Australia extends jobs support as new COVID-19 outbreaks threaten economy

A health worker wearing a protective suit conducts tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Bondi Beach drive-through testing centre, as the state of New South Wales grapples with an outbreak of new cases, in Sydney, Australia, July 20, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will spend A$16.8 billion (9.31 billion pounds) to extend its wage subsidies for businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as a surge in new infections in the country's southeast threatens to keep the economy in recession.

The six-month extension of the programme allays fears a hard end to the current A$70 billion scheme, originally scheduled for Sept. 30, that would prolong Australia's first recession in three decades.