Australian COVID-19 cases surge to nearly 300

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia increased almost 20 percent in a single day, from 249 on Sunday to 298 Monday morning.

According to the Department of Health, there were 298 diagnosed cases of the virus as of 1 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Monday, up from 249 on Sunday morning.

The number of deaths has grown from three to five after two elderly people in New South Wales (NSW) died over the weekend.

NSW remains by far the hardest-hit Australian state with 134 cases followed by Queensland with 62 and Victoria with 57.

The governments of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have all declared the virus a public health emergency, giving them additional powers to prevent its spread.

The latest data was released as Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to announce a second economic stimulus package.

Having already announced a 17.6 billion Australian dollar (10.8 billion U.S. dollar) package to prevent job losses, Morrison was meeting with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann to discuss additional measures.

In a statement released earlier on Monday the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) warned of job losses, with new isolation rules for arrivals in Australia effectively meaning that the industry has been "shut down."

"The damage to our inbound tourism sector across Australia will deliver a significant blow to Australia's economy and, with more than 600,000 people employed in tourism jobs, that will have a dramatic flow on to employment," ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said in a statement.

"Australia's tourism industry is falling from a great high - a high that has been a big part of our economic success over the past 10 years."

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)