Retired teachers and final year university students are being called on by the Victorian government to become COVID-19 relief resources.

The state government is trying to create a pool of standby resources ahead of the start of the school year, as the state recorded a slight drop in daily case numbers.

It anticipates another strain on the workforce as schools return and staff are confirmed as COVID-19 cases themselves or close contacts.

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"It's a simple pragmatic measure, to really ensure, to underscore that we get off to a good start and don't have two major problems in the first few weeks," Victoria's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said.

Retired or inactive teachers, principals, school support and admin staff are all being sought out.

They will be put on short, fixed-term contracts covering isolation periods at public schools across the state.

To be eligible people must be fully vaccinated and hold either a current working with children check or teaching registration.

"If I can be some help to my colleagues, I would be delighted to put my hand up. I think they need all the help they can get just at the moment," retired principal Peter Martin told 9News.

Slight drop in Victoria's numbers

The call for teachers comes as Victoria reports 20 deaths and a slight drop in daily cases numbers, recording 16,016 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

Of today's cases, 7584 were reported by positive rapid antigen test results.

There are 1029 people in hospital with the virus and 120 people admitted to intensive care while 39 people are on ventilators.

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The hospitalisation number is a slight drop from yesterday.

Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said the hospitalisations are beginning to stabilise.

"Encouraging to see a little bit of stabilisation over the last few days in that hospitalisation number," he said.

"Case numbers look like they're reasonably stabilising," he said.

Mr Weimar said the seven-day average of cases is sitting just under 21,000.

He also said the test positivity rate is beginning to drop "ever so slightly".

After the testing chaos over Christmas, the PCR testing wait times are now averaging 24 minutes at clinics across the state.

It comes as Victorians may soon have to be triple-vaccinated to enter cafes or restaurants.

The state government is moving towards a booster mandate to help increase the number of people with the third COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions met with hospitality and retail groups yesterday to discuss how the mandate will have a major impact on staff and customers, The Age reported.

The need for QR codes in hospitality and retail venues was discussed given the significant impact of the Omicron outbreak on contact tracing.

The industry discussions came as Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas announced yesterday workers in the public sector will get paid time off to get their third dose as part of the state's vaccination push.

"We are doing this because the health and safety of our public service and public sector employees and the whole community is vitally important to us," he said.

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"We recognise that, as an employer, we have a duty of care to our public servants.

"They also have a responsibility to the community at large to make sure that they are not a source of infection in those interactions.

"That is why, as an employer, we are taking this vital step. The change in conjunction with the vaccination blitz at sites like this makes getting your third dose earlier and easier than ever before."

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Premier Daniel Andrews flagged earlier this week he would not rule out mandating the third dose for workers other than healthcare staff.

"I don't rule out there being other groups that become the subject of a mandate," he said.

"I think we're very close to a change in policy that will reflect the fact that in order to be fully protected you need to have three doses – not two and an optional extra."

Industry leaders are concerned mandating the booster dose will place additional pressure on already struggling businesses.

A week on from one of the world's most violent volcanic eruptions in decades, events that happened on the ground in Tonga are still being uncovered.

The natural disaster hit the island nation on January 15, leaving three people confirmed dead and causing a massive amount of destruction.

New footage shows cars crawling inland as rocks and ash rained down from the sky.

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Stories of survival are being shared over satellite phone and social media.

"It's a very, very difficult time for the people of Tonga. The feedback on the ground that I got today is, again, many people displaced," Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said.

Some 4000 kilometres away in a warehouse in NSW, Matraville families are packing supplies for their loved ones in Tonga.

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There are more 30,000 Tongans living in Australia who are coming together to help their home country.

In a statement, a United Nations coordination specialist in Tonga said the "people are going to need sustained support responding to a disaster of this scale".

In the seven days since the natural disaster, foreign aid has been trickling in, but it has been slowed down because of strict COVID-safe border controls in place to prevent the virus from entering Tonga, which it is kept out so far.

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Three humanitarian flights have touched down in Tonga after one Australian plane was forced to return to base because there was a COVID-19 case on board.

"We respect absolutely the desire of the Tongan Government not to add a COVID crisis to a humanitarian crisis," Mr Seselja said.

New Zealand, Japan, the US and the UK have also been providing aid.

At Tonga's International Airport, pallets of urgent supplies have arrived.

But they can't be used until 72 hours have passed since their disinfection, due to COVID-19 measures.

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In addition to the aid, more messages of support are being sent to Tonga from around the world.

Australian rugby star Taniela Tupou, whose nickname is "Tongan Thor", said the team is "sending our love" and urged the Pacific nation to "stay strong", while Auckland-based rugby team Moana Pasifika united in song and prayers following the disaster.

Electricity bills are at their lowest level in more than five years, but some customers are still finding ways to save themselves even more money.

The Independent Pricing Regulator said electricity prices are at their lowest level since 2016, with many households continuing to uncover new ways to save on bills.

One such way has been through electricity provider AGL's energy-saver program that sees households reduce their usage in peak times in exchange for credits on their electricity bill.

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"The energy-saving program last year saved me an $80 credit," program participant Paul Vogelzang said.

"You get an SMS telling you it's a peak event… and at the time, [you] stop using things. It's not exactly a hard thing to do," he said.

AGL said the "peak event" is normally a two-to-three-hour window where energy demand is high, which then reduces pressure on the grid and avoids outages.

Electricity bill costs remain among the five biggest financial concerns for households, so Mr Vogelzang says it's important to keep finding ways to reduce it.

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"I think everyone should be checking their energy provider on an annual basis to see competitive rates."

The Independent Pricing Regulator said even though electricity prices are at their lowest, customers who remain on standing offers are paying too much.

They advise switching plans, which could save households up to $300 a year on electricity and $350 a year on gas.

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Thich Nhat Hanh, the revered Zen Buddhist monk who helped pioneer the concept of mindfulness in the West and socially engaged Buddhism in the East, has died. He was 95.

The death was confirmed by a monk at Tu Hieu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam who said that Nhat Hanh, known as Thay to his followers, died at midnight on Saturday morning. The monk declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to media.

A post on Nhat Hanh's verified Twitter page attributed to The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism also confirmed the news, saying, “We invite our beloved global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, to come back to our mindful breathing, as we together hold Thay in our hearts."

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Born as Nguyen Xuan Bao in 1926 and ordained at age 16, Nhat Hanh distilled Buddhist teachings on compassion and suffering into easily grasped guidance over a lifetime dedicated to working for peace. In 1961 he went to the United States to study, teaching comparative religion for a time at Princeton and Columbia universities.

For most of the remainder of his life, he lived in exile at Plum Village, a retreat centre he founded in southern France.

https://twitter.com/thichnhathanh/status/1484612530228154373

There and in talks and retreats around the world, he introduced Zen Buddhism, at its essence, as peace through compassionate listening. Still and steadfast in his brown robes, he exuded an air of watchful, amused calm, sometimes sharing a stage with the somewhat livelier Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama.

“The peace we seek cannot be our personal possession. We need to find an inner peace which makes it possible for us to become one with those who suffer, and to do something to help our brothers and sisters, which is to say, ourselves,” Nhat Hanh wrote in one of his dozens of books, The Sun My Heart.

Surviving a stroke in 2014 that left him unable to speak, he returned to Vietnam in October 2018, spending his final years at the Tu Hieu Pagoda, the monastery where he was ordained nearly 80 years earlier.

Nhat Hanh plunged into anti-war activism after his return to his homeland in 1964 as the Vietnam War was escalating. There, he founded the Order of Inter-being, which espouses “engaged Buddhism” dedicated to nonviolence, mindfulness and social service.

In 1966, he met the U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in what was a remarkable encounter for both. Nhat Hanh told King he was a “Bodhisattva,” or enlightened being, for his efforts to promote social justice.

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The monk’s efforts to promote reconciliation between the U.S-backed South and communist North Vietnam so impressed King that a year later he nominated Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In his exchanges with King, Nhat Hanh explained one of the rare controversies in his long life of advocating for peace — over the immolations of some Vietnamese monks and nuns to protest the war.

“I said this was not suicide, because in a difficult situation like Vietnam, to make your voice heard is difficult. So sometimes we have to burn ourselves alive in order for our voice to be heard so that is an act of compassion that you do that, the act of love and not of despair,” he said in an interview with U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey. “Jesus Christ died in the same spirit.”

Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai academic who embraced Nhat Hanh’s idea of socially engaged Buddhism, said the Zen master had “suffered more than most monks and had been involved more for social justice.”

“In Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s, he was very exposed to young people, and his society was in turmoil, in crisis. He was really in a difficult position, between the devil and the deep blue sea — the Communists on the one hand, the CIA on the other hand. In such a situation, he has been very honest — as an activist, as a contemplative monk, as a poet, and as a clear writer,” Mr Sivaraksa was quoted as saying.

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According to Nhat Hanh, “Buddhism means to be awake — mindful of what is happening in one’s body, feelings, mind and in the world. If you are awake, you cannot do otherwise than act compassionately to help relieve suffering you see around you. So Buddhism must be engaged in the world. If it is not engaged, it is not Buddhism.”

Both North and South Vietnam barred Nhat Hanh from returning home after he went abroad in 1966 to campaign against the war, leaving him, he said, “like a bee without a beehive.”

He was only allowed back into the country in 2005, when the communist-ruled government welcomed him back in the first of several visits. Nhat Hanh remained based in southern France.

The dramatic homecoming seemed to signal an easing of controls on religion. Nhat Hanh’s followers were invited by the abbot of Bat Nha to settle at his mountain monastery, where they remained for several years until relations with the authorities began to sour over Nhat Hanh’s calls for an end to government control over religion.

By late 2009 to early 2010, Nhat Hanh’s followers were evicted from the monastery and from another temple where they had taken refuge.

Over nearly eight decades, Nhat Hanh’s teachings were refined into concepts accessible to all.

To weather the storms of life and realise happiness, he counseled always a mindful “return to the breath,” even while doing routine chores like sweeping and washing dishes.

“I try to live every moment like that, relaxed, dwelling peacefully in the present moment and respond to events with compassion,” he told Oprah.

Nhat Hanh moved to Thailand in late 2016 and then returned to Vietnam in late 2018, where he was receiving traditional medicine treatments for the after-effects of his stroke and enjoyed “strolls” around the temple grounds in his wheelchair, according to the Buddhist online newsletter LionsRoar.com.

It was a quiet, simple end to an extraordinary life, one entirely in keeping with his love for taking joy from the humblest aspects of life. “No mud, no lotus,” says one of his many brief sayings.

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Top U.S. and Russian diplomats agreed on Friday to keep talking in the standoff over Ukraine, even though their meeting produced no movement in the crisis that has seen Moscow mass tens of thousands of troops at the border and the West ramp up supplies of weapons to Kyiv.

With fears of an invasion of Ukraine running high and seemingly intractable demands, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met for about 90 minutes in Geneva at what the American said was a “critical moment.”

Expectations were low going in, and there was no breakthrough.

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Mr Blinken told Lavrov the U.S. would give Russia written responses to Moscow’s proposals next week and suggested the two would likely meet again shortly after that — offering some hope that any invasion would be delayed for at least a few more days.

Mr Blinken said the U.S. and its allies remain resolute in rejecting Russia’s most important demands, which were reiterated Friday. Moscow wants NATO to promise that Ukraine will never be added as a member, that no alliance weapons will be deployed near Russian borders, and that it pull back its forces from Central and Eastern Europe.

Despite that, there was no indication the U.S. responses would be any different from the flat-out rejections already expressed by Washington and its allies, clouding future diplomatic efforts.

“We didn’t expect any major breakthroughs to happen today, but I believe we are now on a clearer path to understanding each other’s positions,” Mr Blinken said after the meeting.

Mr Blinken said he also wanted to use the opportunity to share directly with Mr Lavrov some “concrete ideas to address some of the concerns that you have raised, as well as the deep concerns that many of us have about Russia’s actions.”

Mr Blinken said Mr Lavrov repeated Russia’s insistence that it has no plans to invade Ukraine, but the U.S. and its allies were not convinced.

“We’re looking at what is visible to all, and it is deeds and actions and not words that make all the difference,” he said, adding that Russia should remove its troops from the Ukrainian border if it wanted to prove its point.

Mr Lavrov, meanwhile, called the talks “constructive and useful” but declined to characterise the U.S. pledge.

“I can’t say whether we are on the right track or not,” he told reporters.

“We will understand that when we receive the U.S. written response to all of our proposals.”

Mr Blinken suggested there was no leeway on Russia’s demands, saying firmly: “There is no trade space there: None.”

The U.S. and its allies say Russian President Vladimir Putin knows the demands are nonstarters, adding that they’re open to less-dramatic moves.

Mr Blinken said the U.S. would be open to a meeting between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, if it would be “useful and productive.” The two have met once in person in Geneva and have had several virtual conversations on Ukraine that have proven largely inconclusive.

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An estimated 100,000 Russian troops have been sent to areas near Ukraine, and more were moving into the neighbourhood for training exercises with neighbouring Belarus.

Late Friday, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv tweeted photos of a shipment it said had just arrived from the U.S., with “close to 200,000 pounds of lethal aid, including ammunition for the front line defenders of Ukraine.”

Western allies were also supplying weaponry and equipment to Ukraine. Britain sent anti-tank missiles earlier this week, while the defence ministers of the Baltic nations issued a statement saying they received U.S. approval to send Stinger air defence missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles to strengthen Kyiv's defences.

“Today Ukraine is at the forefront of separating Europe from the military conflict with Russia,” said Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet.

"Let's face it — the war in Ukraine is ongoing and it is important to support Ukraine in every way we can so that they can resist the aggressor.”

The Pentagon said the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will participate in a NATO maritime exercise in the Mediterranean, which will continue through February 4 — something that has been planned since 2020, said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby. He said officials considered whether to go ahead with the exercise, because of the ongoing tensions, and decided to move ahead.

Mr Kirby said the exercise wasn’t planned anticipating a Russian move on Ukraine and is “not designed against any of the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine.”

On Thursday, Russia had announced sweeping naval maneuvers through February, some apparently in the Black Sea.

The U.S. and its allies scrambled to present a united front. Washington and its allies have repeatedly promised consequences such as biting economic sanctions against Russia — though not military action — if it invades.

Mr Blinken repeated that Friday, saying the U.S. and its allies were committed to diplomacy but also committed "if that proves impossible, and Russia decides to pursue aggression against Ukraine, to a united, swift and severe response."

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After the meeting, Mr Blinken spoke by phone with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to brief him on his talks this week and reaffirm U.S. support for Kyiv’s sovereignty and stress that no decisions would be made without his country’s input, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. He also will brief the foreign ministers of Washington’s European allies.

Biden plans to spend the weekend huddling with his national security team at Camp David, press secretary Jen Psaki said.

In other diplomatic moves, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland said he spoke with Putin by phone on European security and Ukraine, saying it was “imperative to preserve peace in Europe,” according to his office.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of NATO member Turkey, which touted its strong ties with Russia and Ukraine, renewed an offer to mediate between the two countries. Mr Erdogan said he plans to visit Kyiv next month, adding that he would also hold talks with Putin.

Ukraine is already beset by conflict. Russia seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and backed a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, part of a simmering but largely stalemated conflict that has killed 14,000. Putin faced limited international consequences for those moves, but the West says a new invasion would be different.

Mr Blinken met Ukraine’s president in Kyiv and top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany in Berlin this week.

Mr Blinken's effort to stress U.S. unity with its allies took an apparent hit Wednesday when Biden drew widespread criticism for saying retaliation for Russian aggression in Ukraine would depend on the details and that a “minor incursion” could prompt discord among Western allies.

On Thursday, Biden sought to clarify his comments by cautioning that any Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion and that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action.

“I’ve been absolutely clear with President Putin,” Biden said.

“He has no misunderstanding: any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion.”

Adding to its warnings, Washington stepped up sanctions Thursday by slapping new measures on four Ukrainian officials who Blinken said were at the centre of a Kremlin effort begun in 2020 to damage Kyiv's ability to “independently function.”

The United States and allies say countries like Ukraine are entitled to their own alliances as part of sovereign security measures, but Mr Lavrov countered that Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe have also agreed that no nation can ensure its security by undermining the security of others.

In eastern Ukraine, a soldier stationed near the front line with Russia-backed separatists called Mr Blinken’s visit to Kyiv “very important for our country.” The soldier, who identified himself only by his first name, Serhiy, in line with official rules, voiced hope that if Russia attacked, “we can count on our forces’ and our allies’ power."

Anti-vax protesters have once again taken to the streets of Melbourne, this time causing major transport chaos in the CBD.

Significant traffic and public transport delays are being experienced in the city centre, with motorists urged to allow plenty of extra time if they are travelling into the city.

Multiple tram routes have been disrupted, including those travelling along Flinders Street, Elizabeth Street and Kings Way.

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In vision captured by 9News, a hoard of protesters can be seen standing in front of and around a tram as they march on the tram lines. They are marching against vaccine mandates and children's vaccinations.

Transport authorities are encouraging tram passengers to use city loop train services to avoid the delays.

READ MORE: Victoria reports 20 deaths and 16,016 new COVID-19 cases

A protest was also held in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield.

Supporters of United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly marched from Strathfield Station to Burwood Park.

They carried signs calling for COVID-19 mandates to end and for people to vote for Mr Kelly in the upcoming federal election.

In Queensland, protesters also rallied at Brisbane's Musgrave Park to stand against mask-wearing and COVID-19 restrictions in the state.

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