A National Party MP has attended a second anti-lockdown and mandate protest.Whanganui list MP Harete Hipango has posted pictures of herself on Facebook, at a rally in her electorate.But the post has been deleted after being contacted…

A sacred site harking back to one of New Zealand’s earliest epidemics is in the zone of the Northland wetlands blaze that is proving a complex and challenging battle for firefighters.The existence of Motutangi in the Kaimaumau wetlands…

South Australia has recorded another COVID-19 daily case increase, with 4274 new infections today.

The state also recorded five deaths, of people aged in their 50s to their 90s.

"We are obviously very sad with this number we need to report today," Premier Steven Marshall said.

READ MORE: Man confirmed dead in Queensland floods as heavy rain batters state

There are 164 people in hospital for COVID-19, which Mr Marshall stressed was "well within" the state's capacity to manage.

Of those, 16 are in intensive care, and two on ventilators.

Mr Marshall said about 80 per cent of intensive care patients seen in South Australia were unvaccinated.

Tests shot up by about 20 per cent, but Mr Marshall said most sites around the state still had short wait times and urged anybody with symptoms to queue up.

READ MORE: Record case numbers 'exactly what we wanted', Victorian Health Minister says

The state announced yesterday a vaccine booster shot would become mandatory for aged care and disability workers, as well as healthcare workers.

Workers in those areas have until January 29 to comply.

Mr Marshall today warned the government was "very strongly considering" extending the booster mandate, especially to the childcare and education sectors.

Food shortages are also a worry for a state, with supermarkets battling supply chain issues around the country.

Mr Marshall said the issue wasn't "acute" in South Australia yet but the government was watching interstate events carefully.

"We want to stay ahead of the game," he said.

Queensland has recorded 11,174 new COVID-19 cases and one new death overnight.

Additionally, the previously reported death of a man in his 30s at his home in the Gold Coast earlier this month has been confirmed by the coroner to be a COVID-19 case, bringing Queensland's total number of fatalities to 10 during the pandemic.

The new death reported today, of another man in his 30s from Brisbane, was also attributed to COVID-19.

There are 349 people in hospital, with 17 in intensive care and three on ventilation.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath has also said Queensland's public hospitals will suspend non-urgent elective surgery until March 1.

That will be reviewed at the end of January, and Ms D'Ath said "hopefully" its end date could be brought forward.

Queensland also today launched its online registry for positive rapid antigen test results.

People who test positive at home can now visit the government's COVID-19 website and register their positive RAT result.

"I suspect we're going to see many more numbers tomorrow and beyond," Ms D'Ath said.

She urged anybody who had tested positive with a RAT in the past 14 days to register their result.

Addressing the deaths of the two men, Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said deaths of young people due to COVID-19 were exceedingly rare.

He said it was most likely due to COVID-19 infecting the heart, causing myocarditis.

Doubts around school return

Parents are on tenterhooks awaiting the state government's decision on whether classrooms will open as scheduled for Term One.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday warned that it was possible a return to school could be delayed due to the spread of COVID-19 across the state.

She said a decision had not been made yet, but more would be known in coming days.

READ MORE: Victoria sets national COVID-19 record after RAT reporting opens

Children aged five to 12 have not yet had the chance to be vaccinated in Queensland, while the state has recorded more than 20,000 COVID-19 cases in the past two days.

The vaccination program for primary-school aged children is set to open next week.

Victoria and NSW have both set new daily records today, with Victoria's new tally the highest for any state or territory during the pandemic.

Health authorities have said the current wave is expected to be short and sharp, but that the next few weeks will be a bruising time for hospitals.

READ MORE: 'Global disruption' blamed as supermarkets battle shortages

To minimise the risk of spread, and the pressure on the health system, Ms Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders to stay home whenever possible for at least the next six weeks.

Queensland recorded 10,953 cases of the virus yesterday, though Ms Palasczuk said the real number was "absolutely" higher, due to people testing and self-managing the virus at home.

"We are not going to stop this wave," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"But we will make sure that we are keeping as many people safe as possible."

Empty shelves are facing Australian shoppers as supermarkets struggle with a supply chain that has taken some brutal hits from the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Australia's major chains are all gripped with shortages as isolation requirements put significant dents in the workforces both at a distribution and store level.

Photos show shelves empty of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and, of course, toilet paper.

READ MORE: Record case numbers 'exactly what we wanted', Health Minister says

Stores have largely attributed this to supply issues, however, rather than panic-buying, despite soaring cases around the country.

Woolworths director of stores Jeanette Fenske said movement of stock was the issue.

"We are seeing our customers shop in very responsible quantities and we'd like to thank them for continuing to do so," she said.

READ MORE: Person believed missing in heavy Queensland floods

And she warned things might get worse before they get better.

"I think as long as we continue to see an increase in community transmissions, we will continue to see disruption in our supply chain to varying degrees," she said.

Coles today updated its buying limits for customers, as supermarkets around Australia continue to battle the supply chain impact of COVID-19.

READ MORE: Djokovic's first message from detention

"Over the last few months, the global and domestic disruption caused by the pandemic has presented us with a number of supply chain challenges. This includes a shortage of wooden pallets and transport workers, and international shipping delays," CEO Steven Cain said in a message to customers.

"More recently, an increase in COVID case numbers in the community has required more people to isolate, which has meant fewer people are available to work in Australia – including in the food industry."

He said this had led to delayed deliveries and some shortages in stores.

Coles this week introduced buying limits on a number of products.

Customers are now limited to two packs per customer of chicken breasts and chicken thighs – or six pieces from the deli.

Two-pack limits also apply to mince and sausages.

READ MORE: Josh Frydenberg tests positive for COVID-19

With rapid antigen tests in demand around the country, Coles shoppers are also limited to just one per customer.

RATs are also not currently available to online shoppers.

Yesterday, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci outlined the impact the spread of Omicron had made across the supply chain.

"Unlike the surge buying of early 2020 (who could forget the toilet paper), this is because of the number of people in our supply chain in isolation – from suppliers to truck drivers and distribution centre team members – which in turn is causing material delays to store deliveries," Mr Banducci said.

"To give you a sense of the magnitude of the challenge, we are experiencing COVID-driven absences of 20 per cent-plus in our distribution centres and 10 per cent-plus in our stores."

READ MORE: Three men jailed over shooting murder of Ahmaud Arbery in US

New South Wales is currently the most-affected state, but Mr Banducci said there were impacts across the entire country – and it wasn't clear how soon the system would recover.

The third major chain in Australia, Aldi, like Woolworths has no purchasing limits in place.

"Although the ongoing COVID-19 situation has meant additional pressure to our operations, ALDI continues to do its best to minimise any disruption to our customers," a spokesperson told nine.com.au yesterday.

New Zealander of the Year Dr Siouxsie Wiles has written an opinion piece offering an insight into the abuse she receives from “everyday people” for her commentary on the Covid-19 pandemic.The opinion piece published in The Guardian…

STAY IN THE KNOW. SIGN UP TO OUR DAILY NEWSLETTERS HERE. A 15-year-old management plan sealed the fate of thousands of native trees planted by volunteers over more than 3400 hours on a popular North Shore reserve. The 13,700…

A man has died after his car became submerged in floodwaters, and emergency services are still working to reach more people as heavy rains sweep across Queensland's Fraser Coast region.

Queensland Police said in a statement that the 22-year-old man's ute was swept off the road at Kanigan near the Bruce Highway last night and into floodwaters.

He was later found dead in his vehicle, although his body is yet to be recovered due to hazardous conditions.

Emergency services in Queensland are still working to access 15 people. There have been 31 swift-water rescues in the past 24 hours, 18 of which remain ongoing.

READ MORE: Josh Frydenberg tests positive for COVID-19

https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1479554095723778054

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaczszuk said four people had been rescued shortly before midday (local time) and taken to Bundaberg Hospital.

There have been localised falls of more than 500mm in the past 24 hours caused by ex-tropical cyclone Seth, with a severe weather warning in place across the Wide Bay-Burnett region north of Brisbane.

Falls are set to continue into this afternoon, but to a lesser extent as the subtropical low weakens.

A major flood warning has been issued for the Mary River, with Maryborough set to experience floods tomorrow. Ms Palaczszuk said floodwater levels are expected to rise to around nine metres tomorrow morning.

Other flood warnings are in place throughout the region.

READ MORE: Djokovic's first message from detention

https://twitter.com/JordanFabris9/status/1479541923157200897

Heavy falls are currently continuing, with 118m recorded in an hour overnight at Mt Goonaneman.

Since 9am on Friday, 649mm has fallen at Mt Kanigan, 563mm at Marodian, and 500mm at Glenwood.

Multiple roads have been cut, with emergency services warning Queenslanders to not drive on flooded surfaces.

Stay up to date with the latest weather warnings for Queensland here.

Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley has said the state's unprecedented daily COVID-19 numbers are "exactly what we wanted".

Victoria today leapfrogged New South Wales to set a new national record for daily cases, recording 51,356 in 24 hours.

The increase comes after the state established a reporting system for at-home rapid antigen tests, which is not in place yet for NSW.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1479578097254948864

More than half of the case numbers overall — 26,428 — were from RATs, and Mr Foley said just one in five of those were actually positive tests from yesterday.

The others constituted "at least a week" of backed-up cases, with the minister predicting days more of inflated case numbers as people got used to the online reporting system.

The Victorian Department of Health provided the full breakdown of when each positive RAT result was returned:

• 5,923 (22 per cent) on January 7
• 6,758 (26 per cent) on January 6
• 5,037 (19 per cent) on January 5
• 3,806 (14 per cent) on January 4
• 2,501 (9 per cent) on January 3
• 1,708 (6 per cent) on January 2
• 624 (2 per cent) on January 1
• The remainder undertook the test earlier than January 1

"This is in many respects exactly what we wanted to happen, and we thank all those people for reporting their COVID-19 status to us," Mr Foley said.

"It's given us a realistic picture of transmission in the community. We knew there were undiagnosed cases out there.

"Having this realistic figure allows us to put more people in contact with the support they need."

Nine further deaths were recorded, with 731 people in hospital as of 9.30am today.

There are 10 9people in intensive care, including cleared cases, with 22 on ventilators.

Rapid antigen tests are now being handed out at 40 testing sites across Victoria, with two issued per person if they don't have symptoms.

Mr Foley said modelling indicated that Victoria could expect "a few more weeks of significantly increased rates of infection".

He said there will be a peak in mid-January before numbers scale down in February.

Hospitalisations will also increase during those weeks, but severe illness and need for respiration could likely decrease.

NSW recorded 45,098 and further nine deaths, while 1795 people remain in hospital.

It comes a day after an online registration form for Victorians who test positive on rapid antigen tests was launched.

Victoria's Acting Premier Jacinta Allan yesterday said the form had gone live and was encouraging residents to use it.

READ MORE: Restrictions return in NSW from today as COVID-19 cases climb

"Returning a positive RAT is the same as testing positive on a PCR – you are required to isolate, tell your contacts, and to log your positive result so we can ensure you have the care, information and support you need," she said.

The form, which can be accessed here, will allow the government to allocate required medical support and to keep track of cases.

It has been declared mandatory for anyone in Victoria who tests positive on a rapid antigen test to complete the form.

READ MORE: Three men jailed over shooting murder of Ahmaud Arbery in US

Victoria's COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said people who test positive on a rapid antigen test will be required to answer nine easy questions on the government's online form.

Yesterday the state recorded 21,728 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths.

Hospitalisations have risen to 644, with 58 in intensive care and 24 on ventilators.

New restrictions are in place across Victoria in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

A density limit of one person per two square metres have returned to indoor entertainment and hospitality venues.

Indoor seated cinemas and theatres, where people are seated and masked, will be exempt from the limit.

A Jetstar flight travelling to Wellington from Auckland this morning was forced to turn around after an engineering issue on board the craft.Jetstar flight 259 had barely made it to Port Waikato before circling back to Auckland…