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Australia’s Coronavirus Fight to Lean on Pop-Up Clinics

Australia to Open 100 Pop-Up Clinics in Bid to Fight Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- Australia will open as many as 100 pop-up respiratory clinics as part of a A$2.4 billion ($1.6 billion) health package to combat coronavirus as new cases in the nation rise.

The clinics, to be staffed by doctors and nurses, will be able to cater for as many as 75 patients a day over six months, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. His conservative government’s multi-billion dollar economic stimulus package, believed to be aimed at supporting small business and cutting export costs, will be announced on Thursday.

The health package will also include funds for a national communications campaign and the creation of a team to deliver health services via audio or video to infected people in their own homes.

“This package is about preventing and treating coronavirus in the coming weeks,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Wednesday. “Australia isn’t immune, but with this A$2.4 billion boost we’re as well prepared as any country in the world.”

The conservative government’s multi-billion dollar stimulus package, believed to be aimed at supporting small business and cutting export costs, is expected to be announced as early as Thursday. Morrison said on Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak could hit Australia’s China-dependent economy harder than the global financial crisis, with some economists warning it could contribute in tipping the nation into its first recession since 1991.

Australia’s confirmed cases jumped from 80 on Tuesday morning to more than 100 about 24 hours later. There have been three deaths. The government on Wednesday said it would bar foreign nationals who have been in Italy in the past 14 days from entering Australia, in line with previously-announced measures for China, Iran and South Korea.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Edward Johnson

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.