Masking wearing indoors will become mandatory in NSW from midnight tonight as the state government reintroduces restrictions to curb the Omicron wave. Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced density limits of one person per 2 square metres for hospitality venues would also be reinstated from December 27, while QR code measures will be “back in a limited way”. The mask and …

Federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has ridiculed Health Minister Greg Hunt for announcing Covid booster jabs will be brought forward for Australians, a day after criticising the Labor leader for suggesting it. On Friday morning Mr Hunt announced that the Covid-19 booster shot interval will be brought forward from five to four months from January 4, and shorten again to a three-month …

People all over Sydney are facing huge waits at COVID testing centres and some are even being turned away as case numbers continue to climb. NSW recorded 2,213 new infections — the state’s highest ever daily total. The soaring case numbers and testing requirements for interstate travel are causing huge queues at many testing clinics, and some people are being forced to wait …

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised to the public after a photo surfaced of her in a nightclub after her foreign minister tested positive for COVID-19. “I did wrong. I should have considered the situation more carefully,” Marin said in a television interview by public broadcaster Yle on Wednesday night (Thursday AEDT). “I should have used better judgment on …

Australians will be able to choose between two types of coronavirus boosters, after the medical regulator gave provisional approval to the Moderna vaccine to be used as a top-up dose. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has given the green light for people 18 and over to get a Moderna booster shot, six months after their second vaccine dose. The administration said …

The United States led the global race to develop a viable vaccine against COVID-19. But a year after the first shots received emergency approval from federal regulators, new variants of the virus are changing the game. Omicron, the wildcard variant already detected in multiple US states and more than 30 countries, including Australia, is the latest to emerge. With its dastardly combination of …

A coronavirus vaccine for children as young as five has taken a step closer and could be available early in the new year. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved a Pfizer vaccine for five to 11 year olds. Health Minister Greg Hunt says subject to final checks from the vaccination experts on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the …

Although Australia is opening up, the new Omicron COVID-19 variant has highlighted the need to remain vigilant, and that includes using face masks. New South Wales is set to scrap the mask mandate for most indoor settings by December 15, however, experts say it’s still worth wearing a face mask despite the freedom not to. “We don’t need to have …

NSW’s latest Omicron COVID-19 case visited several shopping centres, supermarkets and fast food outlets in Sydney and the Central Coast while infectious for two days in the community. The case is a woman in her 30s who arrived in Sydney on Thursday, before new travel restrictions were in place. She had travelled to at least two southern African countries prior to …

Australian states and territories are reimposing border rules in response to the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has now been detected in a growing number of countries across the world. On Saturday, Australia tightened its international border to travellers from nine African countries where the new variant of concern has been found. People arriving from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, …