The coronavirus testing sites were swamped on Christmas Day with queues hundreds of metres long at some sites.

Emergency services were called to Burraneer Bay on Christmas Eve at 7.30pm, when three men were jet skiing and were thrown into the water, police said.

WA has dodged the Omicron variant as a French backpacker who entered the state and tested positive to the virus during the week was confirmed to have the Delta variant.

The 52-year-old woman was rushed to Royal Hobart Hospital but could not be saved.

While thousands of people lined up outside testing stations on Saturday, time-honoured Christmas traditions went ahead – in a COVID-safe way.

The 25-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of failing to comply with a direction under WA’s Emergency Management Act and her test results were still pending as of Saturday afternoon.

It is the nation’s highest number of active aged care outbreaks reported this year, and almost double the figure recorded last week.

It was the blue sky Christmas Day that Sydney needed, but about 35,000 in NSW spent it in the confines of home after testing positive to COVID-19 or being a close contact of someone who did.

An emergency department on Christmas Day can often be quiet. But not this year.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

While hundreds of Melburnians lined up outside COVID-19 testing stations on Saturday morning, other Christmas traditions went ahead – in a COVID-safe way.

Skin cancer advocates are urging people not to fall for common sun safety myths, despite La Nina bringing cooler conditions this season.

The idea of beach bars has been refloated after Queensland’s tourism sector suffered a $12 billion blow in 2020 during the pandemic.

More than 30,000 Victorians are spending Christmas Day in isolation because of COVID-19.

A positive rapid antigen test on Christmas Eve is an unwanted early present.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the virus had now spread everywhere and was expecting a spike in numbers to continue.

NSW has 388 patients in hospital with COVID-19 and ICU admissions have doubled in a week to 52 as the state records 6288 new cases.

Testing site wait times blew out again on Christmas morning, forcing several to close minutes after they opened, as some Victorians awoke to the prospect of spending the holidays in isolation.

As retailers gear up for Boxing Day sales, consumers are being warned to look out for these tactics to protect their bank balances.

The jigsaw community grew during lockdown and puzzling may be a habit that sticks after the pandemic ends.

I never wanted to arrive at a point where I had to admit lying to my children.

There are ways to recapture a small sense of joy in virtual catch-ups.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s co-chair explains why it recommended bringing forward eligibility for COVID booster vaccines to four months from the second dose.

A Melbourne mother was told her Department of Health text wasn’t proof enough that her daughter had COVID-19 in a headache with Ticketek’s refunds company.

Victoria’s healthcare system faces a staffing crisis at a critical time when hundreds of staff are in isolation and COVID-19 hospitalisations are on the rise.

The state’s 13,000 inmates, including the likes of disgraced former MP Eddie Obeid, will not receive visitors on December 25.

The new COVID case has thrown the McGowan government’s plans of a ‘normal Christmas’ into disarray but when you consider the reopening date was just six weeks away, it isn’t all bad news for them.

The week in photos from the award-winning Sydney Morning Herald and Financial review photographers.

About 34,000 people have contracted the virus in NSW in the past two weeks - almost twice the total number of cases reported during Victoria’s second wave - upending Christmas plans and forcing tens of thousands into isolation.

Ben Falconer is one of about 30 officers and other WA Police staff who have challenged the vaccine mandate in the Supreme Court since being issued with a stand down notice.

Charities will be out and about on Christmas day providing meals and company to those struggling.

With her bright copper hair, coral-pink lipstick and hand-sewn velvet winter coat, passers-by would mistake her for a homeless person.

As they prepare to host services on Saturday, four Christian leaders reflect on the end of a second year of living with COVID-19.

Gold Coast City Council are dealing with the animal involved.

Both patients were pulled from the water and rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

Today on Please Explain, executive editor Tory Maguire joins Nathanael Cooper to talk about the impact of our journalism.

The day after a community COVID-19 case was recorded in WA and five more people have tested positive to the virus and a new restriction announced for hospitality venues.

Not every word of health advice was followed by the Victorian government yesterday. That’s exactly how the process should work.

Got some Christmas cash or vouchers burning a hole in your pocket? Or perhaps you just love grabbing a bargain. Either way, let us help you plan for the Boxing Day sales.

Almost 50 flights through Brisbane Airport have been cancelled, as aviation staff isolating due to COVID-19 caused stress in interstate terminals.

The detection of a COVID-19 case in the WA community has led to new rules for everyday life to stop the spread. From 6pm on Thursday night these include the reintroduction of masks.

The direction from regulator NOPSEMA means Prelude, the biggest floating vessel ever built, will be shut down until Shell can convince them there will be no repeat of the recent dangerous episode.

NSW hospitals are currently treating 382 people for COVID-19, up from 347 on Thursday, with 53 cases in intensive care.

There was even more sadness at the Christmas Eve funeral of 12-year-old Jye Sheehan in Devonport, as news emerged of the serious injuries the boy’s father had sustained in a separate accident.

Telstra and some of the nation’s biggest banks have been targeted by alleged fraudsters.

Police raided Daniel Greenfield’s home on the Kingsway on Friday morning, arresting him as he left his house.

Emergency services were notified about 8am of the crash at Ball Bay, about 50 kilometres north of Mackay.

“Danny’s home visit is the most perfect gift we could ask for and all the proof we need that Christmas miracles do happen,” the family said.

Thirty-two of Queensland’s 77 local council areas had cases of COVID-19 within their communities.

Asked if the case would impact WA’s scheduled reopening date, Mark McGowan said if community spread had taken hold, the outbreak would make the reopening date redundant.