What you need to know about COVID-19 today, Monday April 27.

National death toll at 83, as one million download COVIDSafe.

The national coronavirus death toll reached 83 on Sunday, with three new deaths reported in NSW, Tasmania and Victoria, but the rate of new infections continues to drop.

There were just 16 new COVID-19 cases across the nation on Sunday, bringing the total to 6711 cases.

“What we have seen is a sustained and consolidated and now extended flattening of the curve,” Greg Hunt told reporters in Canberra yesterday, as he unveiled the government’s contact tracing app.

Called COVIDSafe, the voluntary app will play a key part in easing restrictions, along with increased testing. As of 10:30pm, at least one million people had downloaded the app.

As at 10:30 PM 1 million Australians have now downloaded and registered for the #CovidSafeapp – please join us and help protect ourselves, our families, each other but above all else our nurses and doctors

— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) April 26, 2020

We need 40 percent of the country to have it on their phone for it to be worthwhile, which is over nine million people.

Queensland and Western Australia will begin easing some restrictions from this week, while category two and some category three elective surgeries will recommence from today.

It includes IVF, dental work, screening programs, all child surgeries, joint replacements, eye procedures, endoscopies and colonoscopies.

Victoria has confirmed they will be remaining locked up until the federal government’s May 11 date.

The state’s chief health officer said while the low case numbers were encouraging, he had no intention of altering Victoria’s stay-at-home measures.

Seven repatriation flights touched down in Melbourne last night, carrying 178 passengers from Buenos Aires, 65 from Doha, 18 from Auckland, and 11 from Hong Kong.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told ABC radio, "we are definitely on the road back now. We'll try and get back to some type of normal."

However he said until there is a vaccine for COVID-19, social distancing would remain in place and Australians would need to make hand hygiene instinctive.

In New South Wales, the health minister has expressed his "disappointment and agitation" after Sydney's beaches were flocked with people over the weekend.

Councils in the east kept some beaches open in the mornings for exercise, however on both days they were overrun with people.

"I think the councils are having a very tough time as a result of some selfish individuals who think that beaches are their own personal backyard as I heard someone say, well sorry, no they're not, they're actually a place that we all share and we have to share it safely," said Brad Hazzard on Sunday afternoon.

Four more cases linked to Tasmanian outbreak.

Four new cases of coronavirus have been linked to an outbreak at a hospital in northwest Tasmania.

Tasmania's Public Health Director Mark Veitch confirmed on Sunday two healthcare workers and a recent patient at the North West Regional Hospital tested positive to COVID-19.

The current COVID-19 figures.

The fourth person is a close contact of a healthcare worker from the Burnie hospital who tested positive to the virus earlier.

The hospital was shut earlier this month after scores of workers tested positive to the virus, though Health Minister Sarah Courtney said she expects staff will be back working at the hospital "in the coming days", following a deep clean of the facility.

The tight-knit northwest community has seen 10 of the state's 11 COVID-19-related deaths and more than half of the state's 212 cases.

NSW survey shows low income families were suffering before the pandemic.

According to new research conducted in NSW, households were taking "extreme" measures due to cost pressures, including pawning possessions, not heating or cooling their homes and going without meals - before the pandemic hit.

730 people on low to middle incomes were surveyed by the University of Technology in 2019, and the results give a worrying insight into how many Australians might be affected by the current emergency.

More than one-third of the survey respondents (38 per cent) reported paying more than a third of their income on housing costs, with one-fifth paying over 40 per cent.

About a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents hadn't been able pay their utility bills on time, and 19 per cent reported being unable to make mortgage or rent on time.

Singapore has 931 new cases.

Singapore has registered 931 new coronavirus infections, its health ministry says, taking the city-state's total number of COVID-19 cases to 13,624.

The vast majority of the new cases are migrant workers living in dormitories, with just fifteen of the new cases permanent residents.

The number of new cases rose from 618 reported on Saturday.

The tiny country of 5.7 million people now has one of the highest infection rates in Asia, according to official figures, due to outbreaks in cramped dormitories housing over 300,000 mainly South Asian workers.

The spike in Singapore is being closely watched by Australian authorities - serving as a warning as to what can happen if restrictions are lifted too soon.

Boris Johnson returns to work.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is back at his Downing St office after recovering from COVID-19.

Johnson arrived back at No.10 Downing St on Sunday evening, after spending a week in hospital and two weeks recovering in his country home.

He returned to a growing chorus of calls from senior Conservative Party figures to begin easing the UK's lockdown amid mounting economic costs.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted there could be no immediate relaxation, saying the outbreak was still at a "delicate and dangerous" stage.

Johnson is expected to chair a Monday morning meeting of the government's COVID-19 war cabinet, with Raab saying Johnson is "raring to go".

But the foreign secretary said the government would proceed "cautiously" in order to avoid a second peak in the outbreak.

The coronavirus death toll in hospitals passed the 20,000 mark in the UK over the weekend - with fears that many more have died in care homes, hospices or in the community.

Italy to reopen from May 4, as Spanish children emerge from their homes.

Italy will start lifting some restrictions from May 4, with the country living in lockdown since March 10.

Residents will be allowed more sport and exercise to start, however they won't be allowed to travel to other regions. Schools aren't reopening until September, and work is underway to allow more home deliveries and takeaway services from restaurants.

26,000 people have died in the country.

Spanish children were allowed out of their homes on Sunday after six long weeks of living under one of Europe's strictest lockdowns.

Under 14s were allowed out for the first time since the government declared a state of emergency on March 13 - with kids taking to the streets on foot, skateboard and scooter.

Children are now allowed out for one hour of supervised outdoor play between 9am and 9pm within one kilometre of their home.

On Sunday, 288 more people died bringing the total deaths in the country 23,190.

Wuhan discharges last coronavirus patient.

In the Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected in December 2019, there are now no remaining cases in its hospitals.

"The latest news is that by April 26, the number of coronavirus patients in Wuhan was at zero, thanks to the joint efforts of Wuhan and medical staff from around the country," said the National Health Commission.

The city reported 46,452 cases, 56 percent of the national total.

3869 people died - equating to 84 percent of China's total deaths.

What you need to know about COVID-19 today, Sunday April 26.

- With AAP

Feature image: Getty.