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As it happened: Australia in recession as GDP drops 0.3 per cent; Victoria records seven new COVID-19 cases as Australian death toll stands at 102

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Summary

  • Since overnight there have been eight new coronavirus cases recorded, seven of them in Victoria and one in Western Australia. New South Wales and Queensland recorded no new cases today.
  • The economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter, a period coinciding with the bushfires and the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. It is the first quarter of negative growth in nine years.
  • New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended the state government's attempt to freeze public sector wages, saying it was a decision that had to be made against a backdrop of looming unemployment.
  • A major packaging company has stood down more than 100 workers from its Port Melbourne facility after a worker returned a positive COVID-19 test on Sunday.
  •  The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 378,000 and there are more than 6.3 million cases of infection, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Possible first Australian coronavirus fatality in Bali

A 53-year-old man who died in Bali late on Tuesday night may be the first Australian to perish of coronavirus in Indonesia.

David William John Sparenburg may be the first Australian to die of coronavirus in Indonesia.

A copy of the man's passport obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age said his name was David William John Sparenburg, and that he died in a boarding house in Munggu, Mengwi Village, in Badung regency.

David William John Sparenburg may be the first Australian to die of coronavirus in Indonesia.

The victim had complained of shortness of breath on Tuesday evening before he died and police had attended the scene in full protective gear as a precaution against COVID-19, in line with new rules on the island.

Mengwi Police Chief I Gede Eka Putra Astawa said the Australian was "complaining of difficulty breathing around 11pm local time [1am AEST on Wednesday] to a witness named Eka Surtika".

Some local media have reported the Australian man may have had a history of heart disease.

"There is no history of COVID-19 in the area. We hope to get the test results back in a day or two. We did find a health record from a local hospital, he went to get a check-up a few months back. It is unclear what kind of check-up he did back then."

You can read the full report here.

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