State borders are closed, but has the time come to cordon off the shires from visitors too? Some rural and country leaders think so.

A Tasmanian man who allegedly left his home without a lawful reason and told police he had coronavirus when he was pulled over is charged with failing to comply with a public health direction.

A new coronavirus case diagnosed overnight takes Tasmania's tally to 72, as authorities release a list of destinations visited by two interstate travellers who later tested positive for COVID-19.

Owners of a Tasmanian equestrian facility say they may have no other option as business evaporates, leaving it with dwindling resources to feed and keep 46 horses.

When David Morrell's wife in wheelchair had a fall last week, he couldn't help her up because he's blind. He's made the tough decision to cancel support services to avoid his wife contracting COVID-19, but worries how they'll cope alone.

One of the latest cases of coronavirus in Tasmania is an employee of a local tour company that hosted two interstate travellers who, after leaving the state, were found to be ill with the disease.

Aged care facilities in all Australian states have recorded infections of COVID-19, with four new nursing homes recording cases in the last two days.

Six new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the last 24 hours has pushed Tasmania's COVID-19 tally to 80, as police warn the public they will on patrol to ensure strict measures are followed.

An investigation is underway after two staff members of the North West Regional Hospital in Tasmania test positive for coronavirus.

Leaders show us their true colours during a crisis, and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein — only in the job three months and following the popular Will Hodgman — is already giving clues as to how he will fare, writes Emily Baker.

The Tasmanian hospital where two staff members have tested positive to coronavirus will remain open, authorities say, assuring the public they can be "confident about the care they receive".

One of the two coronavirus cases confirmed in Tasmania is a staff member from the North West Regional Hospital, a day after two other staff cases were revealed.

The members of Facebook group Hobart Gal Pals are now asking questions about hand cleaning and self-isolation, and Chit Chat Launceston members want to know who they can visit, as a feeling of community is staying alive during coronavirus self-isolation.

Four new cases of coronavirus are confirmed in Tasmania, taking the state's total to 86, after Burnie's hospital shuts two wards to new admissions following staff becoming infected.

Three more cases of coronavirus in Tasmania are confirmed with two of those from the north-west, as investigations into an outbreak at the North West Regional Hospital continue.

Two more staff at the North West Regional Hospital test positive to coronavirus, taking the total to six, prompting a ban on visitors to the facility as well as the Mersey Community Hospital.

The Tasmanian Government bans visits to all of the state's hospitals, with some exceptions for parents and on compassionate grounds, under new social distancing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

A Tasmanian man who was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship dies in the North West Regional Hospital from coronavirus.

Artist Megan Walch was just two weeks into a months-long arts residency in the heart of Paris when coronavirus took hold of France. Armed with her camera, she documented her experiences. Now back home in Tasmania, she's just one of the artists adapting her work for an unusual age.

Authorities reveal eight of the nine new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Tasmania are linked to the North West Regional Hospital, as the state records its third death.

A coronavirus outbreak at Burnie's hospital has prompted a plea for Tasmania's north-west residents to do the right thing over the Easter break, as a drive-through testing station opens in Hobart.

On the day Tasmanian's north-west coast residents are warned their behaviour will be monitored in the midst of a local coronavirus outbreak, the state's confirmed cases rise by nine to 107.

Tasmania records another four cases of coronavirus, all in the state's north-west hotspot, after Premier Peter Gutwein warned of a statewide Easter police "blitz" and an "effective lockdown" in the north-west.

With helicopters in the air, police patrols of holiday destinations and numberplate scanning, leaders around the country warn there will be no tolerance for breaches of the strict self-isolation measures.

A fourth person dies of coronavirus in Tasmania on a day when 11 more cases are confirmed, bringing the state's total to 122, health authorities say.

Tasmanian companies keen to keep staff employed are adapting and shifting their business focus by making face shields, hand sanitiser and other products in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tasmania's coronavirus tally reaches 133, with the director of Public Health confirming 11 new cases have been diagnosed in the state's north-west today.

All over Australia, non-essential travel is being discouraged. But the rules vary state to state, so let's take a look at exactly how far you're allowed to travel and who you're allowed to visit.

Hospitals across Tasmania have banned visitors, but one Hobart doctor is helping patients stay in touch with their loved ones during coronavirus pandemic by asking people to "donate" their iPads.

A Tasmanian woman in her 70s has died of coronavirus, taking the state's death toll to five, as 11 more cases are diagnosed in the north-west.

Tasmania's Premier Peter Gutwein says the North West Regional Hospital and North West Private Hospital in Burnie close today because of the coronavirus outbreak.

With the global death toll now at more than 100,000, there is an urgent need for a coronavirus vaccine. But will pharmaceutical companies be tempted to put profits before patients?

Six new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours are found in Tasmania, all of the them in the disease hotspot of the state's north-west, bringing the tally to 150.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says the Chief Medical Officer's claims that the north-west Tasmanian coronavirus outbreak started with a dinner party of health workers are a rumour that will be followed up.

A 91-year-old woman becomes the sixth Tasmanian to die from coronavirus, as the state's overall tally jumps to 165 cases — with all of the new cases known to be from the disease hotspot of the north-west.

Medical staff working in a coronavirus hotspot in Tasmania's north-west say a relaxed attitude towards hand hygiene and social distancing made it a "slow-motion disaster waiting to happen".

As two hospitals close to clean up amid a coronavirus outbreak in Tasmania's north-west, doctors warn there's nothing unique about the region that means similar outbreaks can't happen anywhere else.

More cases of coronavirus are confirmed as being from Tasmania's north-west, on the day Premier Peter Gutwein urges residents with flu-like symptoms to get tested for the deadly disease.

Infection protocols are being checked at three Tasmanian nursing homes after contact tracing reveals a healthcare worker from an infected hospital has also worked shifts at three aged care facilities.

A 72-year-old man becomes the seventh Tasmanian to succumb to coronavirus, as four more cases are confirmed in the north-west. It comes as the emergency department of a hospital at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak reopens.

A man who was a patient at a hospital at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak dies after contracting COVID-19, becoming the second death in two days as RAAF and ADF personnel begin work in the disease-hit region.

Coronavirus has forced some dramatic changes to how the ABC keeps the public informed, from home-based broadcasting to webcam interviews and recruiting people featured in a story to help film it on their mobile phone.

Tasmania records its first coronavirus infection in a nursing home, a 79-year-old woman in the state's cluster zone in the north-west, where cases linked to two hospitals prompted a mass quarantine last week.

Another five coronavirus cases in Tasmania's troubled northwest take the tally to 200, as the Health Minister urges people to remain vigilant.

The widow of a north-west Tasmanian man who died of coronavirus pays tribute to her late-husband, calling him her "soulmate".

Tasmanian woman Sue McCuaig has been diagnosed with stage four brain cancer and wants to choose when she dies, but the coronavirus pandemic has delayed debate on the state's assisted dying legislation.

The number of coronavirus cases associated with an outbreak in Tasmania's north-west is "trailing off", the state's director of public health says, with additional retail restrictions in place in the region due to be lifted on Sunday night.

The Tasmanian Government unveils a $3 million package to support around 26,000 temporary visa holders stuck in the state because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A day after authorities said the coronavirus outbreak in Tasmania may be "trailing off", the tally jumps to 205 with four new cases detected in the past 24 hours — all in the state's north-west.

Australia's Chief Medical Officer says a coronavirus cluster in Tasmania's north-west was likely sparked by a passenger from the Ruby Princess cruise ship, as the state marks 24 hours without a new case being found.