• The Federal Government is backing a dedicated coronavirus quarantine hub facility in Victoria. The 500-bed purpose-built hub has been championed by the state government after its struggle with hotel quarantine. And yesterday, the Commonwealth handed the state a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project, which sees Canberra cough up all $200 million for its development.

• PM Scott Morrison also announced a new temporary COVID disaster payment for individuals affected by an extended lockdown. People over 17yo who usually work more than 20 hours a week will be eligible for the full $500, or $325 if they work fewer hours than that. How will these sorts of emergency payments be funded? That’s something for today’s National Cabinet meeting.

• And there are hopes Melbourne’s lockdown might end earlier than expected after Victorian authorities last night announced that 2 cases were being reclassified as false positives, bringing the official number of locally acquired cases to 61. The cases had concerned health authorities as being “fleeting contact”, contributing to the decision earlier this week to extend Melbourne’s lockdown.