The Loop: Queensland dumps PCR testing rule, another national cabinet meeting, Betty White is turning 100 and an Egyptian mummy is 'digitally unwrapped'

Good evening!

It's Wednesday, December 29. Here's what's been happening today:

One thing to know right now: Queensland is going to ditch its PCR testing rule for travellers … on Saturday

Here's the lowdown:

• People coming from places that Queensland deemed COVID hotspots — Canberrans, Victorians and the New South Welsh, I'm lookin' at you! — currently have to get a negative PCR test before crossing the border into the Sunshine State
• It's a rule that has copped a lot of criticism interstate, with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard saying it was putting unnecessary pressure on his state's testing system
• The increased demand meant massive queues at testing sites and longer processing times, which meant many travellers found themselves stuck at the border waiting for their test results 
• Today, Queensland's Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the testing requirement would remain, but travellers will be able to use a rapid antigen test (the ones you can do at home) from New Year's Day 
• Queensland will scrap testing requirements for travellers altogether once the state hits a 90 per cent double-dose vaccination rate for Queenslanders aged 16 years and older — but that's not expected to happen until mid-January.

Travellers will be able to use rapid antigen tests to meet Queensland's testing requirements from January 1.  (Flickr: Jernej Furman)

Another thing we heard a lot about today: national cabinet

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called another national cabinet meeting for tomorrow
• State and territory leaders were due to meet to discuss the COVID-19 situation next week but, given the recent increase in cases, the PM decided to sneak in another virtual get-together before the new year
• At a press conference today, Mr Morrison said the focus of the meeting would be agreeing on a national definition of "close contact" as well as which tests are used in what circumstances
• Those definitions are still being nutted out by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), but earlier today the PM gave a quick rundown of what they're likely to come out with
• He says there should be seven-day isolation requirements for close contacts, but casual contacts should only have to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms — and get a test if those symptoms present themselves
• "It is important that we move to a new definition of close contact that enables Australia to keep moving, for people to get on with their lives," Mr Morrison said
• Of course, these are recommendations presented by Australia's Chief Medical Officer, it'll come down to state and territory leaders to determine whether they adopt them.

The news Australia is searching for

• Betty White: Don't panic! The news story that's doing the rounds about how she's going to turn 100 on January 17. Here's what she told People Magazine: "I'm so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age … it's amazing." Here's a squiz at her cover:

• The Batman: You might know Robert Pattinson as Cedric or Edward, but now he's Bruce Wayne A.K.A Batman. The trailer has dropped for The Batman: The Bat and The Cat, featuring Zoe Kravitz, Andy Serkis and a moody Pattinson haircut that might just herald the return of the emo side fringe:

One more thing: Researchers have 'digitally unwrapped' an ancient Egyptian mummy

The mummy of Pharaoh Amenhotep I has never been opened because it's so perfectly wrapped — and, technically, it still hasn't been opened. 

Here's what the mummy's face mask looks like.  (Supplied: S Saleem and Z Hawass)

But, thanks to the magic of three-dimensional computer tomography — otherwise known as CT scanning — we now know what the ancient Pharoah looks like under all that wrapping. 

Sahar Saleem — professor of radiology at the faculty of medicine at Cairo University — said digitally "peeling off" the layers meant researchers could study Amenhotep I in "unprecedented detail".

Here's how his skeleton looks under all the bandages.  (Supplied: S. Saleem and Z Nuwass)

"We show that Amenhotep I was approximately 35 years old when he died," he said. 

"He was approximately 169cm tall, circumcised and had good teeth.

And here's a look at his skull — with teeth that are apparently in great nick. 

"Within his wrappings, he wore 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads.

"Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father: He had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair and mildly protruding upper teeth."

They couldn't find any wounds or disfigurement that suggested a cause of death, however. 

Let's leave it there

But don't fret, pets!

We'll be back again with more news — and the rest of it — in the morning. 

ABC/wires