Live: All the COVID news you need from across Australia

By Bridget Judd

Today’s case numbers

This section will be updated throughout the day. If you don’t see your state or territory yet, don’t worry — case numbers often filter in throughout the day.

Victoria:

New South Wales:

Queensland:

South Australia:

Tasmania:

ACT:

Western Australia:

Northern Territory:

Questions from the audience

Hi, when are QLD expected to hit their 80% double dose vaccination target this week?

-Impatient traveller

Morning, Impatient traveller.

Unfortunately I’m unable to give you a firm date, but as it stands Queensland’s vaccine rollout is (percentage of those aged 16+):

• First dose: 87.2 per cent
• Second dose: 78.2 per cent

You can read more here.

Hi Bridget! I’m from Vic and have a trip planned shortly to go to Adelaide. I can see I’ll need to isolate until a negative test…is there any indication of how long the approx wait is to receive test results in SA? It’s only a short trip and if I have to spend 1/2 of it in iso not sure it’s worth it. Thanks

-Radelaide

Morning, Radelaide — the SA government website notes that test results “usually” come back within two days (but of course, there can always be delays, so it’s difficult to say for sure).

Happy Monday everyone! Can we start today off right with a dinosaur gif please?

-Mondayitis

Seize the day, my friend.

David Littleproud: State and territory leaders should hold their nerve with Omicron

Federal cabinet minister David Littleproud is calling on premiers and chief ministers to allow interstate travel before Christmas. 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not be pursuing an ‘omicron zero’ policy, despite rising cases across the country. 

New South Wales is allowing interstate travel — as is South Australia, although that state now requires more COVID-19 testing to enter.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has told Channel Nine that leaders should hold their nerve. 

“It is now time to take that bold step and trust each other, take hands and move forward together,” he says.

“If NSW and Victoria, the most populous states, can do that then it sends a positive message to the other states that we can come together, we can do this.”

There are now 15 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in NSW

Health authorities are expecting more results today.  

Investigations into an outbreak of the variant at a Sydney indoor climbing gym and two schools are continuing. 

286 coronavirus cases were recorded during the latest reporting period. 

When will the Mickleham quarantine facility be built?

Hi, I have asked a few times but not had a reply. When is the construction of the Victorian quarantine facility at Mickleham going to be finished?

-Curious

Morning Curious.

As I’m sure you can understand, we get a lot of questions and it’s not possible to get to all of them.

But as per the Victorian government’s FAQ page:

When will the hub be built?

This project is currently in the planning stage with construction anticipated to begin in September 2021. We anticipate that the first stage of the hub (which will provide 500 beds) will be operational in early 2022.  

You can read more here.

Good morning Bridge! Am I first? 😀

-Natty

Close but no cigar (although I do believe you were first on the F1 blog, Speedy Gonzales).

‘They were waiting for more complete data to come in’

A leading epidemiologist says parents can be reassured the latest COVID vaccine — designed for children — is safe and effective. 

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has given provisional approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 5 and 11.

The Federal Government is still waiting on final advice from the vaccine advisory group ATAGI about the rollout, but is aiming to offer vaccines from next month. 

Professor Catherine Bennett says local authorities have watched how it’s been rolled out in other countries.

“Well the TGA wouldn’t approve it if it wasn’t safe across the age groups that we’re now looking at. They were waiting for more complete data to come in and we’ve also seen some of the rollout happening around the world.

“Our authorities are actually looking at the real world data at the same time as they’re looking at the trial data, so I think that is very reassuring.”

Good morning, I’m Bridget Judd and I’ll be bringing you the latest COVID updates throughout the day.

As always, you can send in your questions and comments by hitting the big blue button at the top of the page.

Let’s get into it.