Coronavirus couldn't stop auction wool sales this week or a modest lift in prices with the Eastern Market Indicator rising 4 cents to 1442c kilogram clean.
But Covid-19 has the trade worried and the National Auction Selling Committee (NASC) has scheduled an extra sale during the normal Easter recess to maximise the amount of wool traded before a potential shutdown.
New Zealand's wool auctions will close for a month and South African sales for three weeks.
An industry working group in Australia as been meeting each day trying to minimise the impact of the virus pandemic on the local wool trade.
This week the auction rooms in Melbourne and Fremantle moved into open space on the showfloors to comply with new social distancing rules and Sydney will follow suit next week, AWEX said.
This week's slightly firmer trend, particularly in Sydney, was welcome after three weeks of losses and reflected a move by buyers to lock up supplies in case of a shutdown.
Micron price guides for 18 micron and finer Merino fleece rose by 6 to 39c across the country.
Broader microns didn't get the same support with 21 micron and coarser falling by 23 to 26c.
Viewed in American dollar terms, the EMI gained a hefty US53c to US854c.
Next week's offering is scheduled to swell to 45,810 bales as sellers rush to sell their wool.
A total 42,934 bales were offered this week with a national pass-in rate of 14.3pc and a turnover of $55.35 million bringing the season's total to $1.643 billion. China is still buying around 75pc of the Australian clip.
The Northern Indicator in Sydney rose 13c during the week to climb to 1482c. A total 8350 bales were offered with a pass-in rate of 10.9pc.
Lines of 20 micron and finer Merino fleece jumped another 5-10c on Thursday while 18 and 18.5 micron lines added 20 to 25c.
The Melbourne market also rallied on Thursday with prices rising 5c across all microns.
However, the small lift couldn't stop the Southern Indicator falling 2c during the week to 1416c on a hefty offering of 26,495 bales which resulted in a pass-in rate of 13.7pc.
Across the Nullabor the Fremantle market had a tough week with the Western Indicator shedding 26c to 1512c.
The fleece market closed the week on a softer note with 19 micron and finer down by 5-10c and 19.5 to 21.5 micron 10 to 15c cheaper.
Vendors withdrew 23pc of the fleece prior to sale while 23pc of the remaining wool failed to meet their reserves.
Overall a total 8089 bales were offered in Fremantle during the two days of selling with a pass-in rate of 19.8pc.