The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 350,000 as experts anticipate another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths stemming from holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year's.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the US passed the threshold early Sunday morning (Sunday night AEDT). More than 20 million people in the country have been infected.

The US has begun using two coronavirus vaccines to protect health care workers and nursing home residents and staff but the rollout of the inoculation program has been criticised as being slow and chaotic.

READ MORE: US records deadliest day as cases surge to 20 million

The US by far has reported the most deaths from COVID-19 in the world, followed by Brazil, which has reported more than 195,000 deaths.

As communities across the country feel the pain of the surge in cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling up.

The head of the state funeral directors association says mortuaries are being inundated.

"I've been in the funeral industry for 40 years and never in my life did I think that this could happen, that I'd have to tell a family, 'No, we can't take your family member'," said Magda Maldonado, owner of Continental Funeral Home in Los Angeles.

Continental is averaging about 30 body removals a day — six times its normal rate. Mortuary owners are calling one another to see whether anyone can handle overflow, and the answer is always the same: They're full, too.

READ MORE: How Sydney's Berala cluster erupted

In order to keep up with the flood of bodies, Maldonado has rented extra 15m refrigerators for two of the four facilities she runs in LA and surrounding counties. Continental has also been delaying pickups at hospitals for a day or two while they deal with residential clients.

Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Association, said that the whole process of burying and cremating bodies has slowed down, including embalming bodies and obtaining death certificates. During normal times, cremation might happen within a day or two; now it takes at least a week or longer.

Achermann said that in the southern part of the state, "every funeral home I talk to says, 'We're paddling as fast as we can'."

"The volume is just incredible and they fear that they won't be able to keep up," he said. "And the worst of the surge could still be ahead of us."

Los Angeles County, the epicentre of the crisis in California, has surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths alone. Hospitals in the area are overwhelmed, and are struggling to keep up with basics such as oxygen as they treat an unprecedented number of patients with respiratory issues. On Saturday, US Army Corps of Engineers crews arrived to update some hospital's oxygen delivery systems.

READ MORE: UK's Johnson warns of more lockdown measures as virus soars

Nationally, an average of just over 2500 people have died of COVID-19 over the past seven days, according to Johns Hopkins data. The number of daily newly reported cases in that period has averaged close to 195,000, a decline from two weeks earlier.

It's feared that holiday gatherings could fuel yet another rise in cases.

Arkansas officials reported a record of more than 4300 new COVID-19 cases Friday. Governor Asa Hutchinson tweeted that the state is "certainly in the surge after Christmas travel and gatherings" and added, "As we enter this new year, our first resolution should be to follow guidelines."

North Carolina officials also reported a record 9527 confirmed cases New Year's Day. That's more than 1000 cases above the previous daily high.

In Louisiana, a funeral was being held Saturday for a congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 complications. Republican Luke Letlow died Tuesday at age 41. His swearing-in had been scheduled Sunday. He leaves behind his wife, Julia Letlow, and two children, ages 1 and 3.

READ MORE: Sydney crowd at Human Nature concert sparks fears

In Texas, state officials say they have only 580 intensive care beds available as staff treat more than 12,480 hospitalised coronavirus patients, a number that has risen steadily since September and has set record highs this past week.

In Window Rock, Arizona, the Navajo Nation remained in the midst of a weekend lockdown to try to slow the rate of infection. The tribe late Friday reported another seven deaths, bringing its totals since the pandemic began to 23,429 cases and 813 deaths. The reservation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

Arizona on Saturday reported 18,943 new cases Friday and Saturday, a record for the state in any two-day period. It also reported 46 new deaths Saturday.

Genomic sequencing has revealed the Berala cluster is not linked to the Avalon outbreak in Sydney's Northern Beaches.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said a member of a family group who had returned from overseas and been taken to a health facility had passed the virus on to a patient transport worker.

That worker then passed the virus onto a colleague who visited the Berala BWS for a "fleeting amount of time" on December 20.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1345521508735541248

That's when the BWS employee became infected. They also passed it onto a co-worker, and between them they worked every day from December 22 to 31.

That has left NSW Health with the mammoth task of contacting thousands of customers who visited the store throughout that Christmas period, a seeding event that has made the Berala cluster emerge as the most worrying in Sydney.

Health officials are using customers' credit and rewards card details to track down close contacts.

Woolworths, which owns BWS, has also provided contact tracers with CCTV from inside the store to determine how the original transmission occurred.

NSW Health has issued alerts for big windows of time at the BWS between Tuesday, December 22 and Thursday, December 31 where transmission may have occurred.

Anyone who attended the store has been asked to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days regardless of the test result.

READ MORE: Couple accused of escaping quarantine speak out

"We know these transmission events have happened through very minimal exposure, we are asking members of the community who did purchase alcohol or enter that premises for that period to be very vigilant and take the public health action of isolating for 14 days if you were there at those times," Dr Chant said.

"Anyone living in the Berala area has also been asked to come forward for testing if they develop any symptoms associated with COVID-19.

"We are still concerned about a case that occurred yesterday where we still haven't managed to find links in terms of the Avalon cluster."

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1345548721916764166

Investigations continue into the links between the Wollongong, Croydon and Avalon clusters.

Dr Chant said the BWS store on Woodburn Road in Berala is a transmission site of particular concern to authorities.

"We know that there have been transmission events at this venue. And it is important that we know that also those transmission events occurred through what appear to be very brief exposures at that venue," she said.

More than 2000 people have been contacted and told to get tested and isolate in relation to the BWS store.

"I know it was a busy period, but we are very concerned that transmission has occurred at this site and it is important because the duration of time means that someone who has previously been there could have actually transmitted it to another group of people."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.

Johnson, though, insisted he has "no doubt" that schools are safe and urged parents to send their children back into the classroom in areas of England where they can. Unions representing teachers have called for schools to turn to remote learning for at least a couple of weeks more due to the new variant, which scientists have said is up to 70 per cent more contagious.

The UK is in the midst of an acute outbreak, recording more than 50,000 new coronavirus infections a day over the past five days. On Saturday, it notched a daily record of 57,725 new cases. The country, with nearly 75,000 virus-related deaths, is alternating with Italy as the worst-hit European nation, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

READ MORE: Coronavirus vaccination appointment turns into proposal

"We are entirely reconciled to do what it takes to get the virus under control, that may involve tougher measures in the weeks ahead," Johnson said in an interview with the BBC. "Obviously there are a range of tougher measures that we would have to consider."

Johnson conceded that school closures, curfews and the total banning of household mixing could be on the agenda for areas under the most stress.

London and southeast England are facing extremely high levels of new infections and there is speculation that restrictions there will have to be tightened to bring the virus under control. In some parts of the British capital and its surrounding areas, there are around 1000 cases per 100,000 people.

Johnson's government is using a tiered coronavirus restrictions system. Most of England is already at the highest Tier 4 level, which involves the closure of shops not selling non-essential items and places like gyms and recreation centres as well as a stay-at-home instruction.

"What we are using now is the tiering system, which is a very tough system, and alas probably about to get tougher to keep things under control," he said. "We'll review it and we have the prospect of vaccines coming down the tracks in their tens of millions, offering people literally life and hope."

READ MORE: UK in 'eye of the storm' amid surging new coronavirus cases

The UK has moved quickly on the vaccination front. It was the first to begin vaccinating people over 80 and health care workers on December 8 with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Last week, regulators approved another vaccine made by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that is cheaper and easier to use than the Pfizer vaccine.

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to be up and running this week as the National Health Service ramps up its immunisation program with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab. Officials say around 530,000 doses of the new vaccine will be in place Monday as the country moves towards its goal of vaccinating 2 million people a week as soon as possible.

"We do hope that we will be able to do tens of millions in the course of the next three months," Johnson said.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca shot will be administered at a small number of hospitals for the first few days so authorities can be on the lookout for any adverse reactions. Hundreds of new vaccination sites — at both hospitals as well as local doctor's offices — are due to launch this week, joining the more than 700 already in operation, NHS England said.

READ MORE: Sydney crowd at Human Nature concert sparks concern

In a shift from practices in the US and elsewhere, Britain plans to give people second doses of both vaccines within 12 weeks of the first shot rather than within 21 days, to accelerate immunisations across as many people as quickly as possible.

"My mum, as well as you or your older loved ones, may be affected by this decision, but it is still the right thing to do for the nation as a whole," the government's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said in an article for the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

A bushfire that burned through more than 70 hectares of land and edged dangerously close to homes north of Perth has now left many without water and power.

The Wundowie blaze came within metres of houses and left a truck driver trapped in the middle of it, unable to turn around.

He filmed the fire coming closer to him before firefighters eventually got the blaze under control enough for the truckie to make it through.

Resident Ashlee Martinelli said she saw smoke coming towards her house, and 10 minutes later flames were in the backyard.

She and her parents chose to stay and defend the home, grabbing passports, family photos and animals.

"(It was) so warm and it was just black, you could hardly see and because of the sun it was like a weird orange colour," Ms Martinelli told 9News.

"Mum's horse float the back end caught on fire and the shed nearly caught on."

The fire has since been downgraded to a watch and act, but firefighters are still on alert.

https://twitter.com/dfes_wa/status/1345650613955166208

The town's water pipeline exploded in the fire, and homes could be without power for days.

Fire officials say the blaze was started accidentally and is not the work of an arsonist.

Hundreds of Queenslanders have spent the weekend in long lines outside testing clinics after a warning from health authorities of a potential coronavirus threat.

Anyone who has been in Victoria on or since December 21 has been told they should get tested and quarantine at home until they receive a negative result.

This advice caused queues that stretched for hundreds of metres in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, with waits of up to four hours.

READ MORE: Victorians facing long testing queues as state works to contain coronavirus outbreak

READ MORE: NSW records 11 new COVID-19 cases, eight locally acquired

People came armed with camp chairs and umbrellas for the long wait ahead.

"We only brought the chairs, but we're now wishing we had brought hats, umbrellas, everything," one woman told 9News.

"A cup of coffee would have been nice."

Some people were turned away from the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital clinic when it closed at 9pm on Saturday.

"The last thing we want to see is somebody walking away from getting tested who should get tested," Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates said.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Jeanette Young said health authorities are working to open more clinics in the coming days to meet demand.

"We are opening more fever clinics and we're extending hours because of that rapid response from people coming forward to get tested," Dr Young said.

The state has had 110 days without any community transmission of the virus.

There were three local cases in Victoria today, and seven in NSW.

An off-duty police officer is believed to have died while trying to save the life of another woman dragged into a whirlpool while canyoning in the NSW Blue Mountains yesterday.

The bodies of two women sucked into the water were recovered by police divers about midday today after a gruelling search in tough conditions deep in the bush.

One of the women has been identified as serving NSW Police officer, Senior Constable Kelly Foster, who has most recently been stationed at Lithgow Police Station.

"Her colleagues are fairly traumatised by this loss, she was a well-respected and well-liked member of the police force," Chief Inspector Peter Scheinflug said today.

Senior Constable Foster's partner was canyoning with the group at the Wollangambe River in Mount Wilson and hiked 45 minutes to get mobile reception and call Triple-0.

"While that was occurring other members of the party were frantically looking for the two girls," Chief Inspector Scheinflug said.

The second woman was an international student from China, aged 24. She had been living in Chiswick in Sydney's inner west.

Close family friends in Australia have been notified, as has the Chinese Embassy who will notify her family back home of the tragedy.

Early investigations suggest the student may have gotten into trouble in the water and the police officer tried to help her and was also dragged into danger.

Officers were initially called about 2.30pm yesterday, and police rescue, assisted by police diving unit and ambulance special operations team located both women's bodies, about midday today, Chief Inspector Scheinflug said.

NSW Police Acting Commissioner Mal Lanyon has extended his condolences to the Foster family on behalf of the NSW Police Force.

"It's a very sad time for the NSW Police Force and Kelly's death is a loss to the whole community," Acting Commissioner Lanyon said.

"To hear reports that Kelly was trying to help another woman when she died demonstrates her commitment to the community she served and the ability to put the needs of others before her own.

"Kelly was a highly regarded and dedicated officer who will be sorely missed by colleagues across the force.

"Her policing career was put on hold when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, however, her strength to survive this and return to work is another testament to her strength and resilience.

"Above all, Kelly was a kind and loving daughter, sister and partner."

Police Minister David Elliott praised Senior Constable Foster's "truly heroic act".

"The tragic death of Senior Constable Kelly Foster is a sincere loss for her family, community and the NSW Police Force.

"Senior Constable Foster sadly lost her life coming to the aid of another, a truly heroic act that will never be forgotten.

"She had served her community as part of the NSW Police Force since 2010 and will be dearly missed by her colleagues."

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

The family and friends of both women have requested privacy at this time.

A Human Nature concert in Sydney has sparked concern after hundreds of audience members were seen singing without masks as health authorities fight to contain multiple coronavirus clusters.

The gig on Saturday night was held at the Sydney Coliseum at West HQ, an entertainment venue inside the Rooty Hill RSL.

Footage and photos show the large crowd singing along to the band's hits. Very few of them were wearing masks.

Trish Charan, the general manager of the Sydney Coliseum Theatre, told Nine.com.au the audience were urged before the event to wear masks and offered them for free throughout the venue.

"Additionally, the artists made a pre-show announcement, as well as throughout the show, asking all patrons not to sing or dance (other than in their seats) during the performance," Ms Charan said.

Masks became mandatory in Greater Sydney from today. People were given a one-day grace period and from Monday there will be a $200 fine for anyone failing to comply.

NSW opposition leader Jodie McKay shared a photo of the concert on Twitter today.

"No social distancing, very few masks and a predominantly older audience," Ms McKay wrote.

Ms Charan said there were 1110 people at the event, which is under the cap of 1490.

Under NSW Health coronavirus restrictions, venues such as concert halls are allowed to operate at 75 per cent capacity if events are seated.

https://twitter.com/JodiMcKayMP/status/1345545793495736321

"Masks were also available at all bars and via staff and we were offering these free of charge to those requesting one," Ms Charan said.

"We included a direct link to NSW Health in the email for up to date information on hot spots and COVID information."

She said Human Nature "were placed at a minimum 5m from the audience, dictated by a marked line on stage.

"Additionally, there were COVID-safety lobby announcements, digital signage, social distancing stickers and queue markers."

NSW recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, eight of which are locally acquired and three are from overseas.

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NSW has recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases, eight of which are locally acquired and three are from overseas.

Five of the new local cases recorded yesterday are connected to the Berala cluster.

Two are household contacts of the Avalon cluster, and one is a household contact of a known source in Wollongong.

Nearly 19,000 people were tested in the last testing period.

"We do need to increase that number of testing. The success of this state has come off the back of the large number of testing that's been happening right across the state," Deputy Premier John Barilaro said.

The figures were released this morning as millions of people in Greater Sydney have been ordered to wear masks or risk a $200 fine.

Residents have until midnight tonight before the fines kick in, and must cover-up in all public indoor settings.

Source of Berala cluster identified

The Berala cluster is centred around a BWS liquor store, where two workers tested positive and worked over the busy Christmas period.

Genomic sequencing has revealed the Berala cluster is not linked to the Avalon outbreak in Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Dr Chant said a member of a family group who had returned from overseas and transported to a health facility passed the virus onto a patient transport worker.

The worker then passed the virus onto a colleague who had visited the Berala BWS for a "fleeting amount of time".

Health authorities have issued alerts for a number of times between Tuesday, 22 December and Thursday 31 December where transmission may have occurred.

Anyone who attended the BWS at those times has been asked to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days regardless of the test result.

"We know these transmission events have happened through very minimal exposure, we are asking members of the community who did purchase alcohol or enter that premises for that period to be very vigilant and take the public health action of isolating for 14 days if you were there at those times," Dr Chant said.

"Anyone living in the Berala area has also been asked to come forward for testing if they develop any symptoms associated with COVID-19.

"We are still concerned about a case that occurred yesterday where we still haven't managed to find links in terms of the Avalon cluster."

Investigations continue into the links between the Wollongong, Croydon and Avalon clusters.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1345521505828970499

Dr Chant said the BWS store on Woodburn Road in Berala is now a transmission site of particular concern to authorities.

"We know that there have been transmission events at this venue. And it is important that we know that also those transmission events occurred through what appear to be very brief exposures at that venue," she said.

More than 2000 people have been contacted and told to get tested and isolate in relation to the BWS store.

"I know it was a busy period, but we are very concerned that transmission has occurred at this site and it is important because the duration of time means that someone who has previously been there could have actually transmitted it to another group of people."

Top doctor's assessment of response

Former president of the Australian Medical Association Doctor Tony Bartone told Weekend Today that we were "ahead of the curve compared to previous events".

But he warned the time of year also greatly increases the risk of fast spreading of COVID-19.

"Because of where we are, because it is the holiday season, because we've had the potential of super spreading events like New Year's Eve, we've really got to be on our guard," he said.

Speaking on the importance of the mask mandate for Greater Sydney, Dr Bartone pointed to the cluster that began at a Thai restaurant in Melbourne mere days ago.

Saying one person entered the restaurant and infected multiple people, he said "it shows you what the potential for wearing a mask in a close situation can prevent".

The Berala cluster is now considered the most concerning, sparking a push for testing in Western Sydney as NSW Health warns of new alert locations.

This comes as the southern zone of Northern Beaches have had restrictions loosened after a lockdown over the holidays.

The area is now treated as part of Greater Sydney.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1345491495290171392

Mask rules for Greater Sydney

But as Premier Gladys Berejiklian used one hand to ease restrictions in the Northern Beaches, she took with the other as she announced new measures to slow the virus.

Masks are now compulsory in the Greater Sydney area in some indoor settings including public transport, shopping centres, hair and beauty salons and hospitality areas after the new rules began at midnight.

The state's Health Minister Brad Hazzard reminded the community of the upcoming mask mandate to be enforced from tomorrow.

Mr Hazzard said the mandate also applies to bank branches, post offices, hairdressing salons, beauty salons, tanning salons, waxes salons, spas, betting agencies, gaming lounges and tattoo parlours.

A $200 fine will apply for anyone who fails to comply with the health order from midnight tonight.

"That will be a last resort. We will use a very common-sense approach to our policing and discretion where it's appropriate," Acting Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

Along with mask-wearing, harsher restrictions will be placed on indoor gatherings:

• Gym classes will be reduced from a maximum of 50 participants to 30.
• Nightclubs, along with singing and dancing, will remain off the table.
• Places of worship will now only be able to have 100 people at a time, with smaller venues subject to tighter restrictions.
• This means weddings and funerals will now be capped at 100 people.
• Outdoor performances will be reduced to 500 from 1000 and controlled outdoor events from 5000 to 2000 to reduce the risk of super spreading events.

Children under the age of 12 are exempt from wearing masks along with those with certain medical conditions.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1345480766432501760

Woolworths has already issued a statement saying it expects all customers entering stores – Woolworths supermarkets, Metro, BWS, BIG W and Dan Murphy's – in the Greater Sydney area (including Wollongong, Blue Mountains and Central Coast) to wear a face covering.

Couple issue statement after $19,000 fine

A NSW couple accused of fleeing from Victorian health officials at Melbourne Airport have released a statement explaining why they left without quarantining.

Terry and Debbie Elford this afternoon released a statement saying officials at the airport were unable to definitively tell them whether or not they would have to quarantine.Earlier today Victorian Health Officials said the pair absconded from officers and were facing fines of up to $19,000 each.

"We really are very sorry for the mess this has caused," the Elfords said in the statement."

Like hundreds of others on 1 January 2021, we got caught up with the confusion when the rules about entering Victoria changed.

"We had a permit, live in a green zone in NSW, were flying from Canberra airport which is allowed, and after we arrived in Tullamarine, we were stopped by DHHS officers who were not able to tell us whether or not we needed to quarantine, so after about an hour or so we walked away."