Covid-19 News Updates

Need to know: the new COVID-19 restrictions around Australia

Update (3.06pm AEST): Western Australia recorded one new community case of COVID-19, South Australia has also introduced new COVID-19 restrictions and the lockdown in Darwin has been extended until Friday - read more below.

With an outbreak of COVID-19 in Sydney growing rapidly over the weekend and new cases of the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus jumping state borders new restrictions are now in force nationally.

A state of lockdown has been extended for the entirety of Sydney, Darwin has also gone into lockdown, and state borders across the country are closed in response to the numerous outbreaks.

Here's a summary of the restrictions nationally after Australia's COVID-19 situation deteriorated over the weekend.

New South Wales

The Bondi cluster of COVID-19 grew to 124 locally acquired cases today after the entirety of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong went into lockdown on Saturday.

As such, everyone in those areas must now stay at home unless it is for one of four essential reasons:

• Shopping for food or other essential goods and services
• Medical care or compassionate needs
• Exercise outdoors in groups of 10 or fewer
• Essential work or education where you cannot work or study from home

Today the state recorded 18 new cases of community transmission up to 8pm last night - with all but one of the infections connected to existing cases.

About a third of the cases were in isolation for the entire time, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the new infections are likely a reflection of what may have occurred in the previous week.

"Whilst the numbers today are less than the numbers yesterday, we have to be prepared for the numbers to bounce around, and we also have to be prepared for the numbers to go up considerably," the Premier said.

Northern Territory

UPDATE (3.06pm AEST): The lockdown in Darwin has been extended for another 72 hours and will remain in place until 1pm on Friday 2 July.

The capital city of the Northern Territory has today woken up to lockdown settings after five COVID-19 cases linked to a central Australian mine were discovered over the weekend.

Darwin and its surrounding areas are now in a snap lockdown which commenced at 1pm on Sunday after 900 workers left a mine northwest of Alice Springs where a Victorian man had earlier tested positive.

About 400 fly-in, fly-out workers travelled in recent days to Brisbane and 250 flew to Perth, with 244 remaining in the NT.

The Darwin lockdown includes the closure of all libraries, swimming pools and council-related community events and activities.

The Australian Government chief medical officer has now declared Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong COVID-19 hotspots for the purposes of Commonwealth support.

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment for the new LGAs will become available on 4 July 2021 for eligible people in these areas. This payment is for people who reside or work in a Commonwealth declared hotspot and can't attend work as a result of state imposed health restrictions lasting greater than one week.

Eligible people will receive $500 if they've lost 20 hours or more of work, and $325 if they've lost less than 20 hours of work. They must not have liquid assets of more than $10,000 or be in receipt of other payments.

The original seven LGAs that were declared on 23 June 2021, City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside, Woollahra will have their COVID-19 Disaster Payments available from the 1st July 2021.

Victoria

New border restrictions are in place in Victoria due to the worsening COVID-19 situation around the country.

Darwin has been designated a red zone under the state's travel permit system, meaning non-Victorian residents are not allowed to enter the state.

Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour are also red zones for the purpose of interstate travel into VIC.

The following areas are now orange zones under VIC's travel permit system, meaning arrivals must self-quarantine and remain isolated until a negative test result is received:

• The ACT
• All of regional NSW (not including communities in the border bubble)
• Greater Brisbane
• The Perth and Peel regions

Queensland

New COVID-19 restrictions will come into force in much of Queensland from 1am tomorrow after the state recorded two new locally acquired cases today.

One of the cases is linked to the Portuguese restaurant outbreak and has been in isolation while infectious.

The other is a female miner from the Sunshine Coast and is confirmed to be infected with the Delta strain.

Health authorities are still working on tracing and testing the other miners from the site.

"We are rapidly testing all 170 so far," said QLD chief health officer Jeanette Young.

"Essentially, we don't know where this virus might next pop up."

As such, from 1am on 29 June a mask wearing mandate and other restrictions will come into force for the following QLD local government areas (LGAs):

• Noosa
• Sunshine Coast
• Ipswich
• Logan
• Redlands
• Morton
• Brisbane
• Gold Coast
• Scenic Rim
• Lockyer Valley
• Somerset

Venues will return to the one person per four square metre rule, dancing will be banned except for at weddings, eating and drinking must be done while seated, and Queenslanders must remember to check in at venues.

The new settings will be in place for two weeks.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has asked Queenslanders to refrain from travelling into NSW, flagging border restrictions could come into force if the situation worsens.

Anyone who has been to Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong areas since June 21 should isolate wherever they are for a period of two weeks since they left. This applies to those who have arrived in Queensland.

Western Australia

After Western Australia recorded one new community case of COVID-19 yesterday, linked to New South Wales, and one new case today, fresh restrictions for the Perth and Peel regions came into force for a minimum of three days.

The new restrictions are as follows:

• Mandatory mask wearing indoors, on public transport, and outdoors where physical distancing is not possible. Primary school students and those who are exempt are not required to wear masks;
• Public events that cannot be restricted to 150 people will be cancelled or played without spectators today including the Chicken and Beer Festival and West Coast Eagles vs Western Bulldogs AFL match at Optus Stadium - the match will proceed but without spectators;
• 30-person limit in all homes for private gatherings;
• Hospitality, entertainment venues (including casino and nightclubs), retail, beauty/hairdressers, recreation centres (including gyms, pilates, yoga, dance and swimming pools) and places of worship can remain open but must comply with the two square metre rule, with a maximum of 150 patrons;
• Community sport is permitted;
• Weddings and funerals can also proceed but will be limited to a maximum of 150 attendees;
• Hospitals will have a maximum of four personal visitors permitted per patient per day - masks will be mandatory for staff and visitors; and
• Anyone who enters a regional area from the Perth-Peel region is required to wear a mask as per requirements in Perth-Peel, and travel should be minimised. Travel to remote Aboriginal communities will be restricted.

In addition, the state has upgraded its border controls, with the NT, QLD and the ACT joining Victoria on the 'low risk' setting, meaning all arrivals must complete 14 days of quarantine on arrival.

New South Wales remains at medium risk - with travel not allowed without an exemption, as well as those exempt travellers needing to self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested on arrival and on day 11.

For now, South Australia and Tasmania are the only jurisdictions that remain at the 'very low risk' setting.

Australian Capital Territory

With the COVID-19 situation escalating in NSW, the Australian Capital Territory has made the wearing of masks mandatory when out in the community.

This new requirement means when people are in many indoor public places or using public transport, they must wear a face mask.

ACT residents returning to the ACT from the City of Darwin, City of Palmerston and Litchfield LGAs in the NT, including the Darwin rural area, will be subject to a stay-at-home order in the ACT. The same goes for those who have been to Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong.

South Australia

South Australia has now closed its borders to most of the country except for Tasmania and Victoria.

As such, travellers from WA, the NT, QLD, NSW and the ACT are not allowed to enter SA.

Travellers from Victoria are mostly permitted except for those who have been at a COVID-19 Tier 1 or Tier 2 exposure site.

Other travellers from VIC must receive a COVID-19 test on arrival and self-quarantine until a negative result is received.

People travelling from TAS to SA are not subject to any restrictions upon entering the state.

Update (2.03pm AEST): SA has introduced new COVID-19 restrictions today despite recording zero new locally acquired cases of COVID-19.

New preventative COVID-19 resrtrictions will come into force in SA from midnight tonight (28 June) including:

• Masks must be worn in high-risk settings such as aged care, hospitals etc. and are recommended on public transport
• Only 150 people can attend private gatherings at homes or in halls
• Licensed venues will be back to one person per two square metres and you must be seated when indoors.

The restrictions are expected to remain in place for at least one week.

Tasmania

Tasmania has shut its borders to travellers from the entirety of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Wollongong as well as Darwin in response to the outbreaks of COVID-19 in those areas.

Updated at 3.06pm AEST on 28 June 2021.

QLD Deputy Premier calls for tightening of international arrival exemptions

Until a purpose-built quarantine facility for returning Australian residents and citizens is built in Queensland, the state's Deputy Premier has called on the Federal Government to be stricter with exemptions for arrivals.

The comments were made by Deputy Premier Steven Miles at today's press conference regarding the COVID-19 situation in Queensland, where it was revealed that two more locally acquired cases of the coronavirus have been detected.

The state also announced new COVID-19 restrictions today that will come into effect at 1am tonight, including mandatory mask wearing, reduced capacities in venues, and the banning of dancing.

RELATED: Need to know: the new COVID-19 restrictions around Australia

"I think the Federal Government needs to be stricter with the exemptions they're providing to people to come here," Miles said.

"Hotel quarantine of international travellers is our single greatest source of COVID into our country and into our communities."

The Deputy Premier acknowledged that those returning to Australia are permanent residents and citizens, but stressed the current settings are putting lives at risk.

"Until the Commonwealth Government can address those concerns and certainly while we deal with this delicate situation, the Premier has indicated we will seek to reduce the number of arrivals into Queensland - that will relieve pressure on hotel quarantine," Miles said.

"But we wouldn't be in this situation, we wouldn't be reducing our number of international arrivals, if we had purpose-built facilities which could be up and running."

As such, Miles has urged the Commonwealth to support the Queensland Government's proposal to build a dedicated quarantine facility in Wellcamp which could house up to 1,000 people at a time.

Updated at 12.34pm AEST on 28 June 2021.

Sydney lockdown a $500 million hit to retail sector, says ARA

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has warned the week-long lockdown in Sydney will lead to at least half a billion dollars in lost retail trade, taking business and consumer confidence backwards.

The lockdown was announced today by the NSW Government in response to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19, but the ARA says the restrictions are a massive blow for retailers already struggling from the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.

"The NSW Government has done an admirable job keeping the state open throughout the pandemic and the stay-at-home orders are a measured response to the new COVID cases that continue to emerge," says ARA CEO Paul Zahra.

"We recognise the importance of containing the virus, but we can't ignore the fact these further restrictions come at great cost, particularly for small businesses in the CBD.

"The Sydney CBD was experiencing a slow and staggered recovery before this latest outbreak, due to large volumes of people working from home and the lack of tourists and international students. The stay-at-home orders for the next week will compound their pain."

In addition, Zahra is concerned many small businesses may struggle during the period without any government assistance.

"With a safety-net like JobKeeper no longer around, and much less stimulus in the economy, we hold concerns for those small businesses who were already at breaking point before this latest outbreak," says Zahra.

"Retailers and their teams, as always, will work cooperatively with government to comply with restrictions and help contain the spread of the virus.

"We ask customers within essential retail services to comply with instore protocols respectfully to help minimise the occurrence of instore disputes or aggression for these hard-working frontline staff."

Image by: Mw12310 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Stay-at-home order issued for Sydney local government areas

UPDATE (28 JUNE): Restrictions in NSW have since changed with the entirety of Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong now under lockdown. Read more here.

Those who live or work in four Sydney local government areas (LGAs) have been issued stay-at-home orders today to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in New South Wales.

In addition, existing COVID-19 restrictions for the rest of the city will remain in place for an additional two days to midnight Friday 2 July.

The new orders come as NSW reports 22 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases today, and confirmation from the state's chief health officer that all cases bar one reported up to 8pm yesterday are now connected to known infections.

The stay-at-home orders applies to the four LGAs of the City of Sydney, Randwick, Woollahra and Waverley.

As such, those who live or work in those areas must stay at home for at least a week except for the following four reasons:

• For work or to get educated unless working from home or receiving education from home is possible
• To exercise outside
• To provide care to a relative
• Or to buy essential goods or services

"We believe this is a proportionate response to the risk," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"We are on top of the cases at the moment bar that one, but this is really to make sure that we can prevent further spread."

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the stay-at-home order is necessary to prevent further seeding of the virus after state contact tracers determined the infectious link to the Joh Bailey salon in Double Bay.

"Investigations have revealed that a person who was infectious on June 15th and 16th was the source of infection of the Joh Bailey hairdresser in Double Bay," Dr Chant said.

"What we are concerned about is over 900 clients that attended or potentially were in contact may acquire the infection. We have reached out to those individuals and I'm hoping that when we see the cases over the coming days they're all in isolation.

As such, Chant said that over the coming days "we are going to see a large number of cases".

"I've got significant concerns for patrons and staff of the Joh Bailey salon in Double Bay, because we have at least three staff members who were working whilst infectious and with two confirmed cases amongst clients so far," Chant said.

"I expect more cases to be detected over the coming days and I'm urging all clients and staff of Joh Bailey between June 15 and 23 to be tested and maintain quarantine as directed by NSW Health."

Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter has welcomed the new restrictions.

"The new restrictions are a concerning development, however this is a sensible decision that Business NSW supports based on the excellent track record of managing COVID outbreaks in NSW and the advice from NSW Health," Hunter said.

"If we get on top of this quickly by doing the right thing it is hoped we can avoid extended lockdowns and the devastating knock-on impacts to business."

"Businesses can still operate, but of course there will be some nervousness from customers. It's up to business owners and customers to ensure they do the right thing and comply with restrictions. I encourage business owners and customers to work together to fulfil existing orders and commitments wherever possible."

New Zealand extends travel bubble pause with NSW for 12 more days

A pause on quarantine-free travel from New South Wales to New Zealand has been extended for a further 12 days in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Sydney which has grown to 65 cases today.

The decision follows further public health assessment, with the NZ Government taking a cautious approach while investigations into unlinked cases continue.

Anyone who was at a location of interest at the specified times cannot travel to New Zealand within 14 days of the exposure event. This applies to all travellers, no matter what Australian State or Territory they are departing from.

Updated at 11.29am AEST on 25 June 2021.

NSW records 11 new COVID-19 cases as state in "scariest period" yet

With New South Wales recording 11 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 today, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has described the situation as the state's "scariest period" of the pandemic to date.

Of the new cases all but one are linked to known infections, but that does not mean Berejiklian is falling into complacency.

The Premier today was deemed a casual contact of a confirmed infection, forcing her briefly into isolation this morning until she received a negative COVID-19 result.

That came after the NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall tested positive for COVID-19 overnight, prompting a 'stay put' directive for Parliament while Health Minister Brad Hazzard went into isolation too.

"Since the pandemic started this is perhaps the scariest period that New South Wales is going through, and Dr Chant and I are on equal view on that," the Premier said.

"I do want to stress that my level of concern is medium to high across New South Wales."

The one unlinked new locally acquired COVID-19 infection is a hairdresser who works at a Joh Bailey salon in Double Bay.

Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says the contact tracing team is currently working on identifying how the hairdresser may have become infected.

"We will be doing that backward tracing and calling out any people in the upstream - what we call upstream contact tracing - to flush out any unrecognised chains of transmission," Dr Chant said.

"At the beginning of the day we often start with unlinked cases but as you can see those linkages have been made and by the time we closed off the numbers we were able to report that 17 of those 18 cases were all linked."

With NSW having conducted 48,402 tests yesterday the chief health officer has called on the population to sustain and surpass the high level of testing to quash the outbreak.

"What I'd like to see is for a week those testing number are sustained at those levels, or even surpassed," Dr Chant said.

"So please, it is incredibly important at this time that we flush out any unrecognised chains of transmission."

Updated at 1.01pm AEST on 24 June 2021.

QLD Deputy Premier calls for local staycations as tourism operators hit by border closures

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles has urged locals to take advantage of recently opened hotel vacancies in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast as border closures force Sydneysiders to cancel their holidays.

The Sunshine State is now shut to travellers from the local government areas (LGAs) of the city of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick, except for Queensland residents who must go into hotel quarantine upon entry.

As Queensland records three new local COVID-19 cases today, all of whom are connected to the initial woman from Portugal, the first flight into the state today had 20 out of 120 passengers sent back to Sydney due to the new restrictions.

"Police have been meeting flights at our airports this morning and turning people around, and so we'd like to send message to anyone in Sydney who was thinking of coming up to Queensland, please don't," Miles told a press conference this morning.

"We have asked the airlines to provide alerts at Sydney Airport."

The ramifications of this tough stance to contain the spread will be acutely felt by Queensland's tourism industry, which was gearing up for a busy period and has also lost some of its traditional Victorian custom due to Melbourne's lockdown.

Queensland has reopened its borders to Victorian travellers, but the announcement may have come too late for some Melburnians to plan that winter escape north.

"We're also urging Queenslanders to take up the opportunity that will come up with some cancelled bookings," Miles said.

"We know that on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts for example 20 to 25 per cent of bookings for the weekend and the early school holidays could well be cancelled, and that is a chance for Queenslanders who'd not yet booked their holidays to please consider the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

"Similarly, the number of people from Sydney who had planned to travel up for State of Origin on Sunday means that our [Brisbane] CBD hotels will be experiencing cancellations - we expect somewhere up to 40 per cent of hotel rooms that were booked this weekend could now become vacant."

He added this was a chance for anyone who might not have had plans to stay overnight after the Origin, or to simply have a great weekend in the Queensland capital.

Gold Coast has "a lot of stock available", marketing efforts ramp up in southern states

Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O'Callaghan says accommodation providers in the city were tracking at above 70 per cent occupancy for the school holiday period, but the declaration of Greater Sydney hotspots has led to cancellations.

"What we know is prior to COVID in 2019 we did see over $110 million being injected by Sydneysiders into the Gold Coast, so they are are a critical part of our economy; they tend to stay longer and spend more, so this will have an impact on our industry," O'Callaghan says.

"But what we are seeing as well is a great take-up from Victoria, so we know that we are able to welcome them back. We are seeing Victorians booking thick and hard at the moment, which is fantastic news.

"But at the end of the day there are still very uncertain times ahead, so we're making the most of the areas that are open, because it is a critical period for our industry."

She says Destination Gold Coast is ramping up its marketing efforts in Victoria, as well as other states such as Tasmania and South Australia.

"Any area that is open to us at the moment, we have marketing initiatives," she says.

"Our message to all potential visitors out there is choose the Gold Coast. This was a $5.9 billion industry that took a $3 billion hit - these school holidays are important not just for business now, but obviously the survival of our industry moving forward.

"We know that the Gold Coast is the most searched destination on so many holiday sites at the moment, so the demand is there."

O'Callaghan has also observed a trend of "Queenslanders backing Queensland".

"We have have the holiday dollars program out at the moment. We had 87,000 registrations for 30,000 vouchers; they're using those vouchers, they're booking in at the moment, and a lot of Queenslanders are reviewing their holidays down south.

"I think that's where the Gold Coast is a great potential. We have a lot of stock available. There are so many experiences whether it's the beaches, the hinterland, the theme parks and great dining, so a lot for families to see and do."

A 'devastating repeat'

Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) chief executive Daniel Gschwind describes the situation as a 'cruel merry-go-round' that is wearing down the resilience of the industry.

"In a devastating repeat of previous holiday lead-in periods, tourism operators are again facing travel restrictions for interstate visitors," he says.

"This time it is residents of Sydney and other part of NSW who will not be able to visit Queensland, or anywhere else for that matter, for at least the next week.

"This takes some of the joy out of the announcement earlier in the week that travel restrictions into Queensland for all of Melbourne will be lifted just in time for the winter school holidays."

Gschwind explains NSW contributes about half of Queensland's annual, interstate visitor revenue, with a share of almost $5 billion.

"Missing out on the boost to the economy that NSW visitors normally bring to Queensland regions is a bitter blow for the operators," he says.

"It yet again draws attention to the fact that we must continue to improve the effectiveness of all our virus-fighting tools at our disposal: tracing, testing, vaccine roll-out, quarantine facilities, health services capacity, as well as appropriate hygiene measures.

"Given that some variant of the COVID virus is likely to be present somewhere in the world for years, governments will have to map a pathway to 'living with it'.

"And living with it must also include the freedom of movement - eventually also internationally. We need a coherent plan with practical steps towards it."

The tourism industry leader is however positive about the Queensland Government's easing of restrictions (see below) for tourism and hospitality operators.

"The new provisions for COVID-safe operations will make it easier for operators to remain viable with increased venue capacities and a reduction in staff requirements for food services (self-serve buffets will be allowed again)," he says.

QLD cluster update

While Sydney is battling with the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 that can be spread by the most fleeting of contacts between five and 10 seconds, Queensland's cluster of the relatively less transmissible Alpha variant has increased by three local cases today.

Of the three new cases, one of is the president of the Portuguese Family Centre, while the other two were accompanying the initial case who had travelled from Portugal and have both been in hotel quarantine.

QLD eases restrictions with wider-reaching QR code mandate

Queensland will be easing restrictions acros a wide range of settings as of 1am tomorrow, but the benefits come with a catch - mandatory rules around the Check In QLD app will be extended to the following new sectors:

• Venues that attract large crowds, such as stadiums, convention centres, theme parks, concert venues and cinemas;
• Shopping centres and supermarkets;
• Beauty and personal care service, such as hairdressing, beauty therapy and nail services;
• Indoor events, such as cultural festivals and expos;
• Outdoor events, such as fun runs and fetes;
• Leisure and recreation facilities, such as gyms, health clubs, indoor sports facilities and indoor pools;
• Short-term residential facilities such as hotels, boarding houses and short-term holiday rentals;
• Outdoor recreation, such as caravan parks, camping areas, zoos and aquariums;
• Public-facing government services, such as customer service counters in government buildings, galleries, museums, libraries and community centres such as recreation halls;
• Weddings, funerals and places of worship (only required if indoor);
• Higher education institutions, such as universities, TAFEs and registered training organisations;
• Adult entertainment venues; and
• Hospitals, residential aged care, disability service accommodation (applies to visitors, volunteers and contractors, not staff or patients/residents).

"Many have already recognised how easy and simple the app is," Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said over the weekend.

"It's free, it's easy and it helps us keep Queensland safe."

As of tomorrow indoor venues will be able to have three people per four square metres, including hostels and B&Bs, representing an increase of 50 per cent. There will be no limits on gatherings at the home, in outdoor areas, aged care, disability services or hospitals. Self-service food is also back.

"The decision allowing the return of buffets and smorgasboards will free up staff allowing hotels to open more rooms in time for the school holidays," Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said over the weekend.

Updated at 11:13am AEST on 24 June 2021. 

AstraZeneca vaccine to be phased out of Australian rollout from October

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and manufactured in Melbourne by CSL (ASX: CSL) will be progressively phased out of Australia's inoculation program from October.

Demand for the vaccine, which is now only recommended to be taken by Australians aged over 60 due to the risk - albeit still extremely low - of blood clotting in younger recipients, is also likely to drop according to the Federal Department of Health.

In addition, the Commonwealth Government expects additional supplies of Pfizer's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine will come online from September, alongside new supply of the jab developed by Moderna.

"Given the size of the Australian population over 60, it is assumed that demand for AstraZeneca doses will reduce in Horizon 2 [September 2021] and be met by Horizon 3 [October to December 2021]," says the Federal Government in a document called COVID Vaccination Allocation Horizons.

The document envisions three 'Horizons' to be met by the Commonwealth, starting in the July to August period, and ongoing until the end of the year.

'Horizon 1' envisions 2.2-2.6 million AstraZeneca doses to be administered per week from July to August, while 'Horizon 2' will see 880,000 to 1.2 million doses of the jab in arms every week in September.

By October the Government intends AstraZeneca vaccines will only be made available on request of the states. By that time, 1.7-2.3 million Pfizer vaccines and 430,000-615,000 Moderna doses will be administered per week to Australians.

Today, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted provisional determination to Moderna in relation to its vaccine, meaning the company is now eligible to apply for provisional registration of the jab in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

"Provisional determination is the first step in the process," says the TGA.

"It is anticipated that Moderna will submit an application for provisional registration shortly. Importantly, registration and supply in Australia will only commence should the vaccine be approved as safe and effective by the TGA."

The Australian Government has secured 25 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, including the supply of 10 million doses in 2021 and of 15 million doses of Moderna's updated variant booster vaccine in 2022.

The updated rollout plan comes one week after new advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), recommending Australians aged under 60 to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

The advice came in response to analysis of case rates and demographics for a rare blood clot condition caused by the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

"This remains a very rare but sometimes serious event. We're picking it up much more commonly than other countries because we're looking more fully," Chief Medical Officer Dr Paul Kelly said.

CSL shares were down 1.82 per cent at $288.90 each at 11am AEST.

Updated at 11am AEST on 24 June 2021.

SA, WA set hard borders with NSW as cases mount

Update (4.20pm AEST 23 June): The Northern Territory and the Australian Capial Territory have both imposed new border restrictions this afternoon.

The NT has declared greater metropolitan Sydney, the City of Blue Mountains and the City of Wollongong as hotspots, meaning anyone who has been in those areas must undertake 14 days of mandatory quarantine on arrival in the top end from 6pm today.

In addition, the ACT is introducing a 'stay-at-home' requirement for anyone who arrives in the ACT from 4pm today having left the seven local government areas of City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside and Woollahra.

South Australian and West Australian health officials have now closed their state borders to New South Wales in response to the growing outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Sydney.

Effective today, both SA and WA have reintroduced hard borders to all travellers from NSW, with exceptions for those conducting essential travel.

The moves follow decisions from Victorian and Queensland health officials to lock out seven Sydney local government areas (LGAs) classified as red zones, including the city of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick. 

Tasmania has followed suit, prohibiting anyone who has visited these 'high-risk' LGAs since 11 June from entry. The ACT is expected to make an announcement on the NSW situation this afternoon.

For SA, the ban applies to all travellers from NSW who have been in that state in the last 14 days.

However, the new rules make an exception for those living within a 100-kilometre buffer zone for cross border communities, as well as South Australians returning home, essential travellers, people moving to the state permanently and those escaping domestic violence.

WA has reintroduced its hard border with NSW, which it now classifies as 'medium risk' amidst the escalating situation.

This means travel from NSW to WA is no longer permitted and applies to those who may have been in NSW and have not subsequently been in a 'very low risk' state or territory for 14 days, including anyone from the ACT who has travelled into NSW during that period.

Exempt travellers (active military personnel, Commonwealth parliamentarians, and more) arriving in WA today must self-quarantine for 14 days, present for a COVID-19 test within 48 hours and another test on day 11 after arrival in WA.

"In light of NSW's growing COVID-19 outbreak, we have reintroduced a hard border with NSW based on the latest health advice," WA Premier Mark McGowan said.

"We've been monitoring the situation closely and have scaled up our border controls as required, to keep our community safe.

"Naturally these immediate changes will cause inconvenience but the hard border is necessary to protect the health of Western Australians."

Updated at 2.38pm AEST on 23 June 2021.

More Victorians to return to entertainment venues and offices as restrictions ease again

After Melbourne entered winter in yet another lockdown for the COVID-hardened city, less than a month later the Victorian capital will soon have offices that are 75 per cent full, 15 people allowed to attend private gatherings, and even theatre productions like Harry Potter and Frozen getting closer to full capacity.

The city's snap lockdown was lifted on 11 June and restrictions were eased further last Friday, but as of midnight tomorrow Melburnians - and indeed all Victorians - will be one step closer to normality, at least by 2021 standards. 

Quarantine-free travel has also reopened with New Zealand just as the trans-Tasman door has been temporarily closed to NSW, while states such as Queensland and Tasmania have also reopened their borders to travelling Victorians.

On the advice of the state's chief health officer, Acting Premier James Merlino has today announced a series of eased restrictions that will be in place for at least two weeks.

"Private visitors to the home will increase from two in Melbourne, and five in regional Victoria to 15 across the entire state - and up to 50 people can gather outside in a public place like a park," Merlino said.

"Masks must still be worn inside. But more people in metropolitan Melbourne can return to offices, with 75 people capacity - or 30 people in a workplace - whichever is greater," he said, in comparison to previous restrictions of 50 per cent capacity or 20 people.

Previous restrictions of up to two visitors to the home in Melbourne and five in regional Victoria will be lifted to 15 across the state, while cultural life is set to improve on several fronts.

"Players, parents and spectators can attend outdoor community sport within the total cap of 1,000 people," Merlino said.

"And live music will have greater numbers in pubs, clubs and other hospitality venues across the state too, but dance floors are still closed for now.

"Theatres will initially open at 50 per cent capacity, with up to 1,000 people. And this weekend crowds can attend public events and outdoor stadiums with a limit of 50 per cent, or up to 25,000 people."

And even bigger numbers may be allowed from 11:59pm on 1 July, subject to epidemiology and the advice of the chief health officer.

"That means 100 per cent capacity at shows like Frozen at Her Majesty's Theatre, and Harry Potter at the Princess Theatre," Merlino said.

"And indoor and outdoor stadiums will be able to increase to 85 per cent capacity so that includes the MCG, Marvel Stadium, and AAMI Park.

"For the next week, we're recommending that those travelling to Victoria's alpine region get tested prior departing metropolitan Melbourne, especially if they're staying overnight.

"And everywhere you go, remember to check in using the Service Victoria QR code, this is the seat belt we need as we open up the state."

Updated 12:37pm AEST on 23 June 2021.

New restrictions for NSW as state records 14 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases

Effective immediately, new COVID-19 restrictions in New South Wales will come into effect to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus in the state as health authorities report 14 new locally acquired infections.

The restrictions, which will be enforced from 4pm today for at least a week, will see household visitor numbers reduced, the one person per four square metre rule return, and a ban on those living or working in metropolitan Sydney from travelling outside of the area.

Of the 14 new cases, one was detected before the 8pm reporting cut-off time yesterday, and 13 came through overnight and will be included formally in tomorrow's numbers.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the imposition of these new restrictions is necessary considering how easily transmissible the variant of COVID-19 circulating in Sydney is.

"Clearly this is an evolving situation we would have preferred not to have occurred, but given what has occurred the New South Wales government will be taking action today to limit the spread of what is a very contagious variant of COVID," says the Premier.

"On this occasion our contact tracing has been better than I've ever seen, but what we haven't seen before is the contagiousness of this variant of the virus.

"It is extremely contagious and the fleeting exchanges, not even physical touching, has meant people have transferred the virus."

The following restrictions will be enforced from 4pm today in the Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Shellharbour regions of NSW:

• No more than five visitors to any household, including children
• Vertical consumption at hospitality venues will be banned all patrons must be seated
• No singing or dancing at any venue, except for weddings which can have 20 people on the dance floor
• Venues must revert to the one person per four square metre rule
• Major outdoor events can only welcome up to 50 per cent of total capacity
• Mask wearing will be more widespread and now must be worn in any indoor setting including workplaces
• Masks must be worn at organised events like outdoor sporting events or concerts
• Gym classes can only have 20 people in attendance and masks must be worn
• Those riding on public transport must be socially distanced
• Those living or working in the following seven local government areas cannot travel beyond metropolitan Sydney unless it is essential travel: the city of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick

"These stringent rules will be in place to make sure we prevent the spread of the virus," says the Premier.

Updated at 11.29am AEST on 23 June 2021.