NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. There were three cases acquired overseas, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,907. More here.

Restrictions will be eased across the Greater Sydney region effective from 12:01am Friday 29 January 2021, following updated health advice from the Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. More here.

The Queensland border will open with NSW on Monday 1 February 2021 and Greater Sydney will no longer be a COVID-19 hotspot. More here.

As restrictions on public gatherings and businesses ease around Australia, state and territory jurisdictions have issued directions requiring businesses to maintain contact registers to enable health authorities to quickly identify and contact persons that may have been exposed to COVID-19. The Courts recognise the importance of contract tracing and early identification in the event of a COVID-19 exposure and the critical need to support all tracing processes. To this end, a QR Code system and manual registers are being introduced as a means of registering public attendance in Court buildings. The registration and use of QR Codes are voluntary. The QR Code systems chosen by the Courts are those operated by the state and territory governments to ensure privacy concerns are addressed and will be used in every state and territory except Queensland which does not currently operate a government managed QR Code system. 

In view of the easing of some mandatory requirements to wear masks, it will no longer be compulsory for anyone participating in person (including jurors) in a District Court or Dust Diseases Tribunal in Greater Sydney to wear masks on and from 29 January 2021. However, court participants are encouraged to continue to wear masks.

Based on advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the Australian Government has extended the travel pause on green zone travel arrangements with New Zealand for another 72 hours until 2pm, Sunday 31 January 2021. Anyone who has arrived in Australia on a flight from New Zealand on or since the 9 January 2021 is asked to isolate and arrange to get a COVID-19 test and remain in isolation until they have received a negative test result. In particular, if you were in hotel quarantine, or a guest or a staff member at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland, between 9 and 14 January 2021, you are required to isolate in your home, arrange to get tested for COVID-19 and follow the advice of the health authorities in your state.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provisionally approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in Australia with the first vaccinations of high priority groups expected in late February 2021. More here.

National Cabinet has reaffirmed a commitment to return international passenger arrival caps to previous levels on 15 February 2021. National Cabinet further agreed to prioritise the return of Australians, with a shared focus on improving confidence in, and expanding quarantine capacity safely to accommodate returning Australians. National Cabinet will meet again on Friday 5 February 2021.