LATEST COVID-19 DEVELOPMENTS:
* Victoria's third major coronavirus outbreak may be nearing its peak, the state's chief health officer says, after reporting a record 1838 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and another five deaths.
* Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been fined $400 for breaching coronavirus restrictions after he failed to wear a mask as he arrived at parliament on two occasions this week.
* Meanwhile, Victorian MPs who refuse to disclose their vaccination status may be banned from voting and entering parliament, under a motion to be debated in the upper house.
* NSW reported 646 new infections and 11 deaths as the state leads the way out of COVID-19 lockdowns, but its new premier accepts the course will be less than perfect after doctors warned changes to the state's plan may overwhelm hospitals.
* It comes as nurses in NSW are anxious about the inevitable wave of COVID-19 infections when the state reopens, with the union calling for an urgent recruitment of staff.
* South Australia recorded a new COVID-19 infection in a truck driver on Friday, despite tough restrictions in the state's southeast having been lifted.
* Plans allowing federal MPs to travel from COVID hotspots to attend parliament in Canberra could be used as a trial for other workers entering the ACT, which reported 40 new infections on Friday.
* Queensland's chief health officer is confident the state has averted another COVID-19 outbreak as restrictions on social distancing, hospital and aged care visits and mask-wearing ease.
* Australians with severely weakened immune systems will be offered a third coronavirus jab to maximise protection against the deadly disease, ATAGI has recommended.
* The Commonwealth education minister has pledged a rapid increase in international students returning next year.
* Victoria will make face masks mandatory for all children in grades three to six in an effort to reduce COVID-19 spread as students start returning to the classroom.
* The Commonwealth hotspot declaration for Melbourne and Mitchell Shire has been extended for another week.
* NSW police officers, supermarket employees and takeaway food workers have made hundreds of compensation claims after contracting COVID-19 at work.
* Regional NSW is weeks away from opening up to vaccinated travellers while case numbers continue to rise in some regions.
* The Australian Workers' Union has flagged a possible legal challenge to BHP's decision to lock out workers who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NUMBERS:
* There have been 29,973,051 doses administered in the national vaccination rollout up to Friday, including 330,621 in the previous 24 hours.
* Of the total, 17,410,855 have been administered by the Commonwealth (an increase of 221,283 in the previous 24 hours).
* 16,375,90 have been issued in primary care and 1,034,955 in aged and disability facilities.
* 12,562,196 have been administered by the states and territories, including 109,338 in the prior 24 hours.
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* Australia reported 2525 local cases on Friday: 1838 in Victoria, 646 in NSW, 40 in the ACT and one in South Australia.
* Three hotel quarantine cases: two in NSW and one in SA.
* The national death toll is 1407: Victoria 895, NSW 470, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 7, ACT 9, and SA 4. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* Cases: at least 236,737,258
* Deaths: at least 4,833,670
* Vaccine doses administered: at least 6,394,573,750.
Data current as at 1730 AEDT on October 8, taking in federal and state/territory government updates and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures.
Australian Associated Press
