Social media posts containing fake quotes from Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo have spread on Facebook. The posts claimed that Professor Honjo said the novel coronavirus was "manufactured in China".

As leaders prepare to ease coronavirus restrictions in their states, South Australia could be in the box seat to win the race to recovery by turning what might be regarded as weaknesses into strengths.

NSW Police rule Deputy Premier John Barilaro did not breach coronavirus travel restrictions by travelling to his farm in the Southern Tablelands where he undertook property maintenance.

A southern Tasmanian man in his 60s is the latest to test positive for COVID-19 as the Premier prepares to release details on Friday afternoon of a slow easing of coronavirus restrictions.

The Australian Federal Police sanctions recruits and staff who breached coronavirus social-distancing rules but none, so far, has lost their job over the incident.

South Australia records its first new COVID-19 case in a fortnight, with a man who returned from the UK in March testing positive weeks after he is believed to have contracted the virus.

National Cabinet will not be looking to rapidly lift wide-ranging restrictions on movement and business all at once when it meets tomorrow to consider Australia's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the popularity of state and territory leaders grows during the coronavirus pandemic, Michael Gunner tells Territorians 175,000 litres of beer are en route up the Stuart Highway.

A World Health Organization food safety expert says research is needed to find out if the wet market was a "source, amplifying setting" for the spread of coronavirus, or if it was a coincidence that cases were detected in and around there.

Research from multiple studies across the world points to evidence that being overweight or obese might also make the impacts of COVID-19 more severe, particularly for those aged under 60.

So far, only eight COVID-19 vaccine efforts have moved to clinical trial stage. And five of them involve Chinese companies or government research institutes. Here's why it would be hugely important to China's Government if a domestic company prevails.

Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania are the first states to announce the easing of coronavirus restrictions under the National Cabinet's plan to reopen Australia, but Victorians will have to wait until Monday to learn what rules will change for them. As it happened.

If Vincent Uwimana had not started translating important messages about COVID-19, Congolese refugees may still believe hot water and onions could protect them.

Some think Australia is spending billions in a "wasteful splurge on old-timers who were going to die sometime soon anyway". But it has Australia well placed to cautiously remove coronavirus restrictions while protecting lives, writes political editor Andrew Probyn.

Tasmanian students can return to classrooms by the end of May under the Premier's plan to roll back coronavirus restrictions. Rules around national parks, funerals and aged care visits will ease from Monday, with two consecutive days without new cases.

The three-step plan might get Australia's downwardly spiralling economy off the critical list, but it will need to remain in intensive care for a long time to come.

You can visit mum for Mother's Day and fire up the barbecue for a few mates, but you still can't eat at restaurants and it will be some time yet before you can have a beer at the pub.

Although anecdotal evidence and media reports suggest COVID-19 has prompted a spike in racism, there is very little data available that can provide a more detailed picture of what is happening, writes Chin Tan.

The UK Government will reveal the next "very cautious" phase of its plan to deal with the fallout from coronavirus, Brazil registers 10,222 new cases in one day, and Donald Trump says he isn't worried about a spread of the virus in the White House after a Mike Pence aide tests positive.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says it is too far in the future to speculate on when life will get close to normal in Australia as the country looks to lift restrictions in stages.

Theatres and art galleries around the country are on high alert after the NSW Government decision to withhold an annual grant from Australia's biggest multi-arts venue, Carriageworks, forcing it to appoint administrators.

Tasmania's spaghetti soup of road shoulders, painted green lanes, shared-use paths and recreational tracks frustrates cyclists on a daily basis, but with usage on the rise advocates are hoping change is on the way.

No new COVID-19 cases were recorded as the State Government announced a multi-million-dollar medical research fund to tackle the disease.

South Australia's Mayura Station spends $92,000 securing elite Wagyu genetics for breeding stock.

With any overseas adventures off the table for a while, Australians will be dreaming of escaping the shutdown and heading out for a holiday. Here's how every state and territory plans to get people travelling again.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce the plan to start relaxing lock down restrictions from Friday, but local and regional travel is not yet back on the menu.

A trial is underway to determine if two former senior staff from the Shire of Exmouth in WA falsified records in relation to a $1 million aquarium purchase.

The WA Attorney-General casts doubt on whether more than $600,000 worth of severance payouts, made to former Health Department employees embroiled in a decades-long corruption scandal, will be recovered.

Chrys Barker has been confined to a wheelchair and is in need of 24-hour care since being critically injured in a car accident in 2014. He's now been awarded what is believed to be the biggest single personal injury settlement in Queensland.

Ex-detective Paul Dale tells a royal commission he has waited years to expose "corruption" within Victoria Police over the use of Nicola Gobbo as an informer, and that his sexual relationship with the woman known as Lawyer X has been exaggerated.

The SA Government has revealed plans to mothball 60 public hospital beds and offer further redundancies in the health system, despite record levels of ambulance ramping outside emergency departments in recent months.

Letters released by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption show he was refused $2 million to fund an evaluation of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

The details of a secret recording of a conversation between accused Adelaide wife killer Peter Dansie and his son are revealed in court.

A figure "described inaccurately" is being blamed for an apparent dramatic cost increase on Australia's most expensive defence project in history, the $50 billion Future Submarine program.

An inquest into the deaths of two young vets who took a drug linked to almost 20 suicides per year within the industry urges better mental health support for veterinary professionals.

The Reds dominated the second half to take the cup home for the third time in FFA Cup history.

A coroner's inquest hears a drug-addicted Adelaide car thief whose body was found weeks after he crashed a stolen vehicle was an expert at hiding from police.

CCTV footage from Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula captures the moment a meteor lit up the night sky over the bay. (Supplied: Martha Cove Owners Corporation)

Global uncertainty has sent gold prices soaring, resulting in a boom for miners. But it has also had the effect of drying up traditional markets where exploration companies raise cash to explore for rich new discoveries.

Victorian health authorities are investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a private psychiatric facility which has resulted in at least 14 confirmed cases of the virus so far.

The number of new coronavirus cases recorded in Victoria remains low, but authorities are still concerned about a growing cluster at a private psychiatric clinic.

The Chief Health Officer encourages more school-aged children to be tested for coronavirus to see if the advice around schools need to change. The call comes as a man aged in his 90s dies in a Victorian hospital, bringing the state's COVID-19 death toll to 17.

Those who suffered devastating loss in the January bushfires say they didn't have time to rebuild before the coronavirus came along and dealt them another crippling blow.

Zoo owners in Victoria have welcomed the Federal Government's assistance package, but some fear they will not be eligible for the emergency funding.

The warm weather is about to end in Victoria, with the state set to be hit by a deluge of rain, hail and snow from today and temperatures set to hang around the low teens all weekend.