10 things you need to know this morning in Australia – Business Insider Australia

Hello folks. We hope you had good weekends there are a few Australian coronavirus updates to get through this morning. Let’s hop to it.
1. First of all, there’s the situation in Victoria, where Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are under lockdown. Cases surged by 273 on Sunday the second-highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. A man aged in his 70s died from COVID-19 on Sunday.
2. The situation in New South Wales is concerning too. A number of people who attended the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, a suburb in south-west Sydney, have tested positive for COVID-19. More than a thousand pub-goers have been asked to self-isolate and get tested after a further four tested positive on Sunday.
3. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state is “literally at a crossroads” in the fight against the coronavirus. “I get extremely concerned and upset when we see people flouting the rules that are in place because that will take us down the path of Victoria,” she said. “The next month is absolutely critical.” She flagged the government would be willing to take preventative measures to ensure the virus did not spread further.
4. On an international scale, the WHO is warning about further total lockdowns in countries that cannot control resurgences of the virus. Dr. Michael Ryan, WHOs Health Emergencies Program executive director, said Friday countries going back under full lockdowns could be the only option if they fail to squash small embers, or early signs of resurging outbreaks.
5. At the end of May, Australians had frozen repayments on $266 billion worth of loans, according to new APRA figures. While mortgages make up the bulk of them, deferrals were more common amongst businesses than home loans. Banks have extended the hardship program to January, but with few opting out of the deferrals, questions remain over whether it will need to be extended yet again.
6. It was announced on Friday that Australia will cut its intake of overseas arrivals to just 4,000 per week about a 50% reduction. Prime Minister Scott Morrison reasoned that the reduction would free up resources and allow states to focus them on where they were needed most. We will review that as the weeks go by, but for now that is where we have reduced it, Morrison said.
7. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there are at least 800,000 more unemployed Australians but just two-thirds of the normal number of advertised jobs, according to the latest SEEK data. More candidates competing over a smaller pool of jobs saw applications per ad increase 10% over the last fortnight.
8. US-based, ASX-listed buy-now-pay-later company Sezzle has launched a $86.3 million capital raise. The funds raised will be used to ramp up the companys growth. It comes after fellow BNPL platform Afterpay announced its own $800 million capital raise.
9. With the ongoing threat of a second COVID-19 surge, the state border situation seems tenuous but for now, Queensland’s border is indeed open to most states and territories. Virgin Australia has launched a sale on flights to and from the Sunshine State if you’re keen to snap one up with economy class flights staring at $85.
10. The pandemic is fairly grim in the US right now. Florida reported Sunday more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total for any US state so far. The White Houses coronavirus testing czar said Sunday the nations hardest-hit states may have to reverse reopening plans and lock down.
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