More than half of Australia's population will be in lockdown until at least next week with a highly infectious coronavirus strain spreading in three major capital cities.
South Australia has bunkered down for a week, Victoria extended its snap lockdown by seven days and NSW, well, NSW continues to desperately attempt to apply the brakes to its outbreak.
You can check all the border closures and lockdown rules in the links below.
A Queensland woman has imported the Delta variant of COVID-19 after becoming infected at a Melbourne pub and travelling home. Public health alerts have been issued for the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Mareeba, as well as flight VA791 from Brisbane to Cairns.
The fight continues to be real. Very real.
Meanwhile, a senator from Queensland has taken to Twitter to let people know "a vaccine passport is no different to a vaccine prison, saying you can't go to the pub or join the rest of society unless you prove you are vaccinated".
Senator Malcolm Roberts went on: "That's coercion. We must completely reject any form of vaccine passport in Australia."
Similar debates are raging across the globe as COVID cases return to an upward not downward trend.
With France staring down a fourth wave of infections and vaccinations hitting a plateau, the government took action.
As of July 21 in France, people will need to be vaccinated to enter leisure and culture facilities; by August, if you want to eat out, enter a hospital or take a long-distance train, you'll need to be vaccinated, too.
And the result? Record numbers of bookings. Doctolib, a medical booking site, said last week a total of 926,000 people had booked a first dose through the platform on Monday. There were the off 800,000 more the following day.
The move also prompted mass protest across France over the weekend. In all there were 137 rallies on Saturday, which were estimated to involve 100,000-plus demonstrators, the interior ministry said.
A poll published before the marches showed that 60 per cent of French people favour the health pass and the accompanying plan to oblige all health workers to be vaccinated.
Maybe all this - and more - awaits the Australian government. Eventually.
Oh, a word of warning - Katie Hopkins, the "British commentator" deported from Australia yesterday, has landed in the UK. Expect her "commentary" to last longer than her visit.
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THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- All the lockdown rules and border closures across Australia
- How NSW police are helping keep Canberra COVID-safe
- Nestlé worker tests positive for COVID-19, close contacts in isolation
- Three Wollongong COVID cases possibly linked to work in Sydney
- Victoria's lockdown extended seven days
- Mount Isa doctor leads Indigenous vaccination campaign
- Olympics COVID bubble said to be 'broken'
- 2021 Ironman Australia cancelled
Janine Graham
Onetime sports reporter, chief-of-staff, editor and national digital news editor. Email me: janine.graham@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Onetime sports reporter, chief-of-staff, editor and national digital news editor. Email me: janine.graham@austcommunitymedia.com.au
