That's it for today, thanks for reading
Here are the main stories on Sunday, 27 March:
- Eleven Covid-19 deaths nationally, with NSW recording 17,450 cases, Queensland 7,738, Victoria 7,466, Western Australia 7,197 and South Australia 3,815;
- Labor senator Kim Carr retires after more than three decades in politics;
- A man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches;
- Labor’s Katy Gallagher says “mean girls” label “diminishes women” and says she had no difficult arguments with fellow senator Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; and
- Sydney commuters will get free public transport for 12 days in April.
Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend. We will see you all back here tomorrow.
One of Queensland’s leading infectious diseases experts has called on the state government to rethink winding down Covid testing services given the current wave of infections.
On Saturday, Queensland recorded 9,404 new Covid cases, with eight deaths, and 295 patients in hospital, including 19 in ICU.
Covid infections had increased by more than 50% in the past two weeks, and the state’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, said on Friday that about one in 50 school-aged children had tested positive in the past week alone.
More on that story here:
