That's all from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age live blog today. Thank you for following along.
Here's a quick recap of today's top COVID-19 stories:
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian flagged restrictions will likely be eased next week after the state recorded no new cases for the third day in a row. Victoria and Queensland all recorded no new locally acquired cases.
- Two more Australian Open tennis players, a support person and another individual linked to the grand slam have tested positive to COVID-19 in quarantine, although one player is strongly suspected of shedding the virus.
- Tennis Australia has confirmed it will foot the estimated $40 million hotel quarantine bill for Australian Open participants after the Victorian government disputed an earlier assertion it would help pay for the cost.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia will take a slower approach to rolling out COVID-19 vaccines than other countries, where people are already getting the jab.
- US President-elect Joe Biden led a national memorial observance on the eve of his inauguration to honour the 400,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 during the 11 months since the novel coronavirus claimed its first US victim.