As it happened: National cabinet rules out universal free access to rapid antigen tests; COVID cases continue to grow across NSW, Victoria and Qld; Djokovic confirmed for Australian Open

Good evening and thanks for reading our live coverage.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a quick recap of the day’s events.

• National cabinet met this afternoon, when it was agreed that concession cardholders, or about 6.6 million Australians, would receive 10 free rapid antigen tests over three months. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “Universal free access was not considered the right policy response by all of the states and territories in attendance today, and the Commonwealth.”
• Mr Morrison said Australians who test positive to COVID-19 with a rapid antigen test will no longer need to confirm their diagnosis with a PCR test, in a move to ease pressure on testing lines, while pre-arrival tests for hospital treatment and seven-day rolling test requirements for truck drivers will also be removed.
• Rapid antigen tests will be subject to Biosecurity Act regulations that will target price gouging, meaning vendors selling them for more than 120 per cent of the wholesale price, or at a 20 per cent markup, will be in breach of regulations and face penalties of up to $66,000 or five years in jail. Retailers have also agreed to introduce purchasing limits to stop hoarding of tests.

• Looking at the states and territories, and NSW recorded 35,054 new COVID-19 cases today, up from yesterday’s 23,131 cases. The state reported eight new deaths and the number of people in hospital with the virus rose to 1491. Of those, 119 are in intensive care units, including 32 who require ventilation.
• Victoria reported a record 17,636 new COVID-19 cases, up from yesterday’s 14,020 cases. There were 11 deaths. The number of people in hospital in Victoria with COVID-19 has risen to 591, and 106 people are in intensive care units. Of those, 53 still have an active infection, and 20 are on a ventilator.
• Queensland recorded 6781 new cases of COVID-19, an increase from 5699 cases reported yesterday. There are 265 people with COVID-19 in the state’s hospitals, including 10 in ICU. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state government had negotiated with private pathology clinics to open more testing sites.
• In South Australia, 3493 new cases of COVID-19 were reported. There are 125 coronavirus patients in hospital, including 12 in intensive care. One of those people requires a ventilator. SA Health said 75 of those in hospital are fully vaccinated, 37 either unvaccinated or partially unvaccinated, and the other 13 had an unknown vaccination status.
• In Tasmania, 867 new cases of COVID-19 were announced. Premier Peter Gutwein told residents cases could rise above 2000 infections a day, as the Omicron wave reaches its peak in coming weeks.
• The ACT reported 810 new cases of COVID-19 today. As at 8pm yesterday, there were 16 people with COVID-19 in hospital including one person in ICU.
• The Northern Territory recorded 117 new cases of COVID-19, up from yesterday’s 75 cases. Most of the new cases are based in Darwin, but NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said there were five cases out of Katherine and a handful in remote communities.
• Western Australia reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 including five local cases. Three of the new cases are related to the state’s Delta variant backpacker cluster, and two of those were “considered to be infectious while in the community”, WA Deputy Premier Roger Cook said. A Perth Pan Pacific hotel quarantine security guard, who tested positive on Sunday, has been confirmed to have the Omicron variant, but authorities are confident there has been no spread.

Broede Carmody will be back around 8.30am tomorrow morning. This is Sarah McPhee signing off today’s blog. Thank you again and good night.

Artist Craig Ruddy – whose controversial and memorable portrait of the late actor David Gulpilil won the Archibald Prize – has died, aged 53, from COVID-19 complications.

Ruddy died in the arms of his partner, actor Roberto Meza Mont, at his home in Byron Bay, in northern NSW, on Tuesday. In a statement, Meza Mont, Ruddy’s twin sister, Kelli O’Shannassy, and his family, said they were devastated and in shock.

Ruddy’s death follows the passing of the subject of his most famous artwork, David Gulpilil: Two worlds, in November, aged 68.

The large-scale painting of the Indigenous actor, who achieved global frame in movies including Rabbit Proof Fence and The Tracker, won both the Archibald Portrait Prize and People’s Choice Award in Sydney and Melbourne in 2004.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made an emphatic statement on the issue of schools, insisting they will “go back and stay back” at the end of this month, despite COVID-19 cases.

These were his comments:

The objective here is very clear, and we are all very shared in our view that schools go back and stay back, on day one of term one. Over the next fortnight, we have tasked ... each jurisdiction to come back to us next week with a set of final recommendations which will set out a national framework for the return of school.

That will include everything from the testing arrangements put in place, any furloughing issues that need to arise, matters relating to workplace health and safety, matters relating to rates of vaccination and a series of other issues which will be defined over the course of the next week ... to ensure that we have a clear, common approach as best as we are able to achieve across all states and territories.

But what we want to achieve is that those schools and the kids go back and stay back. And we don’t have schools opening and closing, opening and closing, and the disruption that will cause.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said earlier today he was “incredibly confident” school students would be able to return to the classroom on the first day of term. You can read that story here.