Health News at Your Fingertips

That’s where we will leave the live blog for Sunday. Here’s what made the news today:

• There were at least 45 Covid-related deaths reported on Sunday.
• Hundreds of firefighters in WA battled two blazes in Denmark and Bridgetown. The two fires had burnt close to 5,000 hectares, and remain out of control.
• SA will resume requiring close contacts to get PCR tests, and anyone with symptoms will also be able to get the tests amid excess testing capacity.
• A 3.6 magnitude earthquake was registered east of Cairns.
• The future of long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours is in doubt after the UK channel that provides most of its funding axed the show/

Parliament resumes on Tuesday, and we’ll be back with all the news tomorrow. Until then, stay safe.

NSW has sent four fire and rescue specialists to WA to help battle the two fires gripping the south of the state, as part of a NSW contingent including rural fire service, national parks and and forestry staff.

They left Sydney airport this afternoon.

Services on Sydney’s inner-west light rail network will soon resume after cracks in the trams forced their suspension, but the opposition warns the “transport saga” is not over, AAP reports.

The line was closed in November after cracks were discovered in the wheel arches of all 12 tram sets.

The NSW transport minister, David Elliott, says from 12 February, six trams from the eastern suburbs light rail sector will begin operating on the inner-west line at 15 minute intervals.

“Services will operate between Dulwich Hill and Central Station, which is the full line,” Elliott said on Sunday.

“This is better than the original plan to run these returning services between Lilyfield and Central while the inner-west trams are being fixed.”

Elliott said repair work on the network’s fleet was under way, with all 12 trams “on track” to be fixed by the end of 2022.

Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins says the station platforms, track and speed limits have all been changed on the inner-west line.

“Staff will be on hand to provide customer service on the ground as and when required,” Collins said.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said passengers will welcome the return of some services on the line after going without them for more than 100 days.

“Make no mistake, the government has cobbled together a bandaid solution to a transport disaster completely of their making,” Haylen told reporters on Sunday.

“Twelve overseas-made trams cracked and out of service and the government is no clearer on what the engineering solution is.”

Haylen warns the “transport saga” is not over:

Those trams still have to be fixed and the government is yet to admit its fundamental mistakes here. It is yet to admit that the failure to integrate the inner-west light rail line with the eastern suburbs light rail line is a massive mistake but most importantly that buying off-the-shelf overseas models of trams, ferries and trains is a complete failure.

WA police say Strike Force Vulcan detectives have been deployed to Bridgetown to assist with the investigation into a serious bushfire in the South Western region of the state.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

Just a bit more on the earthquake in Queensland via AAP.

A 3.9 magnitude earthquake has rumbled a remote part of the Great Barrier Reef off far north Queensland.

The quake struck the tip of Maori Reef about 50km northeast of Russel Heads, south of Cairns, about 12.17am on Sunday

It was about 10km deep, says Geoscience Australia, with 78 people reporting they felt the tremor.

About 16 earthquakes have been reported off the state’s far north coast over the last two decades, the agency said.

If you wonder why things are a bit purple this evening…

Western Australia has reported 31 locally acquired cases of Covid-19, as well as 15 “other” cases comprising people in quarantine from overseas or interstate.

Twenty-five of these cases are linked, with six of them classified as mystery cases. The WA premier, Mark McGowan, said an unspecified number of the local cases were in the community while infectious.

That wraps up my time on the blog for today. I’m going to hand things over to my colleague, Josh Taylor, to bring you the news into the evening.

WA authorities say 210 career and volunteer firefighters worked through the night in a bid to keep major bushfires under control in Bridgetown and Denmark.

The fire in the coastal town of Denmark was first reported on Friday morning, and has burnt approximately 2,151 hectares.

The Bridgetown fire, which is not contained and nor controlled, has burnt approximately 2,359 hectares. Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the fire.

There are now 218 people in hospital across the state. Of these, 13 are in the ICU and five require ventilators.

NSW is pushing to increase the rate of booster vaccinations as the health minister calls for a national definition on what it means to be “fully vaccinated”, AAP reports.

While 94% of eligible NSW adults are double vaccinated against Covid, only 43.5% have received a third dose.

Health minister Brad Hazzard says the booster rate should be higher.

The question in my mind is: if we have almost 95% of people in NSW double dosed and we’ve got a little less than 45% of people who have had the booster, what’s happened to the other 50%? Why aren’t they out there getting their boosters?”

He says the state has “a lot of people” working on finding an answer to that question.

More booster shots have been administered in NSW than anywhere else in the country, but the state’s rate should be higher because more people were eligible for boosters earlier.

Hazzard says Atagi should also provide advice nationally on whether a booster is required for people to be considered fully vaccinated.

Until then the state will be taking a more “encouraging” approach to promoting booster uptake and will hold off on mandating boosters for healthcare workers, Hazzard says.

Channel 5 in the UK has confirmed that Neighbours will be dropped from its summer scheduling, after airing for more than a decade on the network, according to a report from Digital Spy.

It likely spells the end of the iconic show because it relies on funding from Channel 5.

The show’s production company Fremantle and Australian broadcaster Channel 10 are yet to comment.

Tasmania has recorded 471 new Covid cases and sadly one death. There are now 11 people with the virus in hospital.

Only five of these patients are being treated specifically for virus symptoms. The remaining six are being treated for unrelated medical conditions.

South Australian premier Steven Marshall confirmed that as of today PCR testing will be available for all people with symptoms, especially close contacts. He said there is massive excess PCR testing capacity available in SA at the moment.

He acknowledged that PCR tests are “far more accurate than rapid antigen tests”.

“This is the Rolls Royce, it’s highly sensitive, it works very well and you can get an accurate picture very very quickly. It’s far more accurate than rapid antigen tests,” he said.

Elective surgery is resuming in the state from tomorrow.

Independent senator Rex Patrick is calling out the government’s decision to prioritise its religious discrimination bill during the upcoming parliamentary sitting week.

Queensland’s deputy premier Steven Miles has dismissed calls for a government integrity probe, saying “you can’t have a royal commission into a vibe”, AAP reports.

Two independent watchdogs, the Liberal National Party, Katter’s Australian Party and the Greens are calling for a probe amid multiple allegations of interference in regulators and processes.

Outgoing Integrity Commissioner Nikola Stepanov claims a laptop was taken from her office and wiped, and that the government tried to have her sacked.

Former state archivist Mike Summerell says there was interference in his record-keeping, potentially leading to parliament being mislead.

Miles says those allegations are being investigated properly so there’s no need for a wider inquiry.

“If there is new evidence then it should be forwarded to the CCC (Crime and Corruption Commission), but you can’t have a royal commission into the vibe,” the deputy premier told reporters on Sunday.

The CCC is itself under a cloud after the government ordered a formal commission of inquiry into the watchdog’s functions and structure after its botched probe into Logan Council.

Miles said while “questions have been raised about the CCC” it was still the “appropriate forum” for any allegations of government misconduct.

“If anyone has any new evidence they should forward it to the CCC,” the deputy premier said.

Meanwhile, the premier’s director-general Rachel Hunter has launched a third probe into Mr Summerell’s allegations of interference in his record-keeping role.

The terms of reference for Hunter’s review were released on Friday, with the findings due by 4 March.