From AAP, an overview of the Covid-19 situation around Australia:
Covid-safe Christmas Day gatherings are taking place across Australia as authorities monitor the unfolding outbreak on Sydney’s northern beaches. The Avalon cluster hit 108 cases on Friday after four new infections were reported.
However, a three-day rules reprieve means even those in that area can host family and friends for Friday’s festivities. Residents north of the Narrabeen Bridge can welcome five people from the local area, while those in the south will be able to have 10 visitors from anywhere.
The same cap applies to greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong. For the rest of NSW, 50 people may visit another household at any one time.
Three other locally acquired cases were reported in NSW on Friday, and their origin is under investigation.
Victorians starved of family reunions for much of their lockdown-plagued year have been able to host up to 30 visitors over the course of a single day since 14 December. The state again recorded zero new locally acquired cases, for the 56th day in a row.
The other states and territories also reported no new locally transmitted cases on Friday.
South Australia and Queensland both allow 50 people to congregate in homes, while Tasmania’s limit is double that for outdoor and indoor residential gatherings. Western Australia, the ACT and Northern Territory are cap-free, but 1.5-metre social distancing must be maintained in house settings.
While many tuck into lunch and dinner, thousands of others have been forced into spending Christmas in hotel quarantine or home isolating across the country. That includes two people linked to the northern beaches cluster who have tested positive since arriving in Queensland and Victoria.
A Queensland man in his 40s tested negative after getting back from Sydney last week, but he later became unwell and tested positive on Wednesday night. He has been in self-isolation at his home in the southeast since returning and has had no contact with the community.
A teenage girl living in Melbourne’s Moonee Valley tested positive after returning from Sydney’s northern beaches. She was already in isolation when she received her positive result.
