Health News at Your Fingertips

With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of today’s news.

Here’s a summary of the main developments:

• Scott Morrison has said civilians will always be at the centre of flood rescue and recovery strategies as his government continues to face criticism for not deploying defence forces in flood-ravaged areas sooner.
• Nine more refugees who have been detained for several years have been released from Melbourne’s Park hotel, however those freed remain uncertain about whether they will be allowed to permanently live in Australia.
• Victoria recorded 6,075 new Covid cases and 11 deaths while New South Wales recorded 12,850 cases and four deaths. Queensland recorded 4,029 cases and six deaths, while the ACT recorded 704 cases, Tasmania 1,130 cases and Western Australia 4,300 cases.
• An emergency warning was issued for Wellesley in the Harvey shire in Western Australia, as a bushfire threatened lives and homes.

Have a great evening.

The prime minister says civilians will always be at the centre of flood rescue and recovery strategies as his government continues to face criticism for not deploying defence forces in flood-ravaged areas sooner.

Scott Morrison declared a national emergency in NSW late on Friday, triggering additional resources for the state and allowing the federal government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape in terms of business and welfare support.

But the prime minister said locals would naturally be able to respond faster in disaster areas.

“That has always been an important part of our natural disaster response, and always will be,” Morrison said as he toured the flooded Windsor region on Saturday.

He also said 20 mobile home units had been set up in the Lismore area, with more than 100 more on the way, in a region where it’s estimated two-in-three flood-damaged homes will need to be demolished or undergo substantial repairs.

The federal government is splitting a $250m housing package with the NSW government which also includes rent relief as people are left homeless.

“It’s going to be a long road back,” Morrison said.

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Western Australia could have about 10,000 Covid-19 cases a day in the next week, as its Omicron wave peaks, reports AAP.

The health minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, says WA is still in the early stages of its outbreak, with cases forecast to rise significantly from about 14 March.

Covid-19 hospitalisations will then peak about 10 days later, towards the end of the month.

Sanderson says the state has higher total case numbers than originally forecast but that reflected the public health measures.

She says:

We’ve tried to manage that rise to be slightly more gentle, obviously to manage hospitalisations but to limit the impact on business as well.

Putting the level two health measures and the fact that we’ve had masks since before Christmas has really helped us to flatten that curve out.

The state recorded 4,300 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday.

And with that, my time on the blog today comes to an end. Fear not, I leave you in the trusty hands of Elias Visontay. Thanks for reading.

The Seismology Centre is reporting two earthquakes in Victoria, near Mansfield.

One measured 2.6 and and the other 2.9, reported at 3:50am and 4:17am respectively.

Western Australia has reported 4,300 new cases, with 103 people in hospital and five people in ICU.

An emergency warning has been issued for Wellesley in the Shire of Harvey, in Western Australia, as a bushfire threatens lives and homes.

The warning is for an area bounded by Wellington Road, Wellesley Road North and Bernbrooke Place.

Authorities say people there are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

Increasingly dangerous weather conditions meant the fire has been upgraded to emergency level, with the blaze first reported around 2am this morning.