Child health experts say closing schools should be the very last resort in an Omicron outbreak, especially while other higher-risk locations stay open.A new report from 10 respected New Zealand paediatricians says we need to calculate…

The Government has released its three-phased approach on how it will tackle the Omicron variant spreading through the community.”As case numbers grow, both testing and isolation approaches will change in response,” Associate Minister…

The newest Australians have been sworn in at the official Australia Day ceremony in Canberra, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Governor-General David Hurley in attendance.

In his speech, Mr Morrison described Australia as "the most successful multicultural and multi-faith nation on earth".

"Like the country itself, Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are diverse, they're unique and they connect us through time," Mr Morrison said.

READ MORE: How young Australians are spending January 26

"And here in our capital, home of the Ngunnawal people, the home of a free, democratic people, the most successful multicultural and multi-faith nation on earth, we also honour the men and women past and present who secured and now protect our freedoms by serving in the Australian Defence Forces."

Among the participants in the traditional welcome to country ceremony, Indigenous elder Violet Sheridan made an emotional appeal for more members of her community to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

READ MORE: Captain Cook monument in Melbourne defaced on Australia Day

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Hurley described the past two years as "difficult".

But he said he believed the nation was "turning the corner" as Australians recover from the pandemic.

"I think, we are on the verge of a new direction, turning the corner, riding that wave."

The Governor-General said 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott was an inspiring figure.

"There's a kindness and compassion out there, very evident in our Australians of the Year. A quiet confidence that if we look after each other, we will be okay."

Mr Morrison later congratulated and posed for photos with Australians who had just received their citizenship.

READ MORE: What the weather will be like in your capital city on Australia Day

Smoking ceremonies are taking place across the country today, including the WugulOra Smoking in Barangaroo in Sydney this morning.

Crowds in Melbourne also gathered for a smoking ceremony at the Invasion Day Dawn Service held in St Kilda.

The smoke in the cultural ceremonies symbolises warding off bad spirits, underpinned by the belief it has spiritual cleansing properties.

Australia Day is regarded by some Indigenous Australians as "Invasion Day" with renewed calls to change the date every year.

Australia Day events

Across the country, people are taking advantage of the public holiday to celebrate or just have fun.

In Sydney's eastern suburbs, hundreds of swimmers are taking part in the Harbour Splash event, to support people with dementia.

Meanwhile, boaters are out in force for The Ferrython, which has been staged on Sydney Harbour since 1977.

This year they've been colourfully dressed in honour of their namesakes – May Gibbs, Catherine Hamlin, Victor Chang and Pemulwuy.

They compete for honours in the race from Fort Denison, around Shark Island and back to the finish line under the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In Melbourne, a family friendly event is being held in Federation Square all day.

And an Air Force aerobatics team will be doing a flyby over the CBD.

Less than a week before Melbourne mum Michaela Jones gave birth to her second child, her husband Jared tested positive to COVID-19.

It was a stressful and nightmarish scenario – one they had been dreading and one many expectant families are fearful of as the Omicron variant sweeps across the country.

It meant Mr Jones was not allowed to be present at Frankston Hospital on December 16 when their daughter, Thea, was born.

READ MORE: Victoria records highest daily COVID-19 death toll this year

When Mrs Jones arrived in labour at the hospital, she was initially told a friend could stay with her for support, as long as she was double-vaxxed and kitted out in full protective gear.

However, this all changed after a COVID-19 test at the hospital revealed Mrs Jones had also contracted the virus.

"Once I tested positive to COVID, my friend had to go home," she said.

"I ended up having to go to theatre to have a forceps delivery and no one could be with me except one midwife."

Mrs Jones said she laboured in the theatre for two more hours, pushing in a mask alongside medical staff in full PPE before her daughter was born.

After the birth, Thea was taken to the hospital's special care nursery, where she remained for the next 36 hours.

A COVID-19 test showed Thea was negative.

Thea was put in isolation in the special care nursery, Mrs Jones said. She was given antibiotics as Mrs Jones had tested positive for the group B strep bacteria and it was believed she may have also swallowed some meconium.

Mrs Jones said she was told she could not go see her newborn baby in the special care nursery despite Thea being isolated from the other babies.

"I wasn't allowed to see her even though we were both in isolation," she said.

"Those 36 hours were terrible. I think I was just crying the whole time.

"It was especially hard not being able to have my husband with me, or anyone really, to support me.

"The nurses came in very minimally, I think because they had to put the gear on every time they came in to my room."

Mrs Jones said the lack of information she was given about why she could not see her daughter heightened her distress.

After 36 hours, Thea was brought to Mrs Jones's room and they were discharged a few hours later.

While she and Thea were both doing well at home now, Mrs Jones said she was left feeling like she had been given little support at a time when she needed it the most.

"It was honestly the worst experience of my life," she said.

"I think I'll definitely have a lot of trauma to deal with from this. I can't see myself wanting to have any more kids now."

Shyaman Menon, the executive director of medical services and clinical governance at Peninsula Health, which includes Frankston Hospital, said in a statement: "The safety and wellbeing of our patients and staff is our utmost priority."

Anyone with COVID-19 required an exemption before visiting the hospital, in line with directives issued by Victoria Chief Health Officer (CHO) Brett Sutton, Associate Professor Menon said.

"While we aim to provide the most supportive environment for our patients, this must be balanced with maintaining the highest standard of infection prevention and control within the hospital."

Karli Smith is a Melbourne based doula and also sits on the board of Australia and New Zealand's Human Rights in Childbirth association.

Ms Smith has started an online petition calling on the State Government to adopt WHO guidelines for childbirth during COVID-19, which has so far attracted more than 5,000 signatures.

According to the WHO guidelines, all pregnant women – including those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections – should have the right to a companion of their choice being present during delivery.

Ms Smith said she was hearing many stories like Ms Jones' of Melbourne women being forced to give birth without their partners or support people.

And it was not just in cases where the woman or their partner tested positive to COVID-19, she said.

Ms Smith said she had heard reports of hospitals not allowing partners or birth support people to be present in theatres, where caesareans and forceps deliveries both take place.

However, different rules seemed to be in place at different hospitals, Ms Smith said, adding it was a bit like a "hospital lottery".

9news.com.au understands at Frankston Hospital, density limits are enforced in theatres, meaning partners and support people are not allowed to be present during deliveries.

However, at the Royal Women's Hospital in Parkville, a partner or support person is allowed in theatres for deliveries, provided they are not COVID-19 positive or a close contact, a spokesperson said.

COVID positive women are also allowed a support person with them during labour and birth, the Royal Women's Hospital spokesperson said, however, a COVID-19 positive partner needs a special exemption from the CHO to be present.

Monash Health – which covers maternity wards at Monash Medical Centre, Dandenong Hospital and Casey Hospital – allows partners or support people who are COVID-19 positive to attend births provided they are well and co-operate with infection control procedures, a spokesperson said.

"In the event of an unexpected emergency surgery where a support person is COVID-19 positive, we will work with the woman giving birth and her support person on a case-by-case basis to determine if is safe for the support person to attend the operating theatre," the spokesperson added.

In Ms Smith's petition, another Melbourne woman – identified only as Bek – said she was supposed to give birth at a private hospital seven weeks ago, however when she tested positive to COVID-19 she was sent to the Royal Women's Hospital.

Bek ended up having a caesarean in theatre, however her husband was not allowed to attend the birth because he was on day 9 of his 10 days of isolation.

The number of days COVID-19 positive people and their close contacts are required to isolate has since been reduced to seven.

"He didn't see her until she was three days old, and I had to stay another 48 hours in the COVID ward – they wouldn't let me take my baby there so my husband was able to come and pick her up," Bek was quoted in the petition as saying.

"I know women do it all the time solo, but having no one to be on my team was hard."

Ms Smith said she expected there would be a significant amount of lingering trauma felt by women who had been forced to birth alone during the pandemic.

"Women need to feel emotionally safe in labour, and come out on the other side feeling emotionally safe and physically well, and so how can we expect women to come out feeling emotionally safe when they've had no one in the room that that is known to them?"

Ms Smith said she hoped the Victorian Government would not only adopt the WHO guidelines, but reinstate previous hospital rules allowing women to have two birth support people present during labour.

"Many women need more than their partner there, and their partner also needs support too," she said.

"At the moment, we have doulas locked out. We've got sisters, mothers and other support people locked out.

"Particularly for women who have experienced sexual trauma and abuse it can be very triggering to not have another woman that they know there with them."

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au.

Scientists and health officials around the world are keeping their eyes on a descendant of the Omicron variant that has been found in at least 40 countries, including Australia.

This version of the coronavirus, which scientists call BA.2, is widely considered stealthier than the original version of Omicron because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect.

Some scientists worry it could also be more contagious.

LIVE UPDATES: Victoria COVID-19 death toll jumps again

https://omny.fm/shows/the-9news-lunch-podcast/jan-26-celebrations-and-protests-mark-australia-da/embed?style=cover

But they say there’s a lot they still don’t know about it, including whether it evades vaccines better or causes more severe disease.

Where has it spread?

Since mid-November, more than three dozen countries, including Australia, have uploaded nearly 15,000 genetic sequences of BA.2 to GISAID, a global platform for sharing coronavirus data.

It is unclear how prevalent BA.2 is or isn't in Australia. So far there are 96 cases in the US.

The mutant appears much more common in Asia and Europe.

In Denmark, it made up 45 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in mid-January, up from 20 per cent two weeks earlier, according to Statens Serum Institut, which falls under the Danish Ministry of Health.

READ MORE: Pfizer starts study into Omicron-specific COVID-19 jab

What do we know about this version of the virus?

BA.2 has lots of mutations.

About 20 of them in the spike protein that studs the outside of the virus are shared with the original Omicron. But it also has additional genetic changes not seen in the initial version.

It's unclear how significant those mutations are, especially in a population that has encountered the original Omicron, said Dr Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

For now, the original version, known as BA.1, and BA.2 are considered subsets of Omicron.

But global health leaders could give it its own Greek letter name if it is deemed a globally significant "variant of concern".

The quick spread of BA.2 in some places raises concerns it could take off.

READ MORE: How WA mining companies are trying to keep COVID-19 out

“We have some indications that it just may be as contagious or perhaps slightly more contagious than (original) Omicron since it’s able to compete with it in some areas,” Dr Long said.

"But we don’t necessarily know why that is."

An initial analysis by scientists in Denmark shows no differences in hospitalisations for BA.2 compared with the original Omicron.

Scientists there are still looking into this version's infectiousness and how well current vaccines work against it. It's also unclear how well treatments will work against it.

Doctors also don’t yet know for sure if someone who’s already had COVID-19 caused by Omicron can be sickened again by BA.2.

But they’re hopeful, especially that a prior Omicron infection might lessen the severity of disease if someone later contracts BA.2.

The two versions of Omicron have enough in common that it’s possible that infection with the original mutant "will give you cross-protection against BA.2,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, an infectious diseases expert at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Scientists will be conducting tests to see if antibodies from an infection with the original omicron "are able to neutralise BA.2 in the laboratory and then extrapolate from there," he said.

How concerned are health agencies?

The World Health Organisation classifies Omicron overall as a variant of concern, its most serious designation of a coronavirus mutant, but it doesn’t single out BA.2 with a designation of its own.

Given its rise in some countries, however, the agency says investigations of BA.2 “should be prioritised."

The UK Health Security Agency, meanwhile, has designated BA.2 a “variant under investigation," citing the rising numbers found in the UK and internationally.

Still, the original version of Omicron remains dominant in the UK.

Why is it harder to detect?

The original version of omicron had specific genetic features that allowed health officials to rapidly differentiate it from Delta using a certain PCR test because of what’s known as “S gene target failure.”

BA.2 doesn't have this same genetic quirk. So on the test, Dr Long said, BA.2 looks like Delta.

“It's not that the test doesn't detect it; it's just that it doesn't look like Omicron,” he said.

"Don’t get the impression that ‘stealth omicron’ means we can’t detect it. All of our PCR tests can still detect it.”

What should you do to protect yourself?

Doctors advise the same precautions they have all along: Get vaccinated and follow public health guidance about wearing masks, avoiding crowds and staying home when you’re sick.

With Associated Press

The largest gem-quality diamond ever found was uncovered in Cullinan, South Africa, on January 26, 1905.

A Queensland mum started her morning screaming, shaking and crying after discovering she won $25 million in last night's Oz Lotto jackpot.

The Rockhampton mum in her 40s held one of the two division one winning entries in the $50 million draw.

The Lott attempted to call the lucky winner last night, but numerous calls to her phone about the windfall went unanswered.

READ MORE: Dylan Alcott named Australian of the Year

She returned the missed calls this morning and could not believe her ears.

"Oh my god, oh my god, I'm shaking," she said.

"We've won the lottery, we've won $25 million," she yelled to her family.

"I want to cry. My family have just come rushing from their bedrooms.

"I'm in my pyjamas. We haven't even had breakfast yet."

The woman said she saw she had some missed calls, but her phone was on silent as she gets scam texts.

"I even joked to my husband that it might be The Lott calling me," she said.

"But that was a joke. Trust me, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd win $25 million."

The winning numbers in Oz Lotto draw 1458 on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 were 17, 31, 22, 11, 26, 36 and 4. The supplementary numbers were 16 and 6.

The woman said she only grabbed her winning entry at the last minute yesterday after realising there was a $50 million jackpot up for grabs.

"This will just change our lives," she said.

"I've already cuddled my family three times while talking to you.

"We haven't been having much fun in recent times. Now, we're going to have a nice life."

READ MORE: Full Australia Day Honours list revealed

The first thing the lucky winner plans to do is buy a new car for her husband.

"He drives around an ancient old car," she said.

"I'm going to get myself a new house.

"I can only think of practical things at the moment. It just doesn't feel real.

"I think this has completely derailed my day. I'll be looking at this ticket all day."

Lotterywest will get in contact with the Western Australian winner or winners, who won the other $25 million half of the $50 million jackpot.

"I personally don't go out of my way to celebrate Australia Day."

That's the view of 24-year-old First Nations woman Neenah when asked how she would spend January 26.

It continues to be a date that divides, with more and more younger people appearing to choose different ways to mark Australia Day.

But, for others, the issue is more complicated, with the debate amplified by the rise of social media.

9news.com.au spoke to young Australians across the country about how they feel about Australia Day.

READ MORE: Aboriginal flag 'freed' for public use in $20m government deal

How will you be spending Australia Day?

Neenah, a 24-year-old Kamilaroi, Dharumbal, Noonuccal woman living in Sydney, won't be celebrating Australia Day and instead will be working as a tour guide at the Australian Museum's Unsettled exhibition.

"I personally don't go out of my way to celebrate Australia Day, of course, I'm not really a big fan," she said.

"It's a Day of Mourning, and I've always been brought up saying it's Invasion Day."

Scarlett, an 18-year-old Bidjigal woman living in Wollongong, also said she will not be celebrating Australia Day due to the "generational pain" her family has experienced.

"My Nan was part of the stolen generations along with her siblings, so celebrating Australia Day is challenging because there isn't anything to celebrate," she said.

"Just because we didn't experience anything at the time it's passed down to us within our family."

READ MORE: US puts 8500 troops on alert amid Russia-Ukraine tensions

Some young Australians will be taking advantage of the public holiday to spend time with friends and family.

Harrison, a 21-year-old student from Geelong in Victoria, will be catching up with friends after COVID-19 lockdowns have delayed many social events.

"The big plan is to catch up with friends, play some board games, have some drinks, all permitting, having a barbecue is our go-to on Australia Day," he said.

Harrison celebrates the idea of "mateship" rather than the "patriotism" of the day.

Sophie, a 24-year-old from Perth, will be just be enjoying the public holiday and the day off work.

"I'm just doing everyday things that I wouldn't be able to do usually, going to home inspections and spending the rest of the day with my family and just chilling at home."

READ MORE: COVID-positive Queensland man died waiting for ambulance

What about businesses?

Some businesses are now offering alternative public holidays to Australia Day in an attempt to "stand in solidarity with First Nations people".

Jarrah Brailey, the 23-year-old founder of Sydney marketing agency SBJ Studios, and her employees will be working normal hours on January 26 and instead be taking the public holiday on Friday.

"As a company, we are making this commitment to our First Nations people in order to do better, educate ourselves, and also make space to amplify indigenous voices in the community," she said.

Brent, a 27-year-old media and advertising professional from Melbourne, also had his employers offer an alternative day off this week instead of Australia Day to recognise that the day is "uncomfortable for some".

"I've chosen to take the Monday off to spend time with my mother who is visiting from NSW and I'll be working during the public holiday," he said.

READ MORE: 4.7 magnitude earthquake may not be peak of WA 'swarm'

What role has social media played?

Some young Australians believe social media and its popularity among the younger generation has played a role in education and changing the norms of celebrating.

"I think the conversations around Australia day have picked up over the past two years and that is something that is viral over social media," Ms Brailey said.

"Every year on Australia Day your social media is flooded with 'change the date' and Indigenous voices and Indigenous artists."

Scarlett also agreed social media has played a role in educating young people about Australia Day and has influenced them not to celebrate.

"I think social media has done a really great job in getting our generation educated in these type of things," she said.

However, Neenah warned social media coverage on Australia Day can hold a "tokenistic" element if people are not educating themselves about why they are choosing not to celebrate.

"It's not about sharing some tokenistic post on Instagram, it's actually about sharing that story goes along with it."

READ MORE: Hundreds of mozzies caught in one backyard trap as population booms

Is the way young Australians spend January 26 changing?

The young Australians 9news.com.au spoke to agreed there is a change in the way the younger generation is spending January 26.

Ms Brailey said a few years ago people were "guilty" of going to the beach, having a drink or a barbecue with friends but now "it doesn't feel right".

Brent also agreed that the norm is changing.

"(I) definitely think more younger people are switching from celebrating it. When Triple J moved the countdown, I think that really helped with the change the date movement."

Sophie said the day has "shifted" to just another public holiday instead of a celebration.

"I think it has definitely shifted from the celebration of Australia Day to a public holiday so we might as well take the day off," she said.

For Bangarang woman Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, the Change The Date campaign isn't about shame or guilt.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

"What I'd really like, is for it to be about celebrating. Australia is a lovely country," she said.

"I want a day to be able to celebrate."

But for Ms Atkinson, and for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around the country, "Australia Day" is a date that it's impossible to celebrate on.

"It's not about being divisive," she said.

"I do mourn about the fact of what happened to my people."

On January 26, 1788, the ships of the First Fleet all relocated from Botany Bay to Sydney Cove, where future Governor Arthur Phillip ran the British flag up a pole and laid unofficial claim to the Colony of New South Wales.

READ MORE: Full Australia Day Honours list revealed

The date does not mark any European "discovery" of Australia, nor the arrival of the First Fleet – which occurred in preceding days – nor even the formal establishment of the colony, which took place on February 7.

Phillip's own account of the occasion reads thus:

"In the evening of the 26th the colours were displayed on shore, and the Governor, with several of his principal officers and others, assembled round the flag-staff, drank the king's health, and success to the settlement, with all that display of form which on such occasions is esteemed propitious, because it enlivens the spirits, and fills the imagination with pleasing presages."

This simple event was nonetheless translated into a foundation myth for the colonists, who were celebrating it as such by the 1800s – though January 26 was only made a nationwide public holiday in 1994.

READ MORE: WA wakes up to 4.7 magnitude earthquake

But, as growing Invasion Day rallies show every year, there are a lot of people for whom the date carries only painful associations.

"I think (non-Indigenous Australians) need to understand it's not a date Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to celebrate," Ms Atkinson said.

"It's always been a day of mourning for our people. It's almost an insult, to celebrate Australia on that day."

Ms Atkinson, who is the co-chair of the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, believes progress is being made, with younger generations more sympathetic to the cause.

She said many older Australians simply hadn't been taught the "full truth" of what colonisation had inflicted on Indigenous people.

"I don't think they realise the trauma of colonisation still affects our communities," she said.

Peter Lewis, president of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), points out that most national days mark a country's foundation or independence – "often from the British".

But he too is hopeful that change is on the way.

"I think the views of the public are in the process of recognising the inappropriateness of the current date," he said.

"There is now much greater awareness of the conflictual nature of the date. The Greens want the date changed and there is growing awareness of the problems with the date by the ALP."

He said Australia needed to reckon with "unresolved issues of nationhood" – particularly relating to the lack of treaties with First Nations peoples – before a new national day could be agreed on.

"Perhaps in the interim we could celebrate the date of the Mabo Decision – June 3 – which marks the awareness of the High Court of the inadequacies of our national foundations," he said.

Ms Atkinson suggested the Friday of NAIDOC Week – which begins on the first Sunday of July – would be a good national day for Australia's many cultures to come together in celebration.

But in the meantime, she urged people gathering with family or friends today to "challenge" their views.

"We really want people to be allies to First Nations people," she said.

Mr Lewis said people could – when COVID-19 posed less of a threat – attend events run by First Nations people, and talk to their local MP about needing "a new approach and a new date".

"We need to have a day where we can all celebrate, all of Australia's cultures," Ms Atkinson said.

"We need to create a new future, as equals."

There are three new Star Wars video game projects in development right now, Lucasfilm Games and Electronic Arts have confirmed.

Following the success of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, EA and Respawn Entertainment have announced they're currently working on the next game in the series.

The project is being led by Stig Asmussen (Fallen Order, God of War III) and the game is expected to be a direct sequel to Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, which followed the story of Jedi Cal Kestis.

READ MORE: Japanese game studio launches 'enormous' data centre in Australia

Respawn is also at the helm of a new Star Wars first-person shooter, currently being developed by Peter Hirschmann (Medal of Honor).

But that's not all. The same studio, in collaboration with new gaming studio Bit Reactor, is also developing a strategy game.

This game is being developed under the watchful eye of Bit Reactor's CEO, Greg Foertsch (XCOM), who will lead development.

As of now, there's not even a still image to share from any of these anticipated games. A release date is also yet to be shared.

You can read more in the latest blog published by Star Wars.

READ MORE: 'Dig out your old video games': The advice auction house experts want you to know

The announcement comes the same week we saw a full reveal trailer for the upcoming LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

The game is set for release on April 5 following multiple launch delays.