Australia's COVID-19 death toll rises to 23

Australia's death toll from COVID-19 increased to 23 on Thursday morning with a woman in her 70s in Victoria and a man in his 80s in Queensland passing away.

More than 4,750 people have been diagnosed with the disease across the country.

A large military style operation will begin on Thursday to help thousands of crew stuck on cruise ships anchored off Australia's east coast of the country.

Doctors will be flown to the ships to test around 9,000 crew.

In New South Wales lockdown laws are set to remain in place for at least 90 days.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the CSIRO, has begun the first stage of testing potential vaccines for COVID-19.

The three month process is underway at a high-containment biosecurity facility in Geelong near Melbourne.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.