Karen Middleton As the government suspends parliament until August to deal with the outbreak, key advisers say the next week is critical in controlling the spread.

Royce Kurmelovs As the aviation industry faces financial ruin, Qantas boss Alan Joyce lashes out at a possible government bailout of Virgin Australia, a move that only accentuates the turbulence ahead.

Justine Landis-Hanley With insufficient supplies of protective equipment and few ICU beds, doctors in regional New South Wales warn the Covid-19 pandemic will push the healthcare system to the brink.

Mikey Cahill Susan Provan has been director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for 27 years, taking it from strength to strength. So, the decision to cancel this year’s event – for the first time in its history – was no laughing matter. “We were in a position where we had to move quickly. We were literally building venues. We needed to minimise the fallout.”

Peter Doherty What is clearly different with this outbreak is that SARS-CoV-2 is completely new to us. Unlike with flu viruses, to which we all have some prior immunity, the world is experiencing a ‘virgin soil’ pandemic, where everyone is both susceptible and a potential transmitter. This doesn’t mean it’s unstoppable, though.

Paul Bongiorno If anything crystallises the brutal impact of the coronavirus crisis in Australia, it is the thousands queued outside Centrelink offices around the country this week. The lines began forming the day after the prime minister announced that vast sectors of the economy were to be shut down, with income support for those affected. Here was the intersection of life or death measures, crashing the livelihoods of millions and again exposing a government response that was poorly thought through and executed.

Richard Ackland One savvy business sage who this week was in Gadfly’s ear thinks the fast-failing enterprises in the United States might see Bone Spurs Trump become the first president in office to go bankrupt. The value of his gilded city towers and hotels is crashing with each passing moment and given they are leveraged to buggery with either Deutsche Bank or the Russian mafia, the whole rickety edifice will soon be underwater.

Perhaps the government simply cannot visualise it. It is possible they are unable to fathom what is happening, to appreciate its size. Morrison’s response to this crisis is piecemeal and shambolic. His press conference on Tuesday night was the sort of policy improvisation that could have started with the words “Yes, and…” The prime minister is balancing the health of the public against the health of the economy, and doing neither very well.

Mike Seccombe As well as trying to contain the catastrophic outbreak of Covid-19, health authorities, governments and social media platforms must also try to combat the rampant spread of misinformation about the virus.

Jonathan Pearlman US and China fight over coronavirus. Guilty plea over Christchurch mosque killings. Detention and torture of Egyptian children exposed. Women at the forefront of Indian protests.

Peter Craven HBO’s The Plot Against America, based on the Philip Roth novel, brings together Winona Ryder and John Turturro in a reimagining of America’s World War II history. Now the slickly produced series is more pertinent to current times than the creators could ever have imagined.

Shaad D’Souza While Australian musicians are losing significant income with the cancellation of tours and festivals, they are still making remarkable records to inspire and revitalise us.

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Annie Smithers

Margaret Simons In a season of drastic upheaval, the author reflects on the connections and comfort of her garden and looks towards the coming spring.

Joe Gorman For star Matildas veteran Lisa De Vanna and other Australian players, the worldwide shutdown of soccer is having devastating consequences – both financially and psychologically.

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