Yes, that's an exaggerated response - of course - but c'mon, it's been another long week for everyone and well, just really?

Days after the relevant local council reopened beaches to those exercising at a socially appropriate distance, they've shut them again. And yes, because crowds of people were lapping up the rays in "unsocial" ways.

And it wasn't as if the message wasn't clear: there was an extra special mention about what would happen if too many people gathered on the sand and in the water.

And, as the weekend loomed large, it happened. By 1pm today, lifeguards at Maroubra closed the beach, saying there concerns there were too many people flouting social distancing rules.

By mid-afternoon a clutch of beaches were closed and mayors were metaphorically waggling fingers at beachgoers.

Now, this weekend lifeguards, rangers and staff will "count heads" in the water and on the sand in the hope of giving everyone the chance of some beach time.

The merits of the social distancing policy could be argued relentlessly but the PM told Sky News today: "We're ahead of where we thought we would be - I think that's very pleasing.

"Having got through that first wave, we did very well. The second wave was all Australians coming home and now we're dealing with the risk of community outbreaks and we're on top of that, but we can't be complacent."

The national death toll rose by two to 78 after the death of a 79-year-old Tasmanian woman linked to an outbreak of cases in the state's north-west and the death in Western Australia of a German man in his 70s who had been a passenger on the cruise ship Artania.

Following on from Tasmania's ninth fatality, Premier Peter Gutwein announced retail restrictions in the north-west, where an outbreak shut two hospitals earlier this month, would be extended for another week until at least May 3.

Did you know you can receive this digest twice a day by email. Sign up here.

The news you need to know