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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Michael McGowan (now) and Cait Kelly and Caitlin Cassidy (earlier)

Airport chaos as Christmas flights cancelled over Covid surge – as it happened

And with that, we’ll wrap up. Thank you so much – as always, an absolute pleasure.

Before we all go, let’s recap the biggest stories:

  • Victoria recorded 2,095 cases, NSW 5,612 cases and one death, Tasmania reported 27, Queensland 589, The ACT 102, SA 688 new cases, WA had five cases, and the NT recorded one new case.
  • Omicron accounted for the majority of SA cases as the state announced it would forward boosters to 26 December.
  • National booster shots brought forward to four months.
  • Airport chaos as Christmas flights cancelled.
  • Anthony Albanese addressed the media, saying “this is a government by echo”.
  • Federal minister blocked six research projects and Labor accused the Coalition of “McCarthyism” for rejecting climate, China research.
  • Seated service requirement for venues in WA as the state also changed border rules for SA and Queensland.
  • There are warnings a tropical cyclone could form near Darwin on Boxing Day.

Merry Christmas team Guardian!

Updated

A Philippine family set to be deported from New Zealand on Christmas Day after the father used a false address to claim food vouchers out of desperation has been granted a last-minute reprieve in what they described as the “best present”.

Jeffrey Santos had used a false address to claim $1,600 in vouchers because he lost his job when the Covid lockdown struck in March 2020 and was ineligible for New Zealand’s income relief payment, which wasn’t available to migrant workers. As a result, Jeffrey, his wife, Marjorie, and 8-year-old son James were to be deported back to the Philippines on Christmas Day.

“I couldn’t pay rent for two weeks, I had to do something,” Santos told Stuff on Thursday. “I wish I hadn’t done this, but it is too late.”

From AAP:

A Sydney man who police allege was preparing to commit a terrorist act will face court on Christmas Day.

Police arrested a 34-year-old man on Friday morning in Caringbah.

NSW police detective superintendent Michael Sheehy says the man will be charged with offences relating to membership of a terrorist group and collecting and making documents likely to facilitate a terrorist attack.

Following an investigation by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, police will allege the Caringbah man “made numerous threats to commit acts of violence against law enforcement officers and other community leaders”.

JCTT investigators seized two knives along with documentation and electronic storage devices when they searched the man’s home following his arrest.

He is posting a significant amount of material in respect of bombings, beheadings, manufacturing explosives and other material.

It is likely he was, and we’ll suggest that he was, preparing to commit a terrorist act and that would have been an act of violence against law enforcement.

The man was charged with using a social media platform to distribute material which may offend, harass or menace in December 2020.

He was in custody for six months before being released in July.

Sheehy said police and government officials had engaged with the man to “attempt to deradicalise him” but he refused to engage in a program and continued to promote Islamic State material online.

Due to his recent escalation in his activities it was necessary for us to act today and arrest him for those offences.

The man has been refused bail and will appear in a Parramatta court on Saturday.

Updated

Australian man Carl Stanojevic might be the world’s most considerate neighbour after he was asked to “take the bins out” and dutifully followed the request – to the letter.

The practical joke began when the 54-year-old photographer from Mackay, in Queensland, received a late-night text message from his neighbour, Nick Doherty – who works remotely – asking if Stanojevic “would be able to take my bins out please”.

We’ve got a video of the Christmas messages from Morrison and Albanese here:

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has said that “after such a tough couple of years, we all deserve a happy Christmas”.

After such a tough couple of years, we all deserve a happy Christmas.

Thanks to everyone for taking care of each other.

Australians have stood together. And now, with our borders opening up again, we’re getting back together.

Off the Zoom and actually back in the room with family, friends and loved ones.

May the festive season bring you joy. And may it be a sign of better times to come.

Updated

Both major party leaders have recorded Christmas messages to the Australian people. I’ve taken a few lines from each.

Scott Morrison:

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has thanked the “many selfless Australians” who are “caring for others this Christmas”.

“At the end of this year, of course, we can think of the many difficult times we’ve had and the losses that people have incurred. But Christmas, you know, is a time of hope and we are an optimistic people,” Morrison said.

He extended his support to the six families in Devonport in northern Tasmania that lost their children in the recent Hillcrest Primary School tragedy.

“And this Christmas we’ll shed a tear and raise up prayers for them, I believe right across the country, for them that they might find some measure of comfort in this hour of their terrible grief.”

He made a special thanks to the members of the defence force in the Solomon Islands and recognised it had been a hard year.

“May all those who need a refreshing after what has been a difficult year, by just having a good long laugh out loud, round that Christmas table with friends and family, may you find it. May those who have been alone this year experience the warmth of companionship this Christmas.

“May those of us who have faith find great encouragement as we reflect on God’s great gift to us and his son, Jesus Christ. And may all of us experience something of the joy and the wonder of Christmas, especially our children.”

My colleague Lisa Favazzo got some of you to share your favourite Christmas traditions, and they are a wonderful mix of weird and cute.

I like Little Drummer Boy as much as the rest of us but at 6 am on full volume it is a solid no from me.

Hello everyone, this is Cait Kelly – I am back from my break and ready to roll through the last few hours with you.

This is a cool calculator that tells you when and where you can get your booster.

Updated

Whenever it’s quiet on the news front, you can usually rely on the Top End to come through. Today is no exception.

AAP reports that thousands of dollars worth of Christmas hams are missing, after a learner driver allegedly stole a refrigerated truck in the Northern Territory.

Police say about $10,000 worth of hams and the vehicle were stolen from a Darwin shopping centre car park on Thursday.

The vehicle was later found abandoned, but there were no hams in the refrigerator and they remain missing, a spokeswoman said.

Detective senior sergeant Mark Bland said:

This behaviour can only be described as Grinch-like.

It is incredibly disappointing for our members to be having to deal with these sorts of thefts just days out from Christmas.

Police identified a 17-year-old boy and a man, 21, using CCTV footage, and they have been arrested and charged.

The teenager was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing, damage to property, driving as a learner driver unaccompanied and failing to display L-plates.

The man was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing and damage to property.

Updated

Good afternoon.

We’ve just launched our updated story on the thousands of Australians who have had their domestic flights cancelled in the hours leading up to Christmas, as frontline staff were ordered to test and isolate amid a rise in Covid cases.

There were 117 domestic services cancelled on Friday between Sydney and Melbourne.

I’m just going to hand you over to Michael McGowan quickly, who’ll keep you company while I eat some lunch.

Tropical cyclone could form near Darwin on Boxing Day

From AAP:

The Top End is bracing for a wet and windy Christmas with residents warned a tropical cyclone could form near Darwin on Boxing Day.

A monsoon trough and a tropical low are brewing north of the Tiwi Islands in the Arafura Sea, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

It is expected to head south towards the Northern Territory by Saturday and extend across the Top End during Sunday as the monsoon sets in.

“The best guidance is that the system will cross the coast south-west of Darwin as a category one system on Monday,” senior meteorologist Shaenagh Gamble said on Friday.

“We’re fairly certain of where it’s going.”

Darwin could be lashed by up to 100mm of rain per day with flash flooding and wind gusts of 150km/h possible.

Communities from Point Stuart east of Darwin to Kalumburu in Western Australia have been told to remain alert and make preparations.

Updated

If Braithwaite can’t reactivate the CBD no one can!

The full list of WA exposure sites can be found here.

Updated

NT records one new Covid case

The Northern Territory has recorded one new local case of Covid-19, taking the outbreak to 132.

The case is a close contact of a previous case from Tennant Creek and Barrow Creek who was already in quarantine.

A mask mandate that is currently in place in Alice Springs and Amoonguna will lift as planned at 5pm local time.

Updated

And that is the end of the presser in WA. The state has recorded five new Covid cases.

All cases attended the event Perth mess hall on 19 December in Northbridge.

Anyone who attended that event, which is about 400 people, must get tested and go into quarantine until 14 days have passed since exposure to the virus. In this case, the quarantine period is counted from 19 December.

About 100 people staying at the Fremantle Old Fire Station hostel are in lockdown, but will be moved to better accommodation for quarantining.

SA and QLD are now classified by WA as high risk.

Updated

Dawson is back up and is asked about if unvaccinated police officers will get full pay.

I’m advised that the decision of the supreme court today was by one police officer; there’s in the order of about 30 police personnel with 23 sworn constables, and some other auxiliary officers and police staff.

This injunction application was in respect of one officer alone, and the court – I haven’t read the decision because I have been here – but the advice I’ve got from the state solicitor is that the court has held that it only applies to that single officer [and] does not apply to the others.

I intend to get further advice this afternoon in terms of further proceedings from here.

Updated

Sanderson says check-ins have gone up by 38%.

Yesterday, there were 1.7 million check-ins, that is significantly up on the day before.

Updated

Sanderson says she doesn’t know how many people are in the hostel which is in lockdown.

More than 100, but I don’t have the total number of residents there.

Updated

Sanderson says surge plans are in place for hospitals.

There are surge plans already in place for hospitals if ever required.

But the public health measures we are putting in place at the moment and the very high levels of vaccination we have will negate the need for those plans, certainly in the immediate future.

The current cohort that we are looking at with infections is also very young. And if this is potentially the Delta strain, evidence is that the disease is less severe in those young people.

Updated

Sanderson is back up and she says the positive cases are all in their 20s.

The people that are infected, people that have tested positive are in appropriate quarantine accommodation. We are working with those other potential close contacts, particularly the Fremantle hostel, and finding them appropriate hotel accommodation as well.

Updated

McGowan says they will look at whether there can be compensation for the festivals that have had to cancel.

In relation to some of the music festivals, that would have been difficult for the organisers of those festivals and quite costly.

We will have a look at that as to whether or not there is any sort of compensation arrangements around it.

Bear in mind, I think it ... can be difficult to do that but we will have a look at that.

And what I normally find is whatever we do, people say it was not enough. In any event, we will examine the issue.

Updated

McGowan:

This is not about individual rights, this is about everybody. This is about protecting and helping everybody, and saving industries and lives more broadly across the community.

And those who are out there protesting and taking matters to courts, all that thing, those are fundamentally selfish people.

They are about them. They are not about the broader community. They need to have a good hard look in the mirror about their behaviour.

But if and when Covid gets here, some of those people will die. I can’t help that if they are not going to abide by the rules and listen to all of the advice.

Updated

McGowan says the people that will die when the virus enters WA will be those who are unvaccinated.

Basically, the death rates around the world are the unvaccinated. When the virus gets here, and it may well be here already, the people who will die will be unvaccinated people.

If people don’t learn that lesson, if they don’t watch what is happening around the world, then not much can be done for them.

Updated

McGowan is asked if this is WA’s most challenging period yet, and says the outbreak is “most likely to have” caused community spread of the virus in WA.

That is a fact. It is the Delta variant. The person in question has been to a whole bunch of venues. He has spread it to a whole bunch of other young people at those venues. It is a difficult situation.

On the other hand, we now have over 91% first dose vaccination of over 12s. We have 85% double-dose vaccination of over 12s.

... Bear in mind, when I announced the transition plan a little while ago, it was on the basis that we wanted to get to 90% double-dose vaccination.

That was the plan before we opened the borders. If we can get to 90% double-dose vaccination as soon as we possibly can, it will help protect the people of WA.

If you are eligible to get the third dose, get it ... All the advice is, if and when Omicron gets here, the third dose gives you far greater protection against Omicron than two doses.

Updated

McGowan says they are not happy about bringing in new restrictions.

This is unpleasant and unfortunate for a lot of hospitality venues. I know that.

But it does mean that tomorrow, if you’re running a restaurant or cafe [and] you have Christmas lunch booked, [you] can continue with seated service.

Updated

McGowan says on the day WA announced the hard border with QLD, the state had one case.

You have to bear in mind, Queensland, at that point in time ... We announced the hard border on that day and they had one community case.

... The day before they had six community cases ... in other words, in a state of 5 million people, at that point in time, they had seven cases.

We still had a precautionary approach and put in place a hard border that night. Unfortunately, this person came in one hour before the hard border was put up.

Updated

McGowan says they don’t know how many more cases are out there.

Covid is a funny thing. I’m not, you know, a doctor, but your infectious period starts some days after you acquire the virus.

It actually starts before such time as you become symptomatic, about a day before you become symptomatic.

We have picked up five more people. We don’t know how much people are infectious or going to functions, which is why we’re being so precautionary about what has occurred.

Updated

McGowan says the backpacker says he had not visited any of the known exposure sites in QLD.

We asked the question, we put the exposure sites to him, and he indicated he didn’t go to any of the exposure sites.

Updated

McGowan says there’s been good turnout at the vaccination clinics.

People are booking their kids in. I expect a lot of the anti-vaxxers are now going and getting vaccinated.

I expect a lot of people are going and getting their third doses, and that’s a good thing out of this.

Go and get vaccinated, and if we get to very high levels of vaccination as a result of this, then that will be something that improves the situation for all of us.

Updated

McGowan says it is “an unlucky” event.

This fellow came in from Queensland whilst Queensland was ... very low-risk.

So in other words, there were thousands of people coming in and out of Queensland because they ... didn’t have community spread of the virus.

And our borders – again I’ll explain it – our borders were based upon the states and what the risk profile of each state was.

Queensland, at the point of time this person came in, was very low-risk, so people were travelling freely between Queensland and Western Australia without restriction.

That’s how he came in. Unfortunately he was one of basically half a dozen people in Queensland who had Covid at that point in time.

Updated

McGowan says if there is a community outbreak, the planned border reopening on 5 February may become redundant.

If we have community spread of the virus over coming weeks, then it may well be that 5 February date changes.

It may well be it comes forward, because if we have major community spread of the virus ... it may well be that February 5 becomes redundant.

Now, I said this prior to the outbreak. I said I hope we make it to February 5. The plan was to make it to February 5 without community spread of the virus.

Updated

McGowan is asked what is different about this outbreak to others the state has had.

Well, a few things about that. Firstly, if it is the Delta variant, it’s still highly infectious.

So most of our outbreaks, bar one, were the predecessor variants prior to Delta.

So Delta, of course, was regarded certainly by people in New South Wales as highly infectious. So that’s point one. So – it maybe Omicron but we suspect it’s Delta. Notwithstanding that, it’s highly infectious.

Secondly, vaccination makes you less sick and reduces your transmissibility, it doesn’t eliminate. We have to explain this constantly to people. ... Like a flu vaccination, it reduces your chance of getting the virus, and it reduces your transmissibility. It doesn’t eliminate.

So if you’re in a party in a room with hundreds of people, dancing in close proximity, you know, the chances are you’re going to spread it – and that appears to be what’s happened at the Perth Mess Hall.

Updated

McGowan says 400 people at the Mess Hall are in quarantine. People at the Fremantle Hostel will be moved to hotel quarantine.

It will be hotel rooms so they’ll be separated. The exact details, we’re working through.

But at this point in time, the Fremantle youth hostel is locked down – so we have the people at the Fremantle hostel and the Mess Hall event ... in control, if you like.

The reason we have done that is these hostels, as you know, have six or eight people in a room, so it’s very difficult for them to isolate. That’s why we have taken a particular interest in that hostel.

Updated

McGowan says of the five cases, two are unvaccinated.

The advice I have is that two are vaccinated, two are unvaccinated, one we don’t know.

Updated

McGowan:

It was an event with 400 people at the Perth Mess Hall.

So it has parties in the undercover area there, so there were 400 people there including a hundred ... from a backpacker hostel in Fremantle who went there at the same time.

It was very much sort of a – I suppose you’d say a young person’s party, in a closed environment.

So at this point in time we have five people having acquired Covid from that single event.

They’re obviously in proximity, probably dancing, having fun. He didn’t know he was positive, we didn’t know he was positive. So this is how this has come about.

Updated

McGowan announces another Covid case, taking the outbreak to five

McGowan is back up; he says there is now another case, taking the state’s total to five.

This is another person from the Perth Mess Hall event on 19 December. I don’t have any further details than that.

He is asked if it is Delta or Omicron.

We expect it’s Delta because [when] he arrived from Queensland, that was the dominant strain there. That’s the expectation. There’s still analysis, genomic sequencing on that, which means we might get an answer on that today or tomorrow.

Updated

The WA police commissioner, Chris Dawson, says people are getting confused between testing and vaccine clinics.

I must reinforce, though, that the testing clinics and the vaccine clinics are two separate premises. So don’t be confused ... at a vaccine clinic, the testing is not available there. They are quite specifically different premises.

The vaccine clinics will not be open tomorrow but they’ll resume on Boxing Day onwards, and again, I would ask people to check those sites.

It is encouraging that people are both presenting for testing and for vaccines.

Updated

Sanderson:

Encouragingly, we with had a 38% increase in check-ins by the SafeWA app yesterday from the day before. So it’s great to see that people are doing the right thing.

Also today, we’re announcing that children aged five to 11 years old will have access to Covid-19 vaccinations from January 10. Vaccines will be available at a range of GP clinics, pharmacies and state-run vaccination clinics across Western Australia.

Bookings opened for state-run vaccination clinics today, and bookings can be made via Vaccinate WA [online].

Updated

Sanderson says those getting tests should shop around for the quickest place.

Capacity at our testing clinics was expanded yesterday. State-run testing clinics opened at 7am this morning and will be open until 8pm tonight.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, they will also be open from 7am to 8pm. On Boxing Day, they will open from 7am to 10pm.

Private clinics are also open and are keeping similar hours. Please visit the HealthyWA website to find details of your clinics. Our clinics have been busy, and some are busier than others.

I would urge you to shop around, it might be worth travelling a little bit further to get tested and wait less.

Updated

The WA health minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, is up now.

More than 10,000 tests were carried out, and I understand that this is the last thing that you wanted to do just before Christmas, and I feel for those of you who will no longer be able to spend Christmas with your families.

It generally takes between 24 and 48 hours for someone to get their Covid-19 test results, but rest assured our teams are working as fast as they can to get results back to people.

Some are getting results back much faster than usual. Today, we have 85 contact tracers working hard to identify contacts of the confirmed cases.

Tomorrow, 56 contact tracers will give up the chance to spend time with their families on Christmas Day to continue this important work, with the capacity to scale-up if needed, and we thank them for this.

Updated

WA to change border rules for SA and QLD

McGowan:

To further protect our community and in light of skyrocketing infections over east, we’ll be upgrading our border arrangements. South Australia has today recorded an alarming spike in cases – 688 new infections.

There are also worrying signs out of Queensland which has recorded 589 new infections. This is a major concern.

That is why both South Australia and Queensland will be reclassified from medium-risk jurisdictions to high-risk jurisdictions.

The new border arrangements come into effect from midnight tonight.

This will mean arrivals must be approved, fully vaccinated, comply with the testing requirements before and after arriving, using the G2G Now app and undertake 14 days’ self-quarantine with the G2G Now app.

Updated

McGowan says everyone needs to get vaccinated ASAP.

These latest developments are a timely reminder of why it is so important to get vaccinated.

Our vaccination rate is 91.3% for first dose 12-plus and 83.2% for second dose 12-plus.

It’s 59.9% first dose for Aboriginal people and 44.7% double dose for Aboriginal people across WA over 12.

The vaccine commander told this morning’s emergency management team meeting that we have seen an increase in vaccinations since yesterday’s developments.

Updated

McGowan:

As a result of these local cases, we are in a holding pattern while we get more tests done and develop a better understanding of the level of community transmission from case 1133.

As detailed in our Safe Transition Plan, we’ll be introducing a proof of vaccination requirement for a range of venues and events by February 5 or earlier, depending on how this outbreak plays out.

This will further protect everyone who has done the right thing and gotten themselves vaccinated.

Updated

Seated-service requirement for venues in WA

McGowan:

Now, with the detection of these new cases and the big number of tests which are underway, more positive cases are expected, especially as we’re still in the infectious period from the exposure date.

Therefore, from 6pm tonight, we will introduce an additional public health rule – for all licensed hospitality venues, seated service only will be permitted.

This is on top of our public health rules we introduced yesterday including mask-wearing, the dancing ban, except at weddings, and the closure of high-risk entertainment venues and large-scale events.

The additional seated service only requirement is also in place until Tuesday morning, December 28, which will help us further limit any potential spread of Covid in the community.

Updated

McGowan:

There are also 991 casual contacts of which 336 have tested negative so far and three positive as I detailed before.

We expect the number of contacts to continue to increase. Last night, Health reported the partner of case 1133 and his four housemates have tested negative. They were all vaccinated.

As a result of the Mess Hall event, and the large number of patrons who attend that event, our authorities have quickly responded to limit the spread as much as possible.

A high number of patrons have been staying at the Fremantle Old Fire Station hostel. This morning, WA Police locked down that hostel.

As this accommodation is not suitable for people to self-quarantine in, everyone staying in that hostel will now be provided with more suitable accommodation to complete their quarantine period.

There are new exposure sites, which I will put up at the end of the presser.

Updated

McGowan:

The four cases – one is a close contact of case 1133 who also attended the Mess Hall event on Sunday, December 19.

The other three are casual contacts of case 1133 who also attended the Mess Hall event but were not known to case 1133. As a result of the high-risk nature of the Mess Hall event in north, our health authorities will now upgrade the contact status for the Mess Hall event.

This means that anyone who attended the event must get tested and now self-quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.

As the date of exposure is 19 December, this means they will be in quarantine until January 3. We are making urgent arrangements to ensure everyone who was at the Mess Hall event, around 400 people, are tested and quarantined appropriately.

Now, there are 21 close contacts linked to 1133, nine of whom have tested negative so far, and the one positive I mentioned earlier.

Updated

WA has four new Covid cases

McGowan says WA has four new Covid cases.

Updated

McGowan says the advice from border force is that the French backpacker arrived before the onset of the pandemic and has been in Australia for two years.

Fast forward to this month, he entered WA on December 12. At the time, Queensland was set as a very low-risk jurisdiction as they had virtually no Covid in that state which meant people entering WA from Queensland were not required to be vaccinated at that point in time.

However, that changed the next day. And now under our safe transition plan, from February 5, everyone who is eligible aged 12 and over is required to be double-dose vaccinated to enter Western Australia.

Updated

McGowan thanks everyone for wearing their masks when they are out and about.

I acknowledge many Western Australians would prefer to not be wearing masks in indoor public venues across the festive season, especially when it’s so hot – me included – but the direction is based on health advice, it’s to keep us safe from any potential risk.

And therefore, it is necessary at least until we know more about any potential spread. I want to nod to the many Western Australians who have clearly done the right thing and put their masks on where required.

Updated

The WA premier, Mark McGowan, is giving an update now from Perth ...

Updated

Labor accuses Coalition of ‘McCarthyism’ for rejecting climate, China research

Labor Senator Kim Carr going in over the government refusing to grant six research projects including two about China and one about student climate activism.

Updated

Just a quick reminder we are still waiting on Covid numbers from WA and the NT. We are not expecting a presser from the territory.

Updated

From AAP:

A Sydney man who police allege was preparing to commit a terrorist act will front court on Christmas Day.

Police arrested a 34-year-old man on Friday morning in Caringbah.

NSW Police Detective Superintendent Michael Sheehy said he will be charged with offences relating to membership of a terrorist group and collecting and making documents likely to facilitate a terrorist attack.

“He is posting a significant amount of material in respect of bombings, beheadings, manufacturing explosives and other material,” Superintendent Sheehy told reporters on Friday.

“It is likely he was, and we’ll suggest that he was, preparing to commit a terrorist act and that would have been an act of violence against law enforcement.”

The man was charged with using a social media platform to distribute material which may offend, harass or menace in December 2020.

He was in custody for six months before he was released in July this year.

Superintendent Sheehy said police and government officials had engaged with the man to “attempt to deradicalise him” but he refused to engage in a program and continued to promote Islamic State material online.

“Due to his recent escalation in his activities it was necessary for us to act today and arrest him for those offences,” he said.

Police have issued a search warrant at the man’s home.

Federal minister blocks research projects

In non-Covid news, a federal minister has blocked six research projects from receiving funding in the latest round of grants announced by the Australian Research Council. The winning Discovery Projects for next year were finally revealed in a Christmas Eve announcement.

A report published on the ARC website said there were 3096 applications for funding commencing in 2022 - and 587 of those had been approved for funding totalling $259m over five years, for a success rate of 19%.

The outcomes report included this nugget: “Of the unsuccessful applications in 2022, 51 were found not to meet eligibility requirements and 6 were recommended to, but not funded by the Minister.”

A spokesperson for the acting education minister, Stuart Robert, said the minister had approved 587 of the 593 Discovery Projects the ARC recommended, but did not accept the following six:

  • Playing Conditions: How Climate Shaped the Elizabethan Theatre
  • National Forgetting and Local Remembering: Memory Politics in Modern China
  • China stories under Xi Jinping: popular narratives
  • Finding friendship in early English literature
  • Cultural Production of Religion by Science Fiction and Fantasy novels
  • New Possibilities: Student Climate Action and Democratic Renewal

Robert’s spokesperson said the minister “believes those rejected do not demonstrate value for taxpayers’ money nor contribute to the national interest”.

“After going through a peer review process, it is clear to the Minister the application of the National Interest Test is not working in every case. This test should ensure taxpayer-funded Australian Government research funding is directed to areas of national importance and delivers public value. It’s why in his Letter of Expectation the Minister asked the ARC to strengthen the test.”

Updated

Is your Christmas cheer evaporating? Are you doomscrolling yourself into a complete funk? Try putting the phone down, making an eggnog and getting into some tasty online content from Australian arts companies to help inoculate yourself against the onset of festive season blues.

These gorgeous shows are streaming right now.

Updated

From AAP:

Record sales are expected on Boxing Day as bargain-conscious shoppers shrug off coronavirus concerns to indulge in shopping, both in store and through their browsers.

Shoppers have been tipped to spend $4bn – more than last year – in stores and online, based on Commonwealth Bank data.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra predicted an online record.

“The big difference this year will be an even heightened level in online shopping because some people want to avoid crowds,” he said.

“We still expect crowds but people will be more organised. There will be less browsing.”

Zahra said he expected total sales to exceed last year because people could or would not spend their money on overseas travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Updated

More than 80 domestic flights around the country have been cancelled after airline staff have had to isolate.

Absolutely devastating for those trying to see family – and the staff having to isolate. I’ll bring you more on this as I have it.

Updated

“We have to find a way to live and love, otherwise, we’ll all go insane.”

Brigid Delaney says goodbye to 2021 and helps us process this cooker of a year. A must-read today, I reckon.

Updated

From AAP:

An 83-year-old man has died after a light plane crashed on Christmas Eve on a beach in central Queensland.

Paramedics and a rescue helicopter were dispatched following the crash just after 8am on Friday at Ball Bay, about 50km north of Mackay.

Police confirmed the man, a passenger on the plane, died at the scene.

The pilot was airlifted to hospital with minor injuries.

Queensland police’s forensic crash unit is working together with the Australian Transport Safety bureau to investigate the cause of the crash.

The incident follows the death of four people in a light plane crash north of Brisbane less than a week ago.

Updated

Professor Angela Webster, an epidemiologist from the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health was just on the ABC.

She was asked if we are all going to have to get boosters for the rest of our lives.

I think it’s an interesting question – to which she gave an insightful answer. Here it is:

“I don’t think that’s the case. What we need to try and do globally is make sure that everybody has had access to vaccination so we can dampen the amount of infection that is circulating.

“We know that coronavirus will mutate into new strains when it has a lot of opportunity, when it has a lot of infection around – that’s how the changes take place and that’s how we got Delta and Omicron.

“There will be other variants that may become threats, or may not. And it’s likely that over time we will need to tweak the vaccinations, which is quite easy to do, and roll out slightly different versions like we see with seasonal flu vaccines.

“I imagine we may reach a situation when coronavirus is less pandemic and more endemic, in the background rather than sweeping around the world as it is at the moment, when we will see we need boosters perhaps yearly to adjust to any different strains that are emerging.”

Updated

Good afternoon everyone! This is Cait Kelly and I will be with you until the evening.

I want to first up just bring you some Christmas joy with this gem:

Updated

With that, I will pass the blog on to the highly capable Cait Kelly who will keep you entertained and informed this afternoon. A very Merry Christmas Eve for those who celebrate – I’m off to play Paul Kelly’s album on repeat.

Updated

So case numbers are in for NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, The ACT and South Australia. We are still waiting on the Northern Territory and Western Australia (WA detected a case in a Queensland backpacker yesterday).

SA brings forward boosters to 26 December

Marshall welcomes the reduction of the interval between second vaccination and the booster shot.

From 26 December, mass vaccination clinics in South Australia will be available to ensure all those who are eligible can receive a booster shot until the rollout expands on 4 January.

In addition, people who have had two shots of AstraZeneca and are working in “high risk” settings on the frontline who would normally be eligible on 4 January can receive a booster shot.

Updated

Marshall:

We need to take action. One of the things that we announced late yesterday is that we would no longer make it illegal to sell the rapid antigen tests here in our state. It has been in use for some weeks now in certain settings – medical settings, dental settings, aged care settings. Also settings in specific sectors that we’re very concerned about, for example, in food distribution and also in the mining sector, so it has been in widespread use in South Australia.

Now, it is going to be made available to the people of our state. We strongly emphasise to every single person that you use this test for what it is – for its intended purposes which is a screen, a surveillance test for people that are not symptomatic. If you have any symptoms, the only option is to isolate ahead of a PCR test. That’s our strong advice. So the PCR is still suitable for all of those people with symptoms, or close contacts of known cases. But the rapid antigen test is suitable as a screening test and they will be made legal in South Australia as of last night and you’ll start to see those filtering through to stores almost immediately.

Updated

Omicron accounts for majority of South Australia's cases

There are eight people being treated in hospital in SA including one person – a man in his 30s – in intensive care.

Marshall says of 484 new cases reported on Wednesday, 50% of new infections weren’t fully vaccinated. Some 70% of cases in the state are the Omicron variant, of the sample that have been tested.

Updated

South Australia records 688 new cases

SA has reported 688 new Covid cases overnight from just over 20,000 tests.

Marshall:

If we don’t take action, there is going to be a significant problem for our country. It will overwhelm our health system, not because it is more severe, but just because of the sheer volume of people who are likely to become infected with this variant of concern. Now, South Australia has confronted the situation like this before by working together – we have been able to get through it and we’re going to need all South Australians to continue to work with us through this Omicron outbreak which is occurring right across the country. We have already seen today significant increases in other jurisdictions. This has been the picture right across the country, right across the world, for the last couple of weeks.

Updated

SA premier Steven Marshall is up. The state is looking at the situation with Omicron “very, very carefully” and is concerned at the “very significant increase” in transmissability.

“We do have to take action.”

Updated

'This is a government by echo'

Albanese says the “only explanation” for reducing the booster interval on 4 January and again on 31 January is because of capacity constraints.

The government once again hasn’t been ahead of the game when it comes to preparing for the action that is required based upon our own health advice and based upon international experience. This announcement today, which is quite extraordinary given Greg Hunt’s comments yesterday afternoon, follows a very consistent pattern. That pattern was followed with regard to wage subsidies and JobKeeper.

Labor says something constructive, the government ridicules it and trashes it and a day or two later, they announced it as their own policy. I want everyone to acknowledge what masterstroke it is that they have come up with. The fact is that this government is always behind. It is always playing catch up ... whether it is the rollout of the vaccine, whether it is purpose-built quarantine, the rollout of the booster, on so many issues relating to this pandemic, the protection of people in aged care, the workforce issues that need to be dealt with, this government ... is always concentrating on the politics, rather than on the response that is required in the national interest. This is a government by echo. Labor says something, then we wait a couple of days to hear it back from the government as if it is its own idea.

Updated

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is up. He is less than amused at Hunt’s booster announcement today.

Yesterday in this very room, I said one of the lessons from overseas is that we need to reduce the time between the 2nd dose and the booster. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, we are way behind with the rollout of the booster. As of the 22 December, Australia was 20th out of 21 advanced economies, with regard to the rollout of booster shots. Only Japan, that has just started to commence rolling out the booster, was behind us in the developed world. Secondly, as we know from the signs and medical evidence, that all the reports from overseas as well as from here is that boosters will be very important, particularly for the Omicron variant of this pandemic.

I said that yesterday as a constructive suggestion. The government’s response, even though state governments, including South Australia and New South Wales ... have all called for the same thing. Greg Hunt’s response was quite extraordinary yesterday afternoon. He said that this was utterly irresponsible, utterly inappropriate ... well, less than 25 hours later, he is not only calling for it, he is announcing it.

Updated

South Australia’s premier Steven Marshall will give a Covid update soon alongside the chief public health officer and SA police commissioner.

Back to the boosters, you can read the full statement from Atagi here.

An excerpt:

Atagi notes that the course of the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed in recent weeks. Case numbers of Covid-19 due to the Omicron variant are rapidly increasing and this variant now dominates in some regions of Australia. Internationally, the Omicron variant has become dominant in several countries with case numbers growing rapidly in some. Preliminary data from large superspreading events in New South Wales involving younger people suggested that two doses of vaccine did not provide any significant protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection due to the Omicron variant.

Strong evidence has accumulated over the past two weeks to indicate that booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines are likely to increase protection against infection with the Omicron variant. Although some early data suggest that the risk of hospitalisation due to disease caused by the Omicron variant is lower than that with the Delta variant, this difference would not be enough to offset the impact of high case numbers on the health system. There are now reassuring data on the safety of early booster doses in tens of millions of people, with no new safety signals identified in the United Kingdom where more than 21 million booster doses have been delivered.

Atagi expects that booster vaccination alone will not be sufficient to avert a surge due to Omicron. However, maximising booster coverage by expanding eligibility and encouraging high uptake, in combination with enhanced public health and social measures, may prevent a large surge in case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths. ATAGI also acknowledges the demands that the booster and paediatric Covid-19 vaccination programs will have on the immunisation workforce.

Updated

I like this but I would also add “Omicron” “Domicron” “Diamond Dom” and “Dictator Dan” (the three D’s).

The ACT records 102 new cases

The ACT’s numbers are in, and there have been 102 new local cases.

There are just two people in hospital, and no lives lost. Active cases are now up to 334.

“Get Covid ready”

Updated

'There will be strains on the hospital system'

The chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, is up, and thankfully there is nobody in Queensland severely infected with the virus.

There are 268 patients being cared for in their homes, and 110 in hospital, with just three being treated for Covid symptoms – none severe.

But Gerrard says there will be strains on the hospital system in January. Not because the vaccination doesn’t work, but because thousands of cases will inevitably lead to a number of hospitalisations:

This virus is everywhere, and so it is somewhat surprising that despite the fact it is everywhere we are seeing relatively few sick patients in hospital ... but the numbers of people we are going to see with the virus in the next few weeks is going to grow very substantially.

Updated

D’Ath is now discussing the next phase in the strategy to manage Covid in Queensland – basically planning for getting Covid and how to manage it when/if you acquire the virus.

She calls it the “Covid pathway”, and it’s available on the Queensland government’s website:

This is how we care for people in the community and in our hospitals ... you can find many materials about how this will be managed, for clinicians, but most importantly for the public. How can you prepare yourself for becoming positive with Covid? And there are fantastic materials and a toolkit prepared. Think of it this way, Queenslanders. You need to get ready ... by getting Covid ready, you are doing the same as when you get ready for bushfires, cyclones, and these we do every year.

We have toolkits, materials that are prepared for people to tell them what happens when you get a text ... saying that you are positive ... a plan of who may look after your children if one or both parents end up needing hospitalisation ... having masks and hand sanitiser and gloves, and also making sure that you have enough essentials for two weeks at home ... this is a great step forward to help empower the public to understand exactly what will happen if you get positive, but also how to plan for that to make it as smooth as possible to help you feel confident that you can stay at home.

Updated

Only two-thirds of Queenslanders are following mask mandates, D’Ath says.

It comes as 32 of the 77 local government areas in Queensland have detected Covid cases since the border reopened. “Get ready for Covid”:

That reiterates what we said all along, which is that the virus will come to every single community in Queensland. How prepared we are will be dependent on the compliancy with the rules we’re putting in place, and of course the vaccination rates. As great as the vaccination rates are, that is not consistent across the state, and we still expect and require people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible to get the protection.

Updated

D’Ath welcomes bringing forward the booster shots, labelling it “great news”.

I say to everyone who is able to get their booster earlier than planned, based on these timeframes, that we strongly encourage you, particularly going to community pharmacies or GPs, because we know as we move forward we need these boosters to become part of just a normal immunisation program and getting those vaccinations done as quickly as possible.

There have been 30,631 new border passes issued in the last 24 hours. This brings us to over 322,000 border passes since we opened on the 13 December, which shows that many people are still flocking to Queensland.

Updated

Queensland reports 589 new cases

There have been 589 new local cases reported in Queensland.

The new cases come from over 30,000 tests.

D’Ath is up, wishing everyone a merry and safe Christmas. Arguably more normal than “strong”. She thanks frontline health workers as we move to a new phase of managing the virus, and police for manning the borders, and Queenslanders, for getting vaccinated.

Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath is about to provide a Covid update from Brisbane. We’ll bring it to you here.

Updated

Greg Hunt keeping the states and territories on their toes:

You can have a little peruse of the full statement on booster intervals here:

SA Pathology have posted the latest testing times across the state.

As of 10am, there are wait times of more than six hours at Aldinga and Victoria Park but relatively short queues at Mount Gambier, Pinaroo and Bordertown.

There are waits of between two and three hours at the airport.

Updated

Airport chaos as Christmas flights cancelled

Back to disarrayed travel plans, The Australian is reporting Jetstar and Qantas have been forced to cancel flights for hundreds of passengers due to Covid-19 isolation requirements a day out from Christmas.

Virgin scratched up to 12 flights between Melbourne and Sydney on 24 December, while Jetstar canned 10 flights between the two cities.

More than 20 flights between the major cities and the Gold Coast, Adelaide and Brisbane have also been cancelled across both airlines.

A Jetstar spokesperson said:

We appreciate the frustration this causes, especially as customers are travelling for Christmas, and sincerely apologise for the impact these changes are having on travel plans.

We are working to minimise any delays and re-accommodating passengers on flights as close as possible to their original departure times across both Jetstar and Qantas services.

Updated

One day later, Greg Hunt: “It is no surprise we will be bringing forward the booster eligibility.”

Updated

Christmas Eve carnage at Melbourne airport:

Update from Tasmania - 19 of those 27 new Covid cases are still being assessed by public health.

Meanwhile, testing delays are still causing heartache for travellers crossing borders for Christmas.

There’s a huge queue for PCR tests at Melbourne airport this morning. The facility has been closed to domestic travellers due to demand.

What are you meant to do if you diligently get tested within 72 hours and don’t receive your result?

And off he goes.

To recap, Atagi has updated its medical advice, reducing the interval between vaccination doses from five months to four on 4 January, and down to three months on 31 January.

Jurisdictions can bring forward these dates if they believe they have the capacity to do so. It is not yet clear exactly how this will work, or if this means we will now be getting vaccinated every three months in the future.

Some 7.5 million Australians will become eligible to receive their booster shot on 4 January.

And Greg Hunt wants you to have a “strong” Christmas.

Updated

Greg Hunt is asked why it has taken days for Atagi to update its health advice after increased calls for the booster interval to be reduced to four months:

With great respect, that is incorrect. What we have seen is that Atagi has already moved on the basis of international evidence from six months to five months and that has seen a rapid increase in the uptake of boosters and what they have done is again, continuously reviewed the international evidence ... one of the things that has been a hallmark of Australia’s approach to the vaccination program is listening to the medical advice and with the quality of medical advice we received.

To finish as we lead into Christmas, I want to give this ... message of thanks to Australians for coming forward to be vaccinated and keeping distance, for doing difficult things that are so contrary to our nation ... that is what has allowed us to be one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, one of the lowest rates of loss of lives ... and at the same one of the strongest economic recoveries ... we got through it better than almost anybody and we will continue to get through it better than almost everybody ... take care, everyone, and have a great Christmas.

Updated

Tasmania reports 27 new cases

Tasmania has recorded 27 new Covid cases today, bringing active cases to 79. It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether any cases are of community transmission.

My Tveeder live transcription just skipped over from the press conference to Gardening Australia and gave me quite a fright:

... (THEME MUSIC)

(CHILD GIGGLES)

(BIRD CHIRPS)

(CAT MEOWS)

(INSECTS BUZZ)

(DOG BARKS)

(ROOSTER CROWS)

(SLEIGH BELLS RING)

Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia, our last program of the year. And what a year it’s been!

The expansion of the booster program will not impact the vaccination rollout for children aged between five and 11, Greg Hunt says, which is also due to kick off in the new year.

He says bringing forward the booster program before 4 January would “displace the older or more immunocompromised” who have been less presently vaccinated:

What this does is ... that there are 7.5 million Australians who are eligible from the 4 January that’s including those who already had eligibility, and by then we will have had well past the 2 million figure that will have been boosted. And so that gives them that immediate opportunity and those are overwhelmingly older Australians or more immunocompromised Australians who have been less recently vaccinated. So, of course, there has to be a priority program. The alternative of suddenly putting an extra 4 million people who would displace the older or more immunocompromised and less presently vaccinated is absolutely at odds with the right way.

Updated

Paul Kelly is asked whether the 4 January and 31 January dates are based upon health advice or just the “sheer logistical challenge” of a rapidly expanded rollout.

He says its based on the “science and the medical advice” and Australia has been “leading the world” (after a significant game of catch-up):

We know that it is not an immediate thing when the vaccine starts to wear off, it’s a time-based thing. Again, as we have done all the way through the process, is we have prioritised the ones that are at most risk. Nowhere in the world has done – when we got to our peak of vaccination, we’re around 2.2m doses a week. That, on a per-capita basis, was leading the world. That’s what we aim to get to and achieve – and to exceed during January, but at this time, when – and minister has already mentioned the exhaustion of our health workforce, it’s just not feasible to suddenly give those large numbers their doses during this period.

Updated

Reporter:

Atagi expects the booster vaccination alone will not be sufficient to prevent a surge due in Omicron. When you hear the people saying 5,000 in New South Wales, do you think that’s helping people to get the booster or is it, kind of, scaring people?

Paul Kelly:

I think it’s a bit of both. We have been saying ... for quite some time, cases are not the most important thing at the moment. The vast majority of those cases are mild or asymptomatic. However, we have talked about transmission and so what we’re seeing in other parts of the world is a doubling rate of cases every two or three days and that is what we’re seeing here. We’re not seeing that same sort of increase in hospitalisations or ICU and I think they’re the most important metrics for people to look at. People should be alert to this, take it – particularly with this announcement today, make that booking in the new year to get that booster if you’re eligible.

Updated

Paul Kelly says it won’t be possible for everyone to rush out and get boosters. Vaccination clinics will need time to prepare:

Throughout this vaccination schedule, there’s a sense that everyone wants to be vaccinated on the first day an announcement is made, that is not necessary and indeed is not possible. We know that we have ... around 10,000 places you can get a jab at the moment, and that is continuing. At national cabinet, the PM announced the other day when we had our press conference that the states and territories are doing their bit. They have committed to go back to peak clinic use. We have our GPs, our pharmacists, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, they’re all available, they’ll all do booster shots, they’re already doing booster shots and that will role out as we go. In terms of the future – that’s the future. Let’s deal with this booster at the moment.

Updated

Paul Kelly is up.

He starts will a callout to anyone in Australia eligible for their first two primary doses to get vaccinated as “the most important component of protection”. Why bring forward the booster? To protect people from severe disease, and to prevent transmission of the virus:

We have seen a rise in intensive care patients in NSW in recent days, almost all of those have been unvaccinated, not even a first dose let alone a booster. So that still remains the No 1 priority for the vaccination program.

It is four weeks today since we found out about Omicron, this new variant of concern, and in those four weeks we have already gained a lot of information ... particularly around severity and what is the effectiveness of vaccination programs throughout the world ... As has always been our main aim of the program, is to protect those that are most at risk of severe disease. So they remain our priority ...

We know two key things. One is that ... protection ... from the first two doses of the vaccine ... wanes over time, hence the time-based change in the boosters. The positive effect of that is that we do know now that boosters do protect and increase that protection against severe disease once that third dose is given or a fourth dose in the case of immunocompromised people. So they are a given. It’s an absolute aim of the program to go forward and do that. The second reason is because boosters at this stage can help about the transmission of the virus.

Updated

It is unclear how this will work – jurisdictions having capacity to bring forward the booster dates before 4 January.

Do state and territory premiers announce if they have capacity to bring forward the dates to roll out boosters? Do individual clinics announce it? If I want to get a booster now, at four months between doses, where do I go?

Either way, it once again comes down to an issue of supply.

Greg Hunt concludes by wishing Australians a “strong” Christmas:

Updated

Greg Hunt says jurisdictions can bring forward the reduced booster eligibility, flagged at four months on 4 January and three months on 31 January if they believe they have “the capacity” to do so. This is likely to occur in South Australia based on capacity at state clinics:

It is Atagi advice is the jurisdictions who believe that they have the capacity to bring forward any of these dates without displacing older and more eligible people in terms of those that have had a longer period between their second dose and the access to boosters should feel free to do so.

As an example, I was speaking to the premier of South Australia last night, he believes that they have very strong capacity and so Atagi has given jurisdictions freedom to move forward with their state clinics prior to then if they have that capacity without displacing.

And this is a very important principle – that the stage of the progressive program, as quickly as possible, is what we’re focused on but ... we’re giving the highest priority to those who have the greatest distance in time from having been vaccinated ... so it’s protecting the oldest and the immunocompromised and giving them priority as is appropriate.

Updated

Atagi has been going through a “constant review process” of international evidence, Greg Hunt says. The cohort will more than double to 7.5 million people eligible for boosters from 4 January when the period is reduced:

It’s no surprise we will be bringing forward the eligibility for the booster dose to four months as of 4 January. The planning behind that is that will open up a new cohort. Currently that means that we will go from about 3.2 million people who are eligible today to approximately 7.5 million who will be eligible as 4 January. That means that the cohort has expanded. It will be expanded again on the 31st of January to three months and that will take it out to 16 million Australians who will be eligible at that point in time and as we have said all along, eligibility is the beginning of access, it doesn’t mean that somebody is overdue the very day they become eligible.

These dates have been set out of an abundance of caution to give Australians early continued protection and the advice we have is that the protection as it is is very strong against severe illness, but what we’ll see is a much stronger protection against transmission.

Updated

Greg Hunt says 192,000 doses were delivered yesterday and the 2m booster mark will be reached this morning:

On the edge of Christmas, Australians have been coming forward and I really want to thank them for that. And that includes 148,000 boosters yesterday, and this morning we will pass the 2m booster mark. That’s half a million ahead of schedule at this point in time so Australians have been really fantastic in coming forward. I want to thank them for that in particular.

That will mean we had about 1.3m doses since the expansion of eligibility from six months to five months just over one and a half weeks ago, so that’s really seen very high rates of vaccination. In fact, we’re now at 42m doses, we have passed 42m doses and all up that means that we now have 94.1% first and 91% second and at this point in time, as I say, this morning will pass the 2m dose mark for boosters.

Updated

Booster shots brought forward to four months

Health minister Greg Hunt and chief health officer Paul Kelly are up.

The interval between Covid shots will be reduced to four months from 4 January. And it will be reduced to three months on 31 January based upon Atagi advice, Hunt says.

Updated

Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath and chief health officer Dr John Gerrard will hold a press conference at 10am AEST.

Updated

While we wait for Greg Hunt to speak and reportedly announce a reduced interval between Covid shots (he’s due at 9.30am), I got three out of six in the Wordle today.

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 187 3/6

What is Wordle, you ask? Read all about the new viral word game delighting the internet:

Updated

More, if not reassuring, then not horrifically bad news. The Reff is on a downward trend in NSW, seeing a 4.4-day doubling time.

Updated

Meanwhile, many testing sites in Brisbane are closed over Christmas yet travellers are still required to get day five Covid tests. This site has been open since 8am Queensland time and will close at midday:

Updated

Another thing to look at is how many tests are coming back positive. We’re still seeing high testing numbers in both states.

Some 2.57% of today’s tests in Victoria came back positive. In NSW, that figure is 3.42%. So both are a little up on the seven-day average.

Updated

Finally, people queuing for something other than a Covid test:

Updated

So the good news is we haven’t seen a dramatic rise in case numbers in New South Wales or Victoria overnight. They’ve remained relatively stable in both states, and actually dropped a smidge in NSW.

Turning to hospitalisations, they have jumped by 35 in NSW overnight, including a further eight people requiring intensive care.

In Victoria, hospitalisations are stable, with a small rise in people requiring intensive care – up by three to 75.

Updated

NSW records 5,612 cases and one death

Numbers are in from NSW, and it’s another high number, though still slightly down from yesterday – 5,612 Covid cases.

There has been one death, and there are 382 people being treated in hospital, including 53 in intensive care.

Updated

Victoria records 2,095 cases

Victoria has recorded 2,095 cases and, sadly, eight more deaths.

There are 397 people being treated in hospital.

Updated

This hasn’t been independently verified by Guardian Australia but 10 News is reporting that Greg Hunt is poised to announce a reduction of the booster dose interval to four months:

Updated

The Sydney fireworks display will still go ahead at this stage, despite record Covid case numbers. NSW MP Stuart Ayres:

Ultimately we have got to continue to live with this virus – it’s not going away.

Updated

Nice weather in Melbourne? It’s a Christmas miracle!

It may be Christmas Eve but the news stops for no man!

Labor MP Jim Chalmers was up and about on breakfast television earlier today, expressing shock at NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s slow limp to reintroducing mask mandates.

He said mask mandates were just “common sense” right now:

It’s a bit strange frankly that they held out for so long and in that period we probably lost a bit of ground when it came to tracing and tracking outbreaks of the virus, particularly the new strain.

Updated

Jane Halton is asked about an idea NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has floated to force the unvaccinated to pay for hospital treatment. She says it is an “interesting” idea but not a good one:

It’s an interesting thought but it’s not a thought which I think should turn into practice. We have a universal health system ... we care for people who need that care. We should encourage people to get vaccinated, it’s the best thing we can do to protect our health, but I don’t think our health system should discriminate.

Updated

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations chair Jane Halton is up on Radio National, arguing it’s in the interest of all countries to provide assistance to supply and administer vaccines in the developing world:

We have to focus on delivery in these lower-income countries ... to increase their ability to actually administer vaccines. And at the same time we need to make sure ... that protection continues and that’s why we need boosters. I’ve described this in the past as learning to walk and chew gum, it’s not an either/or situation ... if you have significant proportions of the world ... uncovered, you have significant risk of the virus to mutate.

Updated

We will be watching hospitalisations in NSW today, which have jumped in the past week:

Updated

The ABC is reporting Shoalhaven Heads lawyer Paul Ell has pulled out of the marginal Gilmore pre-selection race, and endorsed Andrew Constance as the “best candidate”.

The Bega MP and former transport minister has a strong backing from local branch members, and found wide popularity during the 2019-20 bushfires. His path to becoming the Liberal candidate is now all but confirmed.

Updated

Queensland’s deputy premier providing a useful reminder to treat retail staff with the utmost respect and patience today:

In non-Covid news, tributes are flowing in for US journalist and author Joan Didion, who has died at 87.

The Year of Magical Thinking, accounting the year after the death of Didion’s husband John Gregory Dunne, may be the most powerful book about grief I’ve read.

Updated

Mary Louise McLaws is asked whether we’re going to see exponential growth of Covid cases from here. She says it’ll be “quite likely” if we don’t quickly administer booster shots. There has been increasing pressure on Atagi to reduce the interval between doses from five months down to four:

We have had so much evidence given to us from around the world at the WHO meeting that waning antibodies started about three months, certainly the Israel experience and all other countries now show that, you know, at about four, four and a half months before that booster you’re at a great risk, particularly if you’re young because you have so many social engagements. So I was disappointed that this booster hasn’t been rolled out to at least be given at four months because the majority of the country have had their shot for at least four, five months.

Updated

Epidemiologist Mary Louise McLaws was just up on ABC News Breakfast, discussing rapidly rising Covid case numbers. Australia has had a 52% increase in numbers since yesterday, “not good news” for those who’ve been infected:

It would be really very helpful to hear from the authorities about how mild these cases are and, of course, how many of them are going into hospital. I think it’s too early to be highly disappointed in this ... is this infection more severe, more deadly? All of these things are far too early to know becaus,e particularly in New South Wales, it’s always been an about a 10-day to 14-day delay between peak numbers of infections and peak hospitalisations and let’s hope that we don’t see that same pattern again, that Omicron may be more mild and not need hospitalisation.

Updated

Good morning

It’s Christmas Eve and you know what that means: a healthy dose of Mariah Carey, last-minute wrapping and a Love Actually rerun. But first, the news.

Caitlin Cassidy is here to run you through it, starting in NSW, where premier Dominic Perrottet backflipped yesterday on his anti-mandate position.

Compulsory mask wearing is now in place across almost every state and territory as Covid restrictions are slowly reimposed with infections soaring across the country.

NSW will also reintroduce QR codes for hospitality and retail as well as some lower-risk settings, while density limits will return after Christmas. It comes after the state hit a new record of 5,715 daily infections and one death on Thursday, which is up almost 2,000 cases from the day before.

Victoria also reintroduced a mask mandate, with the state recording more than 2,000 new infections and 10 deaths on Thursday.

Over in Western Australia, Mark McGowan has also been forced to introduce mask mandates after a backpacker who arrived from Queensland tested positive to the virus yesterday. The backpacker was infectious in the community for a number of days, visiting a string of venues across Perth.

High-risk, large public events will be cancelled and dancing has been banned except for at weddings. “I know this is not the news we wanted to hear two days before Christmas, but unfortunately this is the reality of Covid-19,” McGowan said.

Queensland reported 369 new daily infections, South Australia 484, Tasmania 26 and the Northern Territory 10.

The ACT also recorded a new daily case record, with 85 new infections, prompting the territory to update its definition of a close contact.

Close contacts will now only be defined as a household contact of a positive case, or someone who has spent an extended period of time with a positive case. Casual contacts will no longer need to fill out a declaration form for ACT health authorities, but will still need to get tested and isolate until a negative result is received.

There are also growing calls for the federal government to make rapid antigen tests available for free as concerns rise over a Christmas spike.

The NSW government announced on Thursday its intention to make rapid antigen tests free to ease congestion at overwhelmed PCR testing sites. Perrottet said people lining up for a test who didn’t have symptoms or weren’t close contacts should take a rapid test instead.

The NSW government estimates about one in five tests are for the purposes of travel, jumping to about 50% in the ACT, according to the territory’s health minister.

The blown-out lines at testing clinics around the country have prompted calls for a rethink of entry requirements in states like Queensland which demand a negative PCR test before arrival. Queensland will move to allow rapid antigen tests before travelling but not before the new year.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has called on the federal government to make rapid testing more accessible for people on low incomes. The federal government has put in free rapid testing measures at residential aged care facilities but resisted calls by medical professionals to make the tests free universally.

SA will allow the sale of rapid antigen tests in stores from today.

Let’s dive in.

Updated

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