16:33
Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you this Saturday morning, to take you through the day’s news.
We begin with the ongoing flood clean up across NSW and south-east Queensland, with a national emergency declaration made late on Friday night, allowing the federal government to access more funds and resources.
The declaration also comes as assistance for 12 LGAs in NSW is extended through to March, with many flood affected communities still struggling to get back on their feet.
Meanwhile, moderate flooding is still happening on the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and Windsor, although flood waters have receded from their high earlier this week.
People are still being advised not to travel to western Sydney or the Blue mountains, with severe thunderstorms forecast for the weekend.
In Covid news, National Cabinet is considering moving towards scrapping quarantine rules for close contacts, amid concerns surrounding a new Omicron sub-variant.
The SMH is also reporting NSW health has recommended the reintroduction of a mask mandate, as well as a return to density limits and a ban on singing and dancing.
The report comes as NSW is projected to hit 25,000 daily cases due to the spread of the new sub-variant, and with booster-levels still lagging.
But NSW Health minister Brad Hazzard told the Herald he was “not at all keen” on reintroducing the rules, referring to them as a “last resort.”
All eyes will be on the increasing covid numbers, and we will bring you all the headlines as they come in.
The post Australia live news update: Covid close contact quarantine rules under review, NSW and Queensland floods clean-up continues | Australia news appeared first on Chop News.
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