The Informer: The COVID-coaster gives us three (new) words to live by

The two most frequent flyers on the COVID-coaster - NSW and Victoria - are back in their familiar seats: NSW hands-free enjoying the thrill of the ride in the front seat and, by comparison, Victoria hunkering down the back.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian delivered the good news to NSW about restrictions easing from Friday. The two-square-metre rule for indoor and outdoor events is back (but for a few exceptions) and masks won't be mandatory (but for a few exceptions).

The focus continues to remain on maintaining physical distance, the Premier explained. So restrictions on gyms, weddings, funerals and even singing in public are not quite as relaxed as all else.

"We want to mitigate against super-spreading events, so please appreciate and respect why we continue to say no dancing, no singing, no mingling," she said.

South of the NSW border, two more people linked to the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport have tested positive to coronavirus. As a direct result, South Australia will shut its border to the people of greater Melbourne from midnight.

The mini-outbreak has forced the closure of the hotel, and plans to increase the state's weekly cap on international arrivals from 1120 to 1310 from next week have been put on hold.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said authorities believe the three cases are linked to the use of a nebuliser.

And the knock-on effect which crosses the Bass Strait has prompted Tasmania's Director of Public Health to add seven more locations in Victoria to the list of "high-risk premises". Tasmanians who visited Victoria on or after January 27 are asked to check the list regularly.

Western Australia has continued its zero-tolerance stance on all matters COVID-related, banning hotel quarantine staff from working second jobs as from next week.

It comes as WA again recorded no new local COVID-19 cases but follows a breach involving a hotel guard which plunged more than two million people into lockdown last week.

So, all in all, Australia, COVID-19 continues to rear its deadly head. And yes, despite the arrival of a vaccine (yes, yes, it's coming) it will continue to do so - as this public health opinion piece in Scientific American suggests.

"For a long time, many countries will continue to rely on already proven tools to control the pandemic. The formula is simple: test, trace and isolate. This straightforward but effective process is key to safely reopening economies and societies," authors Peter Sands and Achim Steiner wrote.

Look at that: test, trace, isolate - we're back to three-word slogans again.

Did you know you can receive this daily digest by email? Sign up here.

THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW: