Highlights
- Quarantine arrangements for the Australian Open are expected to cost millions of dollars
- COVID-19 restrictions in NSW are likely to be lifted next week, after a state cabinet meeting
- Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says coronavirus restrictions should be eased in Greater Brisbane by this Friday (Jan 22)
Australian Open coronavirus case numbers in Victoria are growing.
Three more COVID-19 have been detected to be included in Thursday's data although one player is strongly suspected of shedding the virus.
That takes the number of cases linked to the tennis tournament to 10.
Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout will be crucial to reopening international travel, with Australia's top health chief predicting overseas travel will be largely unavailable until 2022.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it all depends on the outcome of the vaccine program.
"What we've done all the way through this COVID crisis is just take one step at a time, based on the information we have at the time and not get too far ahead of ourselves and I was on a call the other night with the Norwegian prime minister and a number of the others and they're in the early stages of the vaccine program in a lot of those countries and there are a few hiccucps there and they're getting past them and what we've learnt all the way through is things change quickly and that means they can improve quickly but sometimes they can deteriorate quickly too so, we just have to play it one step at a time and not create too much anxiety about what might or might not happen."
