Health News at Your Fingertips

Queensland police have turned away 159 vehicles looking to enter the state from New South Wales.

They have had 379,000 border pass applications made and acknowledged significant delays on the border.

On the M1, there was a peak delay of 90 minutes about 3pm yesterday.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a healthcare worker who takes sick returned travellers into quarantine was also transporting a Castle Hill ­retirement village resident ­before testing positive.

The paper said the resident and other staff at Anglicare Brian King Gardens had so far tested negative, but they can only be considered cleared after 14 days. The nurse was confirmed as a case on Tuesday.

In non-Covid news, Kevin Rudd says he will add himself to Australia’s register of foreign influence after being informed by the Attorney General’s Department that live interviews with state-owned broadcasters, like the BBC, could trigger obligations.

Political editor Katharine Murphy has the story.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian and chief health officer, Kerry Chant, will provide a Covid-19 update at 11am.

Further to the updated potential exposure sites that I posted earlier, here is the full list.

Greg Hunt has also announced that the government has signed delivery contracts for the vaccines.

The Pfizer and AstraZenanca vaccines, due to roll out from March next year, are being produced in Australia by CSL and Novavax.

The health minister on Thursday announced distribution contracts have been signed with DHL and Linfox to truck the vials across Australia, including those living in very remote areas, reports AAP.

The government has also tapped Accenture to gather the data to track vaccine doses and PwC to work with the health department to help monitor the program.

Hunt noted the vaccines require special handling and must be stored from between 2C and 8C to as low as -70C, which is required for the Pfizer vaccine.

Purpose-built dry ice containers will be used to move the Pfizer vaccine.

“It’s one of the largest logistical exercises in Australian history, but our team is working right through the Christmas and New Year period,” Hunt told Nine’s Today show.

Christmas may have been partially salvaged for Sydney’s coronavirus-hit northern beaches, but experts are calling on authorities to consider canning the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The Australian Medical Association president, Omar Khorshid, has welcomed NSW’s four-tier system for Christmas gatherings which begins on Thursday, describing it as a “cautious approach”.

But Khorshid’s praise doesn’t extend to New Year’s Eve festivities, which he has strongly urged Premier Gladys Berejiklian to ponder.

“The NSW government should consider cancelling the New Year’s Eve fireworks display to discourage crowds and avoid any confusion in its public messaging,” he said.

“We all need to be extra vigilant during this holiday period to the stop the spread of Covid-19, especially as at this time of year when people travel, attend events, and spend time in close proximity with family and friends.”

Khorshid said NSW needed to be prepared to tighten general restrictions further if the Avalon cluster continued to spread outside the northern beaches.