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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly (now) and Stephanie Convery (earlier) and Caitlin Cassidy (earlier)

WA to close to NT and Tasmania; NSW records 3,763 new cases – as it happened

That’s it for the blog - Thursday turned out to be quite busy!

Here’s the main news:

  • Confidence in interstate travel plummeted over Omicron uncertainty
  • International doctors called for immediate release of Julian Assange
  • AMA called for the reintroduction of some restrictions “given the uncertainty” of Omicron
  • Victoria recorded 1,503 new cases, NSW 3,763, Tasmania 12, the ACT 58, Queensland 186, and SA 198 new Covid infections
  • South Australian premier says boosters should be brought forward
  • New Zealand recorded 56 new community cases
  • Queensland to increase mask requirements for cinemas, theatres and hospitality staff
  • Pharmacists called for urgent reinstatement of mask mandate
  • In NSW 1,364 healthcare workers are in isolation
  • Morrison said government won’t mandate masks after national cabinet meeting
  • WA announced it will close its border to TAS and NT and mandate booster shots for some workers
  • Lockdown extended in Tennant Creek

And that is it! I am going to risk it all for a last minute Christmas shopping trip in town now - wish me luck.

Updated

After a big day of pressers, things have really quietened down tonight.

I thought some of you would enjoy this quite incredible fact:

Updated

For those interested, you can read the Nat-Cab statement here:

From AAP:

Ballarat’s Catholic diocese has been found liable for the sexual abuse of a young boy by one of its priests.

The decision, believed to be an Australian first, was handed down by Victoria’s supreme court on Wednesday.

The diocese and its current bishop, Paul Bird, were sued by a man who said he was sexually assaulted by Father Bryan Coffey at his parents’ home in Port Fairy in 1971.

He was five years old.

Coffey received a three-year suspended sentence in 1999 after being convicted of charges including indecent assaults of males and females under 16 and false imprisonment.

The man, known as DP in court documents, didn’t tell anyone except for his partner about the assault until 2018.

He made a claim for more than $1.5 million for loss of earnings as a result of the assaults, a figure described by Justice Jack Forrest as “bold”.

The judge instead made an order for DP to receive $200,000 in damages for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life as well as $10,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 in other damages.

Updated

Residents in Weilmoringle Sth, NSW, are also being asked to evacuate.

From AAP:

Dozens of children are likely to spend Christmas behind bars in the Northern Territory’s infamous Don Dale youth detention centre, four years after the government agreed to close it.

Inmate numbers climbed to 44 in recent months after the NT government toughened youth bail laws earlier in the year.

Darwin lawyer John B Lawrence SC is representing an 11-year-old Indigenous boy on remand in the former men’s prison.

“It’s disgusting that a child so young is in custody and away from his family over the holidays,” he told AAP on Wednesday.

“But it’s a fact and it’s appalling that we accept and let this happen in Australia”.

Mr Lawrence said the facility was “dystopian and derelict” and his client was locked in a cell alone most of the day without activities.

In 2017, the NT government accepted recommendations from the NT juvenile justice royal commission to shut down and replace Don Dale.

But four years on, a new facility is not complete.

Most of the alleged child offenders the NT justice system deals with are Aboriginal.

A NSW coroner has recommended bassinets be banned in childcare centres after finding a series of failures contributed to the death of a seven-month-old baby at a Sydney facility.

Jack Loh was found unresponsive after being put to sleep in a bassinet in March 2019. It was just his fourth visit to the family childcare provider in Randwick.

Following an inquest earlier this year, deputy state coroner Derek Lee on Wednesday found undiagnosed pulmonary hypertension caused Jack’s death on 4 March at the Rhythm and Rhyme Centre but that “unsafe” sleeping conditions contributed to it.

Updated

A man linked to a website which appeared to generate fake vaccination certificates in an email to his employer that was meant to contain proof he had received the jab, according to a ruling of the Fair Work Commission.

The incident was revealed in a 20 December decision discontinuing his claim of having been unlawfully stood down, handed down by commission deputy president Richard Clancy.

The Victorian worker had taken his fight to the workplace tribunal after he stopped getting shifts with O&M Pty Ltd, a construction and maintenance company based in Gippsland, Victoria, earlier this year.

Masks will be made mandatory in cinemas and theatres in QLD from 5 am tomorrow.

Hospitality workers across the state will also have to wear masks.

Many Australians could end up spending the festive holiday period alone in isolation after being exposed to a Covid case, even as governments resist shutting borders and insist Christmas won’t be cancelled.

Overworked health systems are struggling to cope up with new outbreaks and some state and territory governments have moved to tighten mask mandates and social distancing restrictions.

Adelaide man Geoff Goodfellow, 72, says at least three generations of his family will be spending Christmas in quarantine.

Updated

While we’re on the pressers (which just went back-to-back for a hot hour) we’ve got this video of McGowan on the rule changes:

Hi everyone - this is Cait Kelly back in the blog seat.

I’ve got this video for those who missed it of Morrison on masks (and Murph going hard on what exactly the health advice is).

Updated

Heartbroken families are being forced to cancel Christmas and holiday plans as Queensland Covid testing requirements leave them locked out or turned away.

Almost 260,000 Australians have crossed the border into Queensland since Monday but many more have been turned away and sent home or forced to cancel family reunions and expensive holiday bookings because of testing delays.

To enter Queensland, travellers are required to return a negative Covid test 72 hours before arrival, leaving thousands scrambling to get a test before travelling and placing extraordinary pressure on health systems in the lead-up to Christmas.

The scramble for tests has led to delays in results being issued.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is standing by the border restrictions, but says she is considering allowing rapid antigen tests for interstate travellers from 1 January.

Read the full story here:

Updated

The Melbourne Cricket Club will implement Covid-19 protocols to welcome fans to the MCG for the Boxing Day Test, but the ground’s capacity will not be limited, despite the Omicron variant increasing cases of the virus across Victoria’s capital.

The state’s acting premier James Merlino confirmed on Tuesday that a capacity crowd of over 90,000 people would be allowed to attend the match, although MCC CEO Stuart Fox said on Wednesday he anticipated a figure closer to 70,000 based on ticket sales so far.

It’s First Dog on the Moon time, and today he’s tackling ... the Minister for Other People Taking Personal Responsibility. If I knew how to add a thinking face emoji to this blog post, I would put one here.

Updated

It’s been a big afternoon - here are some reactions to the PM’s presser from Twitter.

On the sunscreen analogy:

Updated

And that’s it from the NT.

Updated

Manison says a PCR test will be required with 72 hours when entering the NT, but then interstate visitors can test with RAT.

“I will now move on to testing requirements for interstate arrivals into the Northern Territory. During today’s discussions at national cabinet, all states are experiencing demand pressures on PCR testing.

“So moving forward you will still be required to take a PCR tests within 72 hours prior to landing in the Northern Territory.

“You will still have to undertake a day three and a day six test however, these will be RAT not PCR tests. The RAT test is much easier to use and it can be self administered.

“If you do get a positive read test, you will be required to isolate immediately and get a PCR test and contact the Covid hotline.”

Updated

The NT acting chief minister, Nicole Manison:

“The lockdown in Tennant Creek and Ali Curung will be extended for a further 24 hours until 5pm, Thursday, the 23rd of December.

“We are very mindful that it is Christmas and a lot of people have a lot of work to do to prepare for Christmas Day.

“The mask mandate in the Barkly LGA is also going to be extended for a further 24 hours.”

Updated

We are going to Darwin now.

Lockdown extended in Tennant Creek

A 48-hour mask mandate has also been introduced for Alice Springs and Amoonguna.

Updated

Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council has asked the New South Wales government to declare the area a disaster zone.

The declaration would release funds to help them clean up after Sunday’s storm which killed one woman.

More than 700 insurance claims have been filed.

And that’s it from WA. To re-cap:

They’re closing the border to Tasmania and the Northern Territory on Boxing Day.

They will also become the first state to mandate vaccine booster shots.

Updated

McGowan says much of the opinion from commentators in the east is that WA is a “disaster”.

“They have no idea. They haven’t been here over the course of last two years.

“They have no idea what we’ve been through, so they don’t understand. We’ve had an incredibly free and open society with wonderful health outcomes and terrific economic outcomes, so I don’t get it.

“So that’s why I don’t know what prime minister’s motivation is. I don’t know if it’s about elections, or it’s about other things.”

Updated

McGowan says you “can’t keep the government out of people’s lives.”

“The governments have to lead up to difficult things to save people’s lives and keep the community safe.”

“I think there’s a lot of different attitudes in New South Wales and Victoria, based upon their experience, and our experience has been totally different, worlds apart.

“You know, we haven’t had long lockdown.

“We haven’t had people kicked out of the workplace in the hundreds of thousands. We haven’t had the economy crash. We’ve had none of those things. So obviously over there attitudes are very difficult.

“And for us, it’s hard to place ourselves in a position, or if you’d like, it’s hard for them to place themselves in opposition over there.”

Updated

McGowan says he hopes ATAGI will make a decision on booster times soon.

“You need to start thinking about booking a third dose as soon as possible. Before Omicron comes into our community.

“Our state clinics will continue to operate over the festive season so people can go out and get vaccinated.”

McGowan:

“Specifically in relation to third doses. A third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will now be mandatory for all eligible workers in industries covered by a vaccine mandate.

“Under the mandate workers will now be called to have a third dose within one month of becoming eligible.

“Currently more than 266,000 people are eligible for a third dose. And so far 89,900 people have received their dose.

“Everyone is strongly urged to receive a third dose when eligible, even if they’re not covered by this policy.”

Updated

WA to mandate booster shots

McGowan says more than one million workers will now have to get booster shots under an expanded mandate.

This is the first time boosters have been mandated.

“As I’ve already mentioned, this morning, I attended national cabinet where leaders were given an updated briefing on the threat posed to all by the Omicron variant.

“What we are told is concerning. The picture that is starting to emerge, it is troubling. But there is hope and there is help. It comes in the form of vaccination.

“Specifically the third dose, which ... is far more effective against the Omicron strain than two doses. Therefore we are now announcing changes to our vaccination program.”

Updated

McGowan says the decision has not “been taken lightly”.

“No one wants to stop families returning home to Western Australia during the festive season.

“No one. But given the escalating crisis in other parts of Australia, and based on updated health advice, we’re taking this step to protect Western Australians and stop any spread of the virus into our community.”

Updated

WA closes border to Tas and NT

McGowan is closing the border to Tasmania and the NT from Boxing Day morning.

“This means Tasmania and the Northern Territory will transition from low-risk to medium-risk jurisdictions, and travel will not be permitted with these jurisdictions, unless approved.

“Any Western Australian who has recently travelled to Tasmania or the Northern Territory is eligible to return under compassionate grounds and must apply through the G2G pass system.

“We’re giving people notice now to get bored from Sunday morning. Travel with these jurisdictions will cease unless you are approved to travel under the new G2G system.

“Anyone approved to travel must be double dose vaccinated and will be subject to quarantine and testing requirements.”

Updated

“Western Australia has recorded four new positive Covid cases in returned travellers who are in hotel quarantine.

“After flying in from different locations in Africa. The two others are from Queensland, a couple in their 30s who flew in from Brisbane on Sunday night.

“Both are double-dose vaccinated. They tested positive after arriving in Western Australia. Both are in self-quarantine. Four family members, all of whom are vaccinated had tested negative and are also in quarantine for 14 days.”

Updated

Stay with us, we are now going to WA where Mark McGowan is talking. The state has four new Covid cases.

Updated

Lastly, the PM is asked about the Voices movement of independents running in Liberal seats.

They’re representing themselves as something they’re not. And I’m calling it out.

This is not an independent movement. This is a political party, and it’s funded by donors, like other political parties.

They’re pretending to be voices of a local community. And we’ve got at least two of them who used to be members of Labor.

The PM said this would be discussed closer to the election.

Updated

The PM has given the last Covid question to the Courier Mail – the journo has asked about when Atagi will make its decision on booster times.

Well, that is what Atagi is considering right now.

But I would add this note of caution. There are ample numbers of people right now that need to go and get the booster and that can be supported by the vaccination program.

Making more people eligible doesn’t get boosters into arms any quicker. If anything, it can actually lead to a situation where those groups that you want to prioritise to get those boosters can be crowded out.

The PM says that’s why Nat-Cab agreed on three things:

So that’s why I stressed the three things we have to do on vaccinations is we’ve increased the incentive payments for GPs and pharmacists that starts from tomorrow.

The second is to get the site hubs up and running and functioning again, so we can achieve those levels.

And the third is to ensure we got the right priorities and that message into the distribution system to get the maximum impact of the doses that are being delivered to protect lives.

Updated

Morrison:

I was in this situation last week. I had been at an event where I was informed that I’d met someone who had Covid.

Now, I wasn’t defined as a close contact. I was a casual contact. And until I had further information, I got a Covid test from the local pharmacy and I ... took the test [and] it was negative.

I wore a mask and at a later time because I had to travel somewhere else, I took a PCR test. So I self-managed that contact. I didn’t need the government to tell me to do anything.

Updated

Morrison:

So there are some things that do require uniformity; there are other things that just require common sense. This one just requires some common sense, and Australians have great common sense.

Updated

Morrison:

What matters is the behaviour ... to wear those masks in those settings.

And so premiers will make calls about what’s the best way to encourage people to do that. Some like to use mandates.

Others like to use that encouragement and rely on the individual responsibility to achieve that. What matters is that people wear them, not whether people get fined or not.

Updated

The PM has jumped in:

Mandates also require enforcement and that requires resources to be applied to enforcement.

Updated

GA’s political editor Katharine Murphy is now asking if the medical advice is to mandate masks. Kelly won’t answer, just says people should wear a mask.

We know that the masks work, they do protect yourself, they do protect others if you happen to have Covid. And people should wear masks.

Updated

Kelly says they think 60% of cases in NSW are Omi.

Updated

Chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, on Omicron

Chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, now:

It’s a very new phenomenon. We’re learning a lot. Every day we learn something new about Omicron. But there’s still some things we don’t know about it.

And we also don’t know about how that is progressing in Australia in terms of, particularly, the severity issue. What we do know is that as I predicted three weeks ago, it is a transmissible, very transmissible virus.

It is spreading rapidly around the world, official figures over 100,000 cases – [but probably] many many more than that, because of the need for confirmation being a genomic test, which is not available in many countries.

Here in Australia ... 500 cases have been diagnosed through that genomic testing. But again, we know that that is an underestimate.

Updated

PM says Nat-Cab agreed they didn’t want more lockdowns.

One of the main things we agreed on today is, we do not want to go back to lockdowns.

Updated

The PM says his main message today is to “stay calm and get boosted”.

The PM talked about testing rates and how people travelling is putting pressure on the system.

So there was a very good discussion about the impact of public health orders in other states.

And there was a positive discussion and a panel will give further advice on whether testing is required at all for travel.

The governments might look at rapid antigen testing for travelling, he said.

Or we can move to the more simple method of RAT testing with those queues, and make the system a lot more workable.

Updated

He adds:

So QR codes and that process will take on different roles as we go forward – in some states with very low cases, they will continue to be using them for tracing.

But in states which have very high case numbers – well, that’s not a realistic proposition, but again, can provide a very helpful role.

Updated

He says QR codes will play a ”different role in the future”.

What that means is the QR code system is not being used to police people or to impose sanctions on people.

What it’s being used to do is to ensure that people can be alerted through the QR code system about if they’ve been at a particular place where an infection has been identified.

He says if an individual is not a close contact they will be able to “self manage their response”.

Updated

Morrison says there will be a national definition of “casual contact”.

We’ve agreed today that we must have a common definition right across the country on what is a casual contact, and what are the implications of being a casual contact: isolation, requirement for a PCR test, and things of that nature.

We cannot have different rules in different places about what a close contact is and what a casual contact is.

And there is even an argument which says that there shouldn’t be any requirement to have a casual contact definition at all.

What matters is how you’re managing those close contacts and how they’re defined and what you have to do.

He says a medical expert panel will decide within a fortnight what the national definition will be.

Nat-Cab will meet again to review and agree on it.

Updated

Morrison says there are heaps of vaccines in the country.

Now there are plenty of vaccines ... there are 20 million in Australia right now.

And about a quarter of those, just over that, in fact, are either in fridges, and pharmacies ... and in state hubs.

Updated

He adds:

But whether it’s five months or six months, or less than that, the response from all of us as governments is exactly the same and that is to increase those daily dosage rates from where we’ve already built back up to more than double in the in the past week or so.

Updated

Morrison is now talking about the timeframe between shots.

There’s been plenty of discussion about whether the interval should be five months, four months, three months, that will be a decision for the vaccination experts at Atagi.

That is not a decision for myself as prime minister or the premiers and chief ministers.

Updated

Morrison said the feds are going to increase payments to GPs and pharmacies for vaccine appointments by $10.

I can announce I advised the premiers and chief ministers today that we’ll be increasing the payments to GPs and pharmacists.

We’ll be increasing them up by $10 a day in addition to what they’re already getting now. And we think that’s important, particularly over the summer months, when normally, just like many other Australians, they’d be looking to take leave.

Updated

Morrison said state vaccination hubs that have been rolled back will be put back in place.

Now as the country moved past 80% [double vaccinated], then we did see the demand at state-based clinics decline. And as a result, some of those facilities were withdrawn.

There’s about a quarter of them, which were stood down. They now need to be ramped up again.

And that was a key issue we discussed today. More than 50% of those eligible for boosters have now had them and they have been predominantly amongst the older population, which are of course most vulnerable.

Updated

Morrison says govt won't mandate masks

Morrison says Nat-Cab agreed on “three areas where we agreed to move forward”. First up is masks:

Mask wearing is “strongly recommended,” he says.

Mask wearing in indoor spaces in public areas is of course highly recommended, whether it’s mandated or not.

... That’s what we should be doing in the same way as we go into the summer season.

People will be slapping on their ... sunscreen. There’s no rule or requirement to do that. But it is strongly recommended health advice. It’s in the same category.

And so Australians have common sense and they know what they need to do to protect their own health.

Updated

Morrison said hospitals are coping with the increase of cases.

Despite those rising cases, hospitals and health systems remain in a strong position, but of course they’ll be tested.

And our shared goal is to ensure that we keep it that way, when it comes to the protection of our health system, to deal with the demands of the new strain of the virus.

Updated

Morrison said they “had a positive meeting” and that they are taking Omicron very seriously.

Omicron, we all agree, presents another new challenge, but we have faced so many challenges already during the course of this pandemic.

On each occasion, we’ve worked together to ensure that our response across the country and across governments has been able to deliver one of the lowest death rates in the world from Covid, one of the strongest advanced economies in the world coming through Covid, and thirdly, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

Updated

Scott Morrison begins press conference in Canberra

The PM is speaking now from Canberra.

Updated

From AAP:

Six players at A-League Men champions Melbourne City have tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the postponement of one league match and two FFA Cup games.

Rapid antigen tests picked up the six cases on Tuesday morning and subsequent PCR tests confirmed the results.

City’s FFA Cup quarter-final against Wellington on Wednesday night was postponed along with their A-League Men away game against Brisbane Roar on 27 December.

In addition, Melbourne Victory’s FFA Cup round of 16 trip to face Gold Coast Knights was postponed – after Victory players were potentially exposed to coronavirus in Saturday’s Melbourne derby against City.

“The A-Leagues can confirm that six players from Melbourne City FC’s A-League Men’s football department have tested positive for Covid-19 and are currently in isolation and all report to be currently feeling well,” the A-Leagues said in a statement.

“The case involves double-vaccinated individuals who tested positive to a PCR test on 21 December enacted after their daily rapid tests earlier in the day.

“As a result of the number of cases, the A-Leagues have determined that Melbourne City’s scheduled round six away match against Brisbane Roar has been postponed.”

Updated

South Australia records 198 new COVID infections

It is another daily record for the state. Five people are being treated for the virus in hospital but none are in ICU.

Of the new cases, 33 are local contacts, all traced to the current outbreak, 15 are from interstate and 149 are still being investigated.

It brings the total number of active cases in the state to 742.

Updated

Domestic flight prices are down by 23% compared to December 2019, data from travel search engine Kayak reveals.

Prices for flights to two of Australia’s most popular cities, Sydney and Melbourne, have dropped significantly.

The cost of a plane ticket to Sydney from within Australia has dropped by 44%, while one to Melbourne has gone down by 41%.

Flights to Proserpine, the gateway to the Whitsundays, from within Australia have seen the biggest decrease in price, down by 47% from December 2019, and by 36% this summer compared to last summer.

Searches for flights to Ballina, the gateway to Byron Bay and the northern NSW region, increased by a whopping 11 times for December 2021 travel compared to December 2019.

This is the biggest increase in flight searches among the top 20 destinations, the company said, with Byron Bay continuing to be one of Australia’s hottest holiday destinations.

Updated

National cabinet is meeting now, so we will bring you the updates as soon as it is finished.

Get masks, boosters and personal responsibility on your bingo cards.

Updated

Much of the pandemic modelling to make news headlines since Covid-19 hit has depicted concerning scenarios involving high case numbers and hospitalisations.

On Thursday, modelling from the University of NSW and cited by NSW health minister Brad Hazzard found Covid-19 cases in the state could reach 25,000 a day by the end of January.

The latest modelling to raise alarm bells came from the Doherty Institute and was leaked to the media on Tuesday after being sent to politicians ahead of a meeting of national cabinet today. It said Australia could see 200,000 new Covid cases a day by late January or early February.

Updated

The A-League Men’s game in Newcastle on Boxing Day will be behind closed doors.

Updated

From Sydney, Perth and Adelaide festivals to major shows, tickets make great last-minute gifts. But they could also be a roll of the dice.

A ticket to a big show, a blockbuster exhibition or a summer arts festival makes a great last-minute Christmas present.

But the current wave of Covid – driven by the Omicron variant – isn’t going anywhere, and the cancellations are already beginning.

Yesterday Steph reported on the Covid outbreak among the Come From Away cast – they’re closing for longer now.

Updated

In NSW 1,364 healthcare workers are in isolation

NSW Health has told Guardian Australia 1,364 healthcare workers are in isolation as a result of being exposed to Covid-19. The figures are current as of 20 December. There are about 140,000 staff total employed by NSW Health.

Of those furloughed, almost one-third were exposed at work, and the rest were the result of exposure in the community.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for NSW Health said:

Staff were furloughed because they’ve been a close contact with a Covid-19 case and are not necessarily ill or presenting symptoms when they’re placed into isolation.

... Since the start of the pandemic, NSW Health has engaged in forward planning with clinicians to ensure our hospitals have capacity to care for Covid-19 patients who need to be hospitalised.

She added:

NSW’s healthcare system is fully integrated and staff can be deployed to different parts of the health system as needed due to patient demand, workforce supply challenges and the hospital’s capacity to surge.

All local health districts have well developed workforce surge and demand management plans in place, and our networked hospital system ensures patients can be transferred or redirected to other hospitals where necessary, including private hospitals.

NSW Health recently updated its isolation guidelines for healthcare staff to make them less stringent, so that fewer staff would need to be furloughed.

Updated

RATs are now the haute couture of the pandemic. Influential but totally overpriced.

Updated

I know this probably feels like too much to handle for many Victorians but like – no one wants to be sick over Christmas. Wash ya hands.

Updated

A timely reminder – for those who can even get their hands on one.

Updated

Pharmacists call for urgent reinstatement of mask mandate

Australian pharmacists are calling on state and territory governments to urgently reinstate Covid-19 mitigation measures like mask mandates, QR check-in codes and density limits to protect public health as infection rates spiral out of control across the country, particularly in NSW.

Professional Pharmacists Australia president Geoff March said that the alarming spike in Covid-19 case numbers was becoming a major public health crisis and mitigation measures were urgently needed.

“Australia’s pharmacists are on the frontline in the war against Covid and provide services, including vaccination, which are fundamentally important to protecting the community’s health,” March said.

“The spiralling Covid-19 case numbers across Australia, but particularly in NSW, put the health of pharmacists and their customers, many of whom are elderly and immunocompromised, at risk.”

Early indications are that the Omicron variant is up to five times more infectious than Delta, but not necessarily less severe, he said.

“It also appears that even fully vaccinated Australians have only low protection against the new strain, meaning that almost everyone who hasn’t had their booster is at risk of infection,” March said.

“Now is absolutely not the time to be abolishing mandatory mask-wearing in retail and indoor areas, a measure that has been scientifically proven to slow down COVID transmission.

“We urge all state and territory governments, particularly in NSW to immediately reinstate mandatory mask-wearing in indoor areas to slow down the spread of the virus and to protect public health.”

He also called for the state to reinstate QR check-in codes.

Updated

NSW Labor is going hard on free rapid antigen testing this afternoon.

Chris Minns, NSW Labor leader, said he was calling on the government to source more RATs to keep up with demand and distribute these for free, particularly as people were going away for the holidays.

Many people across NSW are simply trying to do the right thing by their families and communities, and want to get a test for peace of mind, or before a family gathering.

A free rapid antigen test will provide peace of mind to many and it will also free up some capacity at PCR testing sites.

We can’t have a situation where people get a PCR and clog up the system simply because they couldn’t afford or couldn’t locate a rapid test.

Anything that helps hardworking healthcare staff process PCR tests more quickly and ease the backlog and queues is a sensible move and worthy of consideration.

Updated

We’ve got some more info on the 56 cases in NZ today. This is from AAP:

All cases were on the North Island, with 33 in Auckland and 11 in the Bay of Plenty including one in poorly vaccinated Murupara.

The Wellington case recently visited the Lakes district, centred on Rotorua, and a string of retail places in Lower and Upper Hutt from Saturday before their positive test on Tuesday.

Wellington last recorded a case in November, which was later believed to be historical, with the previous cases in August at the start of the Delta outbreak.

Wastewater testing results from the Hutt Valley showed a positive result – as have a string of places which are yet to return positive cases, suggesting undetected community transmission in Napier, Whitianga, Dargaville and Gisborne.

On Wednesday, 51 people were receiving treatment in hospital, including seven in intensive care.

NZ is intent on trying to stop the Omicron variant from entering the community, pushing back plans to allow fully vaccinated Kiwis to self-isolate on arrival from Australia.

Updated

Hello everyone – this is Cait Kelly. First, a big thanks to Caitlin Cassidy, who has done a great job this morning.

We’re going to start the afternoon with an unconfirmed report the NSW government is considering charging people who are unvaccinated for their hospital stays.

Ray Hadley dropped this bomb on his show earlier but said he did not know how the premier felt about it.

“It’s a rather radical move put forward by cabinet ministers,” Hadley said.

“I don’t know where Perrottet sits with it at the moment but he certainly has forwarded the issue to Brad Hazzard.”

Updated

With that, I will pass you onto Cait Kelly, who will keep you company into the evening.

Sydney’s iconic Imperial Hotel has made the decision to close until 29 December due to escalating Covid numbers. Cafe Fredas in Darlinghurst made the same announcement earlier today.

A huge blow for hospitality venues hoping for a strong end to the year.

The NSW Labor party is calling for rapid antigen tests to be freely available in the state, to alleviate pressure on testing centres.

There has also been a moderate flood warning issued for the Bogan River.

Updated

Bit of tennis news. Craig Tiley is “confident” Nadal will be in Melbourne to play at the Australian Open. But Novak Djokovic will need a medical exemption from ATAGI, or a vaccination. “It’s his choice”.

Updated

Yes.

Palaszczuk is asked if there is a case where the chief operating officer reports directly to the minister, not the director general. She replies:

We are Queensland and we can do what we want, excuse me, in terms of how we have reporting requirements.

She’s really digging her heels in at the journalists, again citing the 10% figure:

Everybody knew our plan. You are all here when we announced it and everyone accepted it. We’re going around in circles now ... I want to go to national cabinet, so I’m going to leave Dr Gerrard with you.

And off she goes!

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will consider approving rapid antigen tests in place of PCR tests for visitors to her state in the new year. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated

Palaszczuk is asked about huge testing lines in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT in the lead up to Christmas. She says people attempting travel interstate only account for 10% of tests. I am unsure where she got this number from, but she says “we’ve got the data”.

Reporter:

It safe to say Queensland is now holding the rest of the country ransom because this testing is causing angst amongst populations in NSW?

Palaszczuk:

No, you got this wrong ... Omicron is rampant in NSW. I don’t want rapid spread here in Queensland. I want Queenslanders to have a good and safe new year. I have a lot of elderly population who don’t have boosters yet. I want them to get their booster shots.

With due respect, 10% of the lineups are for people who want to get their PCR tests to travel all around Australia, not just Queensland. 90% of people are concerned they have the Omicron variant and want to get tested.

Reporter:

How do we know the 10% number?

Palaszczuk:

That’s our advice. We have the data.

People queue outside Melbourne Town Hall Covid-19 testing centre
People queue outside the Melbourne town hall Covid-19 testing centre. Tests are required prior to entering several Australian states. Photograph: Diego Fedele/Getty Images

Updated

In relatively useless news for people coming to Queensland for Christmas, Palaszczuk is looking at approving rapid antigen tests in place of mandatory PCR tests for high risk arrivals from the new year:

I spoke to the NSW premier and we had a good conversation ... we are happy to get some further advice from AHPPC about rapid antigen tests. We will look at whether this is approved, that we may be to legalise them in the new year from 1 January but between now and the new year, we will require those PCR tests for people coming into the state. It was part of our plan and we want to keep the virus out as much as we possibly can over the Christmas and New Year.

Updated

Queensland to increase mask requirements as Covid cases rise

Palaszczuk says new measures will be introduced in order to stem the spread of the virus.

From 5am tomorrow, masks will be mandatory in cinemas and theatres for patrons and staff, and for hospitality staff. Masks were already mandatory in limited settings. Palaszczuk says the industry and unions understand why the regulations are necessary, in light of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

We’ve had 257,000 people crossing the border from Victoria, ACT and NSW since Monday. Everyone wants to come to Queensland but we want to make sure that it is safe. If you think about it, it’s more than the population of Townsville has come into Queensland. We are a tourist destination. Because the variant, the Omicron, is highly contagious and we want to ensure that Queenslanders and people coming into Queensland have a safe Christmas and new year. That means we [offer] as much protection as we possibly can.

Updated

Queensland records 186 new cases of Covid

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is up now.

There have been 186 new Covid cases recorded in the state. Some 89.9% of Queenslanders have now received a first dose, with the 90% milestone expected to be reached today.

Updated

New Zealand records 56 new community cases

New Zealand has recorded 56 community cases of Covid and six cases of Omicron in isolated returnees. There are 51 people being treated in hospital with the virus.

Melbourne friends may consider heading to the Royal Exhibition Centre if you’re looking to get a booster shot.

Updated

Weimar acknowledges we are facing a “significant challenge” for the healthcare sector, particularly at a time to be spent with loved ones:

It is an incredibly busy time for the entire health care sector. Can I say a few words around the literally the tens of thousands of health care workers across our system. They have been providing the basic care, but also vaccinating and testing, and our teams have been running incredibly hard for the last 22, 23 months and here we are again, as we run into Christmas, gearing up again for a number of significant surges.

We are concerned about the increased risk of hospitalisations. We are concerned about the ongoing pressures around providing care within our health care system and as a result we know that our team also will be working incredibly hard over the holiday period right into January and February when we would all rather be doing something else, but that’s the role we have to do.

Updated

If the booster interval is reduced following national cabinet, an additional one million Victorians will become eligible for the jab. As it stands, some 400,000 who are eligible are yet to receive their booster shot.

Victoria’s Covid commander Jeroen Weimar is up. It’s been a while since we heard from him. He confirms there are just over 60 Omicron cases in Victoria, and expects to see more in the coming days.

Can I thank our colleagues across primary care for the tireless work they’ve done on the vaccination program to date and also recognise the hard yards they will put in over December, January, February and the months ahead as we get on top of our booster program. But it really is a very important thing now for us all to do and to make sure we get ready to get that done.

On top of that, of course, record numbers of testing, so now over 92,000 completed PCR tests yesterday run through the state labs. Thousands of people out there across 260 testing sites across the state and hundreds working in the pathology labs processing those results. Nine out of 10 tests are coming back with results the next day, thanks to their efforts. If you are symptomatic, you must get a PCR test. If you have been told you are a close contact, whether at work, socially or in your household, you must get a PCR test.

If you are just concerned, and you are not quite sure what it is all about, please think about getting a rapid antigen test, readily available at a pharmacy or supermarket. Check in on your own health and how you’re going, but I ask you to think about some of the high-risk activities that we might be doing over the coming days.

Updated

The ACT records 58 new cases

Oh dear that’s quite a jump. There have been 58 new Covid cases recorded in the ACT. No deaths, three people in hospital, none requiring intensive care.

Queensland health authorities are due to give an update shortly. We’ll bring it to you here.

ACT Health has stopped posting Covid testing centre waiting times to its social media and are instead referring Canberrans to the government website.

As of 10am, they’ve increased:

  • Mitchell drive through testing clinic (open 8am to 10pm): at capacity
  • Garran testing clinic (open 7.30am to 9pm): 4 hours+
  • Kambah drive through testing clinic (open 8am to 4pm): 3 hours 30 minutes+
  • Nicholls testing clinic (open 8am to 3.50pm): 3 hours 30 minutes+

Wait times have relatively eased in South Australia following the lifting of mandatory testing on arrival to the state.

Tasmania records 12 new Covid cases

Tasmania has reported 12 new cases of Covid-19, bringing active cases to 26.

Updated

Borders won’t be closing in South Australia after Christmas, Marshall confirms:

That’s certainly not our intention in South Australia. We made it clear we didn’t want any more statewide lockdowns or lockouts after we got the vaccination rate up over 80%. We achieved that and ruled that out. We did that on 23 November.

Updated

South Australian premier says boosters should be brought forward

South Australia’s premier Steven Marshall is up now. He says it is his “strong belief” boosters should be brought forward and will say as much at national cabinet later today:

We have been looking at the availability of all of our vaccination clinics at the moment. We are very hopeful that at the national cabinet today we will get agreement to go from a five-month interval down to a four-month interval. That means we will have to flex up our vaccination clinics and that’s exactly what we will do.

Updated

Especially disappointing for those who diligently waited hours to get tested, were turned away, or haven’t received results.

Fourteen temporary testing sites are now closed in Melbourne.

Scott Morrison says Australians ‘should be wearing masks anyway’

The prime minister has said Australians “don’t have to wait to be told” to wear masks.

Updated

What are the odds Morrison will announce he is buying 500 bottles of sunscreen* to be able to order online for free starting in January?

Morrison earlier:

One of the advantages we have got is the time of year, unlike overseas in the northern hemisphere where they are in winter, we are in summer. That means you can meet outdoors ... where you can, it’s a beautiful time of year, do it outside. But remember ... wear a hat and wear sunscreen!

...the other thing that everybody needs to do is as you say, we have to exercise common sense. It’s like wearing sunscreen and a hat. We were talking about that yesterday with the sunscreen campaign.

*Nothing against sunscreen of course.

Updated

The Covid testing line is snaking around the block at Sydney’s Royal North Shore hospital.

About 900 of Sydney’s northern beaches residents are still without power after the damaging weekend storm blacked out more than 30,000 properties, AAP’s Luke Costin reports.

Ausgrid crews have been working around the clock to restore the power after trees and other debris hit powerlines during Sunday’s brief tornado-like storm.

The storm, which particularly impacted beachside areas from Narrabeen to Dee Why, claimed the life of 68-year-old yoga instructor Susan Cobham, ripped roofs off apartment buildings and blacked out 35,000 homes.

There are now fewer than 900 customers without power and it’s hoped power will be restored to the majority of them on Wednesday.

Northern beaches council chief executive Ray Brownlee wants the area declared a disaster zone, as hundreds of insurance claims are filed and some residents face abandoning Christmas plans for a second year.

More than 700 insurance claims have been filed, with more expected in coming days.

The Insurance Council of Australia warned disaster chasers were in the area, offering tree and debris removal and requesting payment upfront in cash, but either doing a poor job or charging far too much.

Updated

The World Health Organization has just published its latest report on Covid, and it says during the week 13-19 December, the global number of new cases remained similar to those reported during the previous week; however, the weekly incidence of deaths decreased by 9%.

Nonetheless, this corresponds to over 4.1 million new cases and just under 45 000 new deaths. As of 19 December, over 273 million cases and over 5.3 million deaths have been reported globally.

As of 21 December 2021, the Omicron variant has been confirmed in 106 countries. The report says the variant is highly concerning:

Recent evidence indicates that Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant and is spreading rapidly, even in countries with documented community transmission and high levels of population immunity. It remains uncertain to what extent the observed rapid growth rate can be attributed to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or a combination of both. There are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron.

Hospitalisations in the UK and South Africa continue to rise, and given rapidly increasing case numbers, it is possible that healthcare systems may become overwhelmed.

As a result of this, the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high.

People wearing face masks to curb the spread of coronavirus walk in downtown Madrid, Spain
People wearing face masks in downtown Madrid, Spain. The World Health Organization has said the overall risk related to the Omicron Covid variant remains very high. Photograph: Bernat Armangué/AP

Updated

People are being turned away at the Callan Park testing centre in Rozelle.

Updated

“If you want to go outside when the sun is shining, you have got to put sunscreen on. This is the same thing.”

Fallout from rapidly increasing Covid cases in New South Wales – Hamilton is suspending two upcoming shows after positive cases were detected within the company.

Updated

The ACT government has released Covid waiting times and as of 9.15am, one site is at capacity and all are beyond three hours:

  • Mitchell drive through testing clinic (open 8am to 10pm): at capacity
  • Garran testing clinic (open 7.30am to 9pm): 3 hours+
  • Kambah drive through testing clinic (open 8am to 4pm): 3 hours+
  • Nicholls testing clinic (open 8am to 3.50pm): 3 hours 30 minutes+

Updated

Ahead of national cabinet, the Royal College of GPs is calling on the federal government to provide support to GPs to deliver vaccines to children aged between 5 and 11, as well as boosters.

They say the situation is making the job of delivering vaccines and making ends meet increasingly difficult for some practices, and they’re already seeing many vaccinators pulling out of the rollout, including pharmacies:

RACGP president Dr Karen Price:

We need to vaccinate as many children as we can as quickly as we can to protect our community, particularly as we’re seeing rising cases of both the Omnicron and Delta variants in Australia.

The problem we face with rolling out Covid-19 vaccines to children is that vaccinating children is a more complex job, compared to adults. Without appropriate funding, it will be harder for practices to get the job done and make ends meet at the end of the day. And while GPs don’t get into this career for the money, our practices need to remain viable.

The last two years have been very challenging for many practices. They’ve been under pressure managing the pandemic, delivering our nation’s largest vaccine rollout, and managing ongoing care for patients. Many practices are operating on wafer thin margins, and some are actually losing money on the vaccine rollout.

On top of this, many practices are taking on even more because other vaccinators are pulling out of the rollout and some states are scaling back or closing their state vaccine hubs.

In an ideal world we would be able to vaccinate all children by the time the school year starts, because we know it has been a significant source of infections, and it’s disruptive for children when schools have to close. However, it is a mammoth task. We need to throw everything we have at it, not try to get the job done with one hand tied behind our backs.

Updated

Commending everyone currently in a Covid testing line.

Lines at the Randwick testing centre in New South Wales are looking similar to Melbourne.

Updated

What we know ahead of national cabinet meeting

Good morning. If you’ve been following the news in the last 24 hours, you’ll know that the national cabinet meets later today. Before the leaders meet at lunchtime, let’s step out what has happened behind the scenes over the past few days.

  1. Last night, the Nine papers broke a story detailing new modelling undertaken by the Doherty Institute outlining some scenarios given the arrival of the Omicron variant.
  2. I’m told Doherty did some work for the health department and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee earlier this month. A paper with a preliminary set of assessments, titled Anticipating Impacts of Waning and Boosting Immunity on Delta and Omicron Epidemics, went to the health department on 17 December.
  3. That work and further advice from the AHPPC went to Scott Morrison on 18 December.
  4. According to material I’ve seen, on 18 December, Morrison wrote to the premiers and chief ministers asking them to “respond to me with a strategy for your jurisdiction by close of business 23 December 2021”.
  5. The PM said the objective needed to be “to ensure maximum coordination of our efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 over the holidays”.
  6. Just so your understand the options, the AHPPC gave leaders the following advice: masks should be worn in indoor settings, particularly high risk settings; vaccination coverage needed to be increased through boosters; jurisdictions should maintain tracking, tracing and quarantine strategies; the international travel ban on high risk countries could be removed now Omicron was spreading rapidly around the world; jurisdictions should develop specific strategies to protect vulnerable settings and individuals, like residential aged care.
  7. Further on face masks, the AHPPC said wearing them was “particularly important in high risk settings”. The health advisers said masks should be mandatory “in all indoor settings including retail, hospitality when not eating or drinking, and entertainment facilities”. The health advisers added: “Implementation of mask wearing should occur prior to Omicron case escalation to have maximum benefit”.
  8. That advice looks pretty clear and unequivocal, right? But New South Wales has resisted and Morrison has talked about personal responsibility.
  9. Tracking back to midday and the national cabinet, I’m told the current plan is NOT to circulate any updated advice Doherty may have. Updated work will be referred to during today’s deliberation, but not circulated. This was the guidance early this morning.
  10. The final thing to note is this is a pandemic and this is a group of leaders – all things liable to change without notice. Stay tuned. We’ll report updates as they happen.

Updated

In better news, the reference rate in Victoria is now at 0.98%.

And it’s been a huge day for testing.

In NSW, though, 2.48% of tests came back positive. As we know, Omicron is expected to account for a number of cases in the state.

Updated

This is quite a significant development in Israel:

Turning to hospitalisations, there are now 302 people hospitalised with the virus in New South Wales including 40 people in ICU. That’s an increase of 18 people hospitalised since yesterday.

Heading to Victoria, there are 394 people in hospital including 70 in ICU. That’s an increase of two in hospital since yesterday, and a decrease of three people requiring intensive care. So numbers are relatively stable there.

NSW records 3,763 new cases

Numbers in New South Wales are in, and it’s another record. There have been 3,763 new Covid cases.

That’s a rise of more than 700 on yesterday’s number, a previous record day.

Sadly, there have been two deaths.

Victoria reports 1,503 new cases

Victoria has recorded 1,503 new Covid cases overnight.

Sadly, six lives have been lost.

AAP are reporting 13 testing sites are now closed in Melbourne.

To clarify as many media outlets have been reporting, some people simply can’t access Covid tests after being turned away at testing centres, or not receiving results within the 72 hour timeframe.

Updated

The Northern Territory government has today released $1.64m of land across seven sites for registered Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) providers to develop into accessible housing blocks for people living with a disability.

The new SDA homes will provide housing for up to 20 people, and will be spread across Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs.

Updated

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has released a scathing statement in response to Doherty modelling which has predicted up to 200,000 cases per day in a “worst case” scenario:

I wish to address selective and misleading media reporting about ongoing modelling used to inform decision making by governments. Recent modelling, both in Australia and internationally, presents a range of potential scenarios as a result of the Omicron variant. While modelling is an important tool to help guide decision making, it is just one of a range of tools and cannot be viewed in isolation. Modelling helps to prepare for all scenarios and to mitigate the risk associated with the pandemic.

A preliminary scenario, of many being considered to help inform decision making, presents one of the worst case of all potential scenarios including assumptions that the Omicron variant is as severe as the Delta variant, an absence of hospital surge capacity, a highly limited booster program, no change to baseline public health and social measures and an absence of spontaneous behaviour change in the face of rising case numbers. None of these five assumptions represent the likely state of events, let alone all of them together, therefore presenting that scenario as the likely scenario that will occur is highly misleading.

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews will temporarily return from leave to attend today’s national cabinet meeting. Acting premier James Merlino yesterday called for the shortening of the interval between booster shots.

2022 is shaping up to be a corker:

AMA calls for reintroduction of some restrictions 'given the uncertainty' of Omicron

AMA vice president Dr Chris Moy has just appeared on ABC News Breakfast, calling for the reintroduction of some restrictions in light of the new variant of the virus:

The AMA’s position is given the uncertainty about Omicron and already the pressure we are seeing across the country it makes absolute sense as soon as possible to implement pretty simple things like mask-wearing which has been shown to reduce the spread of Covid, but also things like re-institution of QR codes in New South Wales and also some density limits at the moment, because what we are seeing is massive outbreaks, a lot stemming from places like nightclubs and pubs.

That seems to make sense, while we make sense of what Omicron brings to us and whether it is something that, despite the predictions of a large number of cases, whether it is something that is going to be very serious and is going to cause significant disease, breakthrough the vaccines and cause a lot of hospitalisations.

Updated

Channel 10 is reporting 11 testing sites have already closed in Melbourne:

International doctors call for immediate release of Julian Assange

More than 300 doctors around the world have written to deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce today urging him to seek Julian Assange’s immediate release from prison in the UK on medical grounds.

The letter cites concern over Assange’s apparent mini stroke, warning it may be “the tip of a medical iceberg”:

Indeed his symptoms suggest as much. It is therefore imperative that Mr Assange be released from prison, where his health will otherwise continue to deteriorate and where his complex medical needs cannot be met.

In appendices to the letter, the doctors have released all former correspondence with the federal government – including previously unpublished material – in which they warned of cardiovascular pathology.

They write:

Perhaps our concerns were previously dismissed by your colleagues as hyperbolic. They are not. On the issue of cardiovascular pathology, we have been proven right. We do not wish to be proven right on the issue of Mr Assange’s survival.

We implore you, as Deputy Prime Minister, to intervene with the UK Government to seek Mr Assange’s immediate release on urgent medical grounds. We reiterate that he is an Australian citizen innocent in the eyes of the law, and guilty of and charged with nothing in the UK.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Photograph: Mark Makela/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Confidence in interstate travel plummets over Omicron uncertainty

The threat of state and territory borders slamming shut as the Omicron variant spreads is front of mind for many Australians, with confidence in travelling interstate now lower than it was this time last year before the vaccine rollout had begun.

A survey of traveller confidence commissioned by the Australians Airports Association (AAA) has found that only 72% of respondents would be willing to cross state borders these holidays compared with 86% last Christmas.

While there is growing uncertainty about Covid rules going into the festive period, the survey also found that 97% of travellers are not booking trips more than three months in advance.

Crowds at Sydney airport on 17th December.
Crowds at Sydney airport on 17th December. Photograph: Amanda Meade/The Guardian

Of the 500 respondents, 62% said they feared the risk of border closures, while 35% expressed concern over health risks.

New South Wales and Victorian residents are the most willing to travel interstate, while Western Australian and Queensland residents are the least willing to travel across state lines.

Just 45% of fully vaccinated respondents who were regular travellers before the pandemic are willing to book a flight abroad.

James Goodwin, AAA chief executive said “there is a real fear among the travelling public that borders could close again as a result of the current Omicron strain and rising case numbers”.

Passenger numbers at Australian airports are still well-below pre-pandemic levels, even with Christmas just days away. There is going to be a long lag between the opening of state and territory borders and full consumer confidence when it comes to taking to the skies again.


Updated

In Melbourne, testing at Albert Park has been suspended before opening after reaching capacity for the third day in a row:

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles is up on ABC radio national, and is asked about Morrison’s response to the Doherty Modelling which predicted up to 200,000 cases a day. To refresh, Morrison said it was “very unlikely”:

Modelling is what it is, it gives a range of possibilities, I guess the prime minister was outlining that but there’s a whole lot of challenges that are now being faced by the country and what’s really clear is we need leadership and what’s also clear is we’re not getting that from Scott Morrison.

If the gap in getting the booster is reduced to four months, 7.2 million Australians become eligible to get a booster as of Saturday week...the first thing here is the government needs to guarantee there is going to be supply. All of this scenario should have been foreseen, we’ve known for months the country is going to be opening up...we’ve known for months a proper booster rollout is critical in this time.

Morrison is asked whether rapid antigen tests will be made free in Australia as has been done in the UK. He says the government is “looking at all these options”, and brings up sunscreen again:

We have never had a set and forget policy when it comes to managing the pandemic. As I think people have seen, everything from jobkeeper to the Covid disaster payment, the support we provide to pharmacists and GPs for the vaccination program. I mean, we pay the states to deliver the vaccines, I do not know if people know that.

And we are watching those rates in hospitals, at the moment, they are performing very well. You remember, Victoria has over – had over 1,000 cases a day for some time now and their hospital system is standing up very well. The same is true here in New South Wales was not one of the advantages we have got is the time of year, unlike overseas in the northern hemisphere where they are in winter, we are in summer. That means you can meet outdoors ... where you can, it’s a beautiful time of year, do it outside. But remember ... wear a hat and wear sunscreen!

Updated

Still on Morrison, who is going really hard on this sunscreen analogy, partially as a way to plug that sunscreen campaign announced yesterday:

The other thing that everybody needs to do is as you say, we have good exercise common sense. It’s like wearing sunscreen and a hat.* We were talking about that yesterday with the sunscreen campaign. Wear a mask indoors in public areas, wash your hands, particularly for young people. Can I encourage you on this? Because that is where Omicron is moving most rapidly, amongst young people.

*Yeah, mate, except sunburn isn’t highly contagious.

Updated

Back to Covid: the prime minister Scott Morrison has just appeared on breakfast television rejecting Doherty Modelling which predicted up to 200,000 Covid cases per day under a “worst-case” scenario.

Morrison:

The modelling that has been reported is a very unlikely, extreme case scenario that assumes that nobody does anything, nobody gets boosters, there are no changes that take place, no one exercises common sense. We saw similar numbers at the start of the Covid pandemic which were never realised.

The chief medical officer and I just want to assure people that those sorts of numbers are [not] what we are expecting, they ... are extreme scenarios.

Updated

In non-Covid news, Daniel Hurst has an exclusive today which shows Australia’s defence department wrote to France’s Naval Group a week before the submarine contract was cancelled, acknowledging the successful completion of one requirement for moving to the next stage of the project.

The letter acknowledged that at least one of those conditions was “successfully completed” as of 8 September, and said the Australian government “has, to date, demonstrated its commitment to working collaboratively with Naval Group”:

Good morning,

It’s three sleeps until Christmas and I’m crossing my fingers for Santa to bring the end of Omicron and, ideally, the novel coronavirus.

Caitlin Cassidy here with you this morning to guide you through the news.

Today, it’s all about the national cabinet, which will be gathering this afternoon for an emergency meeting to discuss the issues posed by the new variant.

The prime minister Scott Morrison yesterday rejected the return to Covid lockdowns and called for the move from a “culture of mandates to a culture of responsibility”.

But it comes with New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet under increasing pressure to reintroduce restrictions after a record 3,057 Covid cases were detected yesterday, amid rising hospital admissions.

Perrottet will today push for the interval between Covid booster shots to be brought forward, which is expected to be high up on the agenda at the national cabinet amid discussion on indoor mask use.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid yesterday called for the reintroduction of some restrictions to deal with the new variant including the reintroduction of density limits and mask wearing.

The ACT is today joining Queensland and Tasmania in reinforcing indoor mask restrictions.

Meanwhile, testing lines are already starting to form as interstate travellers rush to test negative in the lead-up to Christmas.

Let’s dive in.

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