Coronavirus as it happened: NSW records zero new local COVID-19 cases as Victoria eases mask restrictions; Brisbane quarantine hotel evacuated over cluster fears

Australians are being promised a two-stage strategy to protect the population from COVID-19 under a federal commitment to pursue herd immunity while making vaccines available as soon as possible.

Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the ambition on herd immunity after scientists raised questions over the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine to achieve the objective when compared to alternatives from Pfizer and others.

In another day of debate over vaccine options, health giant CSL shot down talk about Australian production of the potential Novavax vaccine by saying it could not make it and the AstraZeneca vaccine at the same time.

The developments cement the government plan for a widespread roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine to most of the population and a more limited roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine to up to five million people, subject to final test results for both.

In a key concern over the interim results for AstraZeneca, scientists this week told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the vaccine’s efficacy rate was not high enough so far to achieve herd immunity.

The concept of herd immunity describes the objective of eliminating an epidemic by building up a community’s resistance to disease to the point where so many are protected it no longer spreads.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the government view was to deliver protection and herd immunity but that results so far offered no guarantee about the longer-term objective.

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Thanks for sticking with us. Here are some of the big stories from today:

• The World Health Organisation has warned the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic may be tougher than the first, given how the new coronavirus is spreading.
• NSW, Victoria and Queensland have recorded no new locally-acquired cases, with some fresh cases in hotel quarantine.
• NSW Health has been in contact with all 10 people from the state who attended the Grand Chancellor in Brisbane, which is linked to six cases of the more-contagious UK strain of coronavirus.
• Victoria has identified a total of 20 people who stayed at the hotel then travelled to Melbourne, with two travelling on to South Australia.
• Remote mining camps have been earmarked as possible quarantine facilities for Australians returning from overseas. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is pushing the national cabinet to consider the idea.

• China is seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its northeast. The country has also reported its first death attributed to COVID-19 in months.

We'll see you tomorrow.

Two scientists on a mission to China to explore the origins of the new coronavirus are still in Singapore completing tests for COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

The other 13 experts have arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

"The experts will begin their work immediately during the 2 weeks quarantine protocol for international travelers," the WHO said on Twitter.

The team of 15 all had tested negative for the disease prior to leaving their home countries and were tested again in Singapore, with all testing negative. However, two members were found to have antibodies.

The WHO said the pair "are being re-tested for both IgM and IgG antibodies".

Reuters

More than 100,000 people have gotten their hands on a permit to travel int Victoria since the government introduced a new traffic light system on Monday.

"Since the portal went live on Monday night, 105,970 permits have been issued up to midday today," a statement from the Victorian Department of Health read.

"In the past 24 hours, 23,167 applications have been processed – an average of 16 permits issued each minute."

The department revealed that about 82 per cent of permit applications were from green zones, and nine per cent were from those in orange zones.

"The remaining applications are for worker permits or people transiting through orange and red zones," the statement continued.

The majority of applications, 68 per cent, were Victorians trying to come home.

Disneyland is going to hold California's first mass-vaccination site, where officials say they'll be able to provide COVID-19 shots for over 7,000 people a day.

The county plans to have several "super" sites for vaccinations in large numbers.