- Fully vaccinated skilled workers and international students are allowed to come into Australia without needing a travel exemption, two years after borders were closed at the start of the pandemic.
- Tasmania has reopened its border to the rest of Australia after 22 months closed.
- Victorians will no longer need to be fully vaccinated for non-essential retail, weddings, funerals and to use real estate services under state government changes to public health orders.
- The daily tally of new COVID-19 infections in NSW has jumped by more than 500, as the state braces for further surges with unvaccinated people now free to shop and socialise.
- NSW authorities confirmed 25 new cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, taking the total in the state to 110.
- Modelling from the University of NSW showed the state could have 25,000 new COVID-19 cases per day by the end of January, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
- World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says Omicron is spreading at a rate "we haven't seen with any previous variant".
- Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appear to have given 70 per cent protection against hospitalisation in South Africa in recent weeks, a real-world study on the potential impact of Omicron revealed.
COVID-19 STATS:
Victoria recorded 1,405 locally acquired cases and three deaths.
NSW recorded 1,360 new community cases and one death.
The ACT recorded seven cases, Queensland six
Quarantine and restrictions state by state:
Travel
Financial help
There are changes to the COVID-19 Disaster Payment once states reach 70 and 80 per cent fully vaccinated:
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