China has agreed to support a review into the coronavirus pandemic led by the World Health Organisation, but not the independent investigation being pushed by Australia.

WHO says it will launch the review as soon as possible after China pledged to spend $US2 billion ($A3.1 billion) in the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially in developing countries.

But President Xi Jinping said only when the pandemic had been brought under control should a WHO-led inquiry into COVID-19 begin, with the ultimate aim of summing up experiences and remedying deficiencies.

“This work needs a scientific and professional attitude, and needs to be led by the WHO; and the principles of objectivity and fairness need to be upheld,” he told the World Health Assembly.

On Tuesday (Australian time), US President Donald Trump wrote “we are with them!” to his 80 million Twitter followers in an apparent show of support to an Australian-backed push for an independent inquiry.

We are with them! https://t.co/H7DRHXPJYb

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2020

His administration had earlier decried an “apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak by at least one member state”.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar did not mention China by name, but made clear Washington considered the WHO jointly responsible for the pandemic.

“We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control,” he said on Monday.

“There was a failure by this organisation to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives.”

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN body had “sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often”.

Back to school

In NSW, students at state schools will return to classroom teaching full time from Monday (May 25), two months after coronavirus forced them to study at home.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is due to confirm the return date on Tuesday, the ABC reported on Monday.

There will, however, be no assemblies or excursions during the pandemic.

Gladys Berejiklian has set a date for schools to return to normal. Photo: AAP

Staged returns have also started in Queensland, while in Victoria prep, grades one and two and years 11 and 12 students return to their classrooms on May 26. The remainder return from June 9.

Western Australia has reinstated compulsory school attendance from May 18. Tasmanian schools will start to reopen from May 25.

Face-to-face learning resumed across NSW last week, with year 12 students at state and independent schools returning three-four days a week. Other students are attending school at least one day a week.

Victorian cases rise

The Villa Maria Aged Care facility in Bundoora, in Melbourne’s north, has locked down after a resident tested positive for the coronavirus after experiencing mild symptoms.

Staff are using full protective equipment to care for them.

They, along with all the aged-care residents, will be tested in coming days and contact tracing is underway, the Victorian health department said.

“Residents and families are all being informed, and the department is working closely with the facility to ensure appropriate public health actions have been taken, including isolation, quarantine and cleaning,” it said.

Meanwhile, 12 McDonald’s outlets remained shut for cleaning after a truck driver made deliveries while asymptomatic with COVID-19.

McDonald’s has closed 12 Melbourne outlets after a driver’s confirmed infection. Photo: AAP

The driver was an extended family member of a worker at the McDonald’s in Fawkner, where a cluster emerged on May 9.

Eleven cases have been linked to the cluster, including four staff and seven close contacts.

COVID-19 death toll

Australia’s COVID-19 death toll remained at 99 on Tuesday morning, with the latest confirmed case being a NSW man in his 60s who died after contracting the disease from a close personal contact.

He had underlying health conditions.

Two people in north-west Tasmania who had tested positive to COVID-19 have died, but authorities have stopped short of labelling the virus as the cause.

A man and woman, both aged in their 60s, died on Sunday and Monday respectively at the North West Regional Hospital.

Both had serious pre-existing health conditions, acting public health director Dr Scott McKeown said on Monday night.

Their deaths have been referred to the coroner and until more information has been obtained won’t be counted as coronavirus-related.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Tasmania remains at 13.

The state had no new cases on Monday, leaving its overall tally at 226, as Premier Peter Gutwein held firm on strict border controls.

Mr Gutwein and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk were under pressure on Monday after announcing they would keep their state’s borders shut.

• Read more: Tourism operators devastated over border decision 

Traffic chaos

The NSW transport minister warned of indefinite Sydney traffic chaos as social distancing measures force people returning to on-site employment off public transport.

Ms Berejiklian on Monday said peak-hour bus and train services were already at capacity, with just 12 passengers per bus and 32 per train carriage permitted.

Ms Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance said workers would need to shift their schedules to off-peak bus and train transport, take alternative ferry and light rail routes or drive, drop off, cycle or walk for the foreseeable future.

This would inevitably clog Sydney roads.

Mr Constance said 87 million vehicle movements were recorded around NSW on Friday as people continued to work from home – down from an average of 105 million.

The maximum number of daily public transport trips permitted amid social distancing guidelines, meanwhile, would be 600,000 per day – down from 2.2 million.

Australia has recorded about 7060 cases, but only 567 remain active.

The national death toll is 99 – NSW 48, Victoria 18, Tasmania 13, Western Australia nine, Queensland six, South Australia four, ACT three. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in both state’s counts).

-with AAP