger siblings in order to retrieve it from the mailbox.

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Fear of flying foxes: coronavirus is topping off a bad year for Australia's bats

They’ve faced drought, extreme heat and bushfires, and now they have to deal with a new paranoia courtesy of the pandemic

Australia’s bats are turning up in increasing numbers in city suburbs. But as they search for food, they’re bringing for some a newfound paranoia thanks to a global pandemic that likely sprang from one of their overseas relatives.

In Ingham in far north Queensland, an influx of more than 200,000 little red flying foxes in January was variously described as a “swarm”, a “tornado” and an “infestation”.

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Revenge porn in Australia: the law is only as effective as the law enforcement

One study suggests one in three people from 16 to 64 have been victims of image-based abuse. But most will never step foot in a police station

When Laura* was 14, she was convinced that her boyfriend was the love of her life. So, when several girls messaged her to say he had sent them a video of her drunk and engaging in a sexual act, she told herself they were lying.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, you don’t know anything about our relationship. I don’t believe you,’” she says. “But after we broke up, he pretty much sent it to everyone that I knew.

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Cedar Meats cluster: why abattoir workers are on the coronavirus frontline

As the US deals with a Covid-19 catastrophe in its meatworks, the Melbourne factory points to the potential for outbreaks in Australia

Working in an abattoir at the best of times is tough. The hours are long, the labour is intensive and, for rank and file labourers, the pay is low.

Now, in the Covid-19 crisis, workers have one more thing to worry about – around the world their factories have proved to be a hotbed of infection. As Australia moves to ease lockdown laws, meat workers may still be at the frontline of exposure and infection.

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‘Why didn’t he help those little boys?’: how George Pell failed the children of Ballarat

The cardinal maintains he didn’t know about the Victorian town’s notorious paedophile priests, a claim the royal commission found ‘implausible’

“Why isn’t all of Australia talking about what happened here in Ballarat?”

That’s the question Clare Linane remembers asking her husband, Peter Blenkiron, 12 years ago as they were sitting in the kitchen talking about his abuse. Linane’s husband, brother and cousin had all been abused when they were children between 1973 and 1974 by Christian Brother and now convicted paedophile Edward “Ted” Dowlan. They knew they were among thousands of people living in and around Ballarat – Victoria’s largest inland city – who had been affected by child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy.

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Already in this crisis we are slipping into over-optimism about the economy and over-pessimism about debt | Wayne Swan

Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic response

The great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.

Big economic events have big political consequences.

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Covid-19 competence has given Australian governments some political capital. But there's a flipside | Katharine Murphy

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

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Take care with physical distancing on Mother's Day, Australia's deputy chief medical officer says

Paul Kelly warns people over 70 and with existing diseases are at high risk from coronavirus as pandemic restrictions ease

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is warning people to take care if visiting mums on Mother’s Day, as frictions emerge over the lockdown in Victoria.

In some states, authorities are allowing people to pay family visits on Sunday as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased, but Kelly has restated warnings that people over 70 and with existing chronic diseases are at high risk from coronavirus.

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'You're going to see stars': What it feels like to be stung by an Asian giant hornet

It's been years since Coyote Peterson was stung by a Japanese giant hornet -- a subspecies of the Asian giant hornet -- but the American wildlife educator vividly remembers how the sting immediately felt like a 'red hot fire poker' being shoved into his skin, followed by residual, almost unbearable pain that lasted for hours.




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Paul O'Grady believes he's 'most definitely' had coronavirus

Coronavirus: The symptoms




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Jesy Nelson shows off dramatic blonde hair transformation after Chris Hughes 'split'

The Little Mix singer has reportedly broken up with former Love Island contestant Chris Hughes




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Katie Price: I feel like I let myself down on Celebrity SAS

She said: "It is nice to get away for your own time and not people relying on you for everything all the time.




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Ricky Tomlinson and friends sing cover of Ken Dodd's Happiness to raise money for the NHS

Tomlinson appears in a bathtub wearing nothing but a shower cap in the cover video




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Liam Payne drops biggest hint yet that One Direction will reform for 10-year anniversary

The singer said the milestone would be a "very special moment".




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Ellie Goulding helps provide phones for homeless people

The singer and her management company have worked with the charity Crisis




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Ed Sheeran 'donates over £1 million to local charities'

The singer has reportedly handed over cash to good causes in his hometown of Suffolk




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Piers Morgan calls for Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £7 million for the NHS

The 99-year-old is walking the length of his garden 100 times to raise funds




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Love Island's Mike Boateng admits he lied to take day off from police force

The incident took place in December 2018




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Taylor Swift cancels all appearances and live performances for the rest of the year

The singer has announced she will no longer be touring her Lover album this year




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Katie Price says I'm A Celebrity stint was a 'holiday camp' compared to Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins

Price said her 'phobia of water' made things difficult during the tough course




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Piers Morgan slams 'prima donna millionaire' Victoria Beckham for furloughing fashion brand staff

Beckham is also sacrificing her own pay




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Lily Allen shares rare picture of daughter Ethel as home-schooling continues

The singer posted the sweet snap on what should have been the start of the summer term




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Sir David Attenborough and Danny Dyer among celebrities teaching new BBC home schooling learning programming

Parents are getting a helping hand from some famous faces




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Sian Clifford: Phoebe Waller-Bridge ignored list of big stars hoping to play Fleabag's sister

The Quiz star says she still feels like she constantly has to prove herself as an actor




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Alesha Dixon joins Gary Barlow for live Crooner Sessions duet on Instagram

The pair brought back Dixon's first ever solo single for the special performance




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Martin Clunes' pyjama-clad Good Morning Britain appearance delights viewers

The Doc Martin actor appeared via videolink from his Dorset home




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James McAvoy reveals the NHS 'saved' his life as campaign for health workers' PPE continues

James McAvoy has praised the NHS for saving his life when he suffered a botched surgery.




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Dawn O'Porter pays tribute to the late Caroline Flack: 'That laugh, That humour, That loyalty'

O'Porter and Flack were good friends




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'This job puts things into perspective': Love Island's Malin Andersson explains why she's returned to work as a carer

Andersson said it has been "humbling" to return to her old profession during the coronavirus crisis




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Singer Marianne Faithfull out of hospital after NHS 'saved her life' during coronavirus scare

Singer Marianne Faithfull has been discharged from hospital after being admitted for treatment while she displayed symptoms of coronavirus.




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Trinny Woodall's partner Charles Saatchi unwittingly appears on her live stream naked

The stylist's partner found himself in shot during a Facebook live




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Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague accused of 'breaking lockdown rules' after travelling back to Manchester

The pair were previously spending the lockdown period at Hague's family home




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Taylor Swift slams 'shameless greed' of former record label set to release album of her live performances

Taylor Swift has reignited a feud with her former record label, accusing it of "shameless greed" over a plan to release a live album she has not authorised.




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Tom Hanks writes to boy called Corona who said he was being bullied because of his name

Actor Tom Hanks has sent a letter and a Corona-brand typewriter to a eight-year-old Australian boy who said he was being bullied because of his name.




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Johnny Depp's libel battle against The Sun postponed due to coronavirus

Hollywood star Johnny Depp's libel battle against The Sun newspaper has been postponed thanks to coronavirus as the actor is stuck in France and unable to fly to London.




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Yeezus! Kanye West is a billionaire, Forbes Magazine reveals

Rapper and fashion designer Kanye West is officially a billionaire, according to Forbes Magazine.




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Celebrity photographers raise £80,000 with limited edition prints to protect frontline healthcare workers




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Rylan Clark-Neal reveals Hillary Clinton offered him a job

Rylan Clark-Neal has revealed his career could have taken an entirely different turn if he'd accepted an unexpected offer made by the former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.




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Gemma Collins breaks down as dream house purchase falls through in Diva on Lockdown

The episode also saw the star close her shop as the pandemic took hold




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Dua Lipa reveals orange hair in cute quarantine snap with boyfriend Anwar Hadid

The Hotter than Hell singer has revealed her new 'do in a sweet Instagram post




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Julie Hesmondhalgh: I hope I wouldn't be offered role of Hayley Cropper today

Hesmondhalgh said she did a "decent job" of playing Corrie's first trans character - but would not take the part now




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Jesy Nelson proves Sainsbury's can be stylish as she glams up for a trip to the shops

The Little Mix star raided her closet ahead of... a trip to the shops




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Gemma Collins and James Argent's relationship timeline in full

The course of true love never did run smooth, after all