Morning all, and TGIF.

1. New COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney went into effect at 5pm last night. No more than 20 people are allowed to gather in a household and masks will be compulsory for the next three days in all indoor venues. The measures will apply to the Greater Sydney area including the Central Coast and Illawarra. Here’s the latest location list:

2. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to give a COVID-19 update at 11am. She seems to be flagging that the news will be positive. “We’re in the midst of a community transmission outbreak as we are now, we tend to give all the results up until that time. So all I will say at this stage is I’m very pleased with how things are going,” the premier said. But, she said, there are “missing links” and advises people to be careful as they go about their daily business.

3. Australia’s international borders aren’t reopening anytime soon, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham conceded in an appearance on Sky News on Thursday. He suggested they may remain closed well into next year, in fact. “Australians do not want us to reopen borders and risk COVID entering into this country, and risk the consequential loss of life, economic damage and loss of jobs across Australia,” Birmingham said.

4. China has accused Australia of having a “Cold War mindset”, as it indefinitely suspends the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue. It says this is in retaliation for Australian ministers having “launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia… out of ideological discrimination”, in a rare public proclamation. It appears to largely be a symbolic gesture, with no meeting having been held under the forum since 2017, according to the ABC.

5. The latest occupancy data published on Thursday shows Sydney CBD offices became significantly more full in April. The harbourside city however still hasn’t hit 60% occupancy levels yet, while Melbourne has only just surpassed 40%. Elsewhere, other cities began sliding or stagnating last month, suggesting there isn’t going to be a rush back to the office – at least not for five days a week.

6. The Federal Government has been urged to support a global agreement to temporarily waive intellectual property rights linked to COVID-19 vaccines. The US yesterday backed the proposal before the World Trade Organisation, which advocates say would allow developing nations to use established formulas to create vaccines at home. Critics claim the waiver would lead to lower-quality vaccines and financially damage the pharmaceutical giants which first developed the jabs.

7. Major Sydney and Melbourne universities have indicated they are eyeing further cuts to subjects and employees, as the effects of the pandemic and border closures continue to devastate the sector. It comes as new government data reveals the full picture of plummeting international student enrolment in 2020. There are now 43,000 fewer international students enrolled at Australian universities compared with 2020.

8. As part of its first quarter financial report, Uber revealed demand for food delivery has spiked worldwide, as pandemic conditions stifle mobility figures. It used Sydney as a standout example of the trend. Uber posted quarterly losses of US$359 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, beating analysts’ estimates of an even deeper downturn.

9. From our friends at Kotaku Australia: the federal government has announced a refundable, nationwide tax offset for video game development in Australia. “The Government will introduce a 30 per cent refundable tax offset for eligible businesses that spend a minimum of $500,000 on qualifying Australian games expenditure,” the announcement reads. The industry is quite pleased.

10. Coinbase stocks tumbled to its lowest price since the company’s hotly-anticipated Nasdaq direct listing on April 14. The stock price of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US slipped 8.16% to $251.85 at around 2 p.m. ET Thursday, continuing its slide for the fourth straight day. It was trading 5.50% lower to $257.98 as of 3:40 p.m. ET. “Coinbase, from a stock perspective, has entered bear market correction territory,” an expert said.

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Here’s one for you: Dutch scientists have trained bees to smell the coronavirus.

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