Health News at Your Fingertips

In Melbourne yesterday Neel Morely was cutting hair – for the first time in months.

The owner of Neel Loves Curls said some of his customers had been booked since March.

“We’re booked out for the next 5 weeks,” he said. “I won’t let them book further,” he said.

He had been getting twenty calls a day – and was expecting to see some pretty funky home cuts.

Melbourne was hyped yesterday.

As the city celebrated re-opening I went around to pubs and restaurants to talk to patrons. Some were worried their social skills were a little rusty, others that they had forgotten how to eat properly.

Let me say, the city has not forgotten how to have a good time.

John and his four sons had started early. There were glasses of champagne next to plates of pasta for breakfast, at Mario’s in Fitzroy.

The family had spent their last pre-lockdown dinner at the iconic restaurant on Brunswick St. On Friday morning they were back to welcome in the “new normal”.

“We were here on lockdown day, when it was announced. This table,” said John. “We’ve made the return journey”.

More outbreaks in NSW schools, AAP reports:

The NSW education department announced late on Friday evening seven schools have been closed with immediate effect ahead of deep-cleaning and contact tracing.

Staff and students from public schools at Albion Park, Auburn North, Curl Curl – including the Curly Kids out of school hours facility – Garden Suburbs, Green Hill, Hinchinbrook and Manning Gardens have been advised to self-isolate and follow NSW Health protocols.

QLD premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is spruiking the state’s pop-up clinics as they race towards 80% vaccination.

On Friday the state recorded no new Covid cases after a man was earlier contagious on the Gold Coast.

Palaszczuk said Queensland’s vaccination rates were not high enough to allow international travellers.

“Queensland does not have the protection yet that it needs to be able to have quarantine-free vaccinated people staying in Queensland,” she said.

It’s a little over a week until some Australians can start flying overseas, and airlines are preparing for huge demand once international travel resumes, AAP reports.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline had seen a “phenomenal reaction” and “massive” demand in light of its decision to move forward flights.

A large number of flights sold out in a few hours, and international sales have been exceeding domestic ones, he said on Friday.

The carrier will resume regular long-haul international services for the first time since March 2020 when a 787 leaves Sydney bound for London on November 1.

Qantas flights out of Sydney to Singapore, Fiji, South Africa, Phuket and Bangkok were brought forward and will each resume by January.

The decision was made possible by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s call to walk away from quarantine for international arrivals from November 1, Mr Joyce said.

Good morning, and welcome to Saturday’s live blog. I’m Cait Kelly, and I will be taking you through the news coverage this morning.

I am coming to you from Melbourne, where I think a fair few people will be waking up dusty this morning. The city spent its first full night out of lockdown on Friday after reaching 70% full vaccination of the population aged 16+.

Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged more easing of restrictions could happen as soon as next weekend.

Andrews confirmed the state was on track to reach 80 per cent by next weekend – two weeks ahead of schedule – which would mean an extra easing of restrictions.

He said he would hold a press conference “quite soon to clarify what we hope can happen at the end of next week”.

In Sydney, the city is about to enjoy its second weekend out of lockdown, after recording 345 new Covid-19 cases, five deaths.

In news that will make a lot of separated families happy (like mine) Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein announced all vaccinated interstate and international arrivals can enter the state without a need for quarantine from 15 December.

And according to one report, Australia’s booster program could begin as early as next week.

Over the weekend Pfizer is expected to submit the necessary data to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to enable speedy approval of booster doses.

Over the next few hours, I’ll bring you the latest, and we’ll an eye on Covid numbers and any other developing stories.

Let’s get into it.