The weather bureau says a severe thunderstorm that threatened parts of Melbourne with giant hailstones of more than 5 centimetres in diameter has now moved beyond the metropolitan area as it tracks east.

The Federal Treasurer said he was experiencing symptoms and was isolating with his family.

The venue faces fines of up to $250,000 and the possibility of losing its liquor license.

Sydney hospitals are starting to treat COVID and non-COVID patients in the same wards, as the state prepares for a hospitalisation peak of 4700 people with the virus this month.

Coronavirus hospitalisations have jumped 50 per cent in a week, with the vast majority of the ill filling general hospital wards after passing through congested emergency departments.

Young people who have been in the care system are grossly over-represented among users of the most costly acute government services. But there is another way.

Despite rainy conditions and rising COVID-19 cases, the crowd at the SCG lost none of their fervour for the McGrath Foundation on Friday.

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

With retail stock difficult to find, Cheavy Taing found another way to make sure his customers could get tested for COVID-19.

Travellers planning to enter WA or residents trying to get back in after borders open will not get an approval through Good 2 Go until an unspecified date.

New restrictions have been announced in NSW including a ban on singing and dancing in hospitality venues, Victoria has introduced new indoor density limits and tennis star Novak Djokovic spent a second day in immigration detention.

The number of protesters rallying outside Carlton’s Park Hotel dwindled as heavy rain drenched much of Melbourne.

Police are investigating the crash that occurred in Moreton Bay on Friday morning.

Novak Djokovic, the King of Melbourne Park, is embroiled in a royal mess. Here’s how a saga many months in the making reached a dramatic climax ahead of the Australian Open.

Modelling suggests the Omicron wave will peak just as Queensland schools are meant to go back, forcing authorities to look at contingency plans.

As case numbers surge, NSW Health has prohibited singing and dancing in public hospitality venues and will require people to register positive home results in the Service NSW app.

WA’s mask mandate will end at 6pm in most settings, after the state recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

Novak Djokovic is never more dangerous than when on the brink of defeat. He has the mental strength to turn black into white. But this time the brick walls are literal, not mental, obstacles.

If – like about 50,000 people in NSW since Christmas – you test positive to COVID-19, this is what the experts say you should do next.

Mutant, invisible, airborne, the rise of this unwanted guest on nightclub dance floors and at New Year’s Eve parties has been staggering. What of its demise?

An outbreak that triggered the country’s deadliest COVID-19 wave, fire, refugee detention and claims of dodgy food - the walls of this hotel have seen it all.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said they expected a surge in cases at the end of January.

A new system for Victorians to self-report they have tested positive for COVID-19 is slated to go live on Friday afternoon, while density limits have also returned.

As the state’s hospitals face critical staff shortages, they have been told the number of COVID-positive people needing inpatient care could exceed 4500 within a month.

WA is due to reopen on February 5, but infectious disease experts predict NSW and Victorian COVID cases will peak by late January, while SA, Tasmania and Queensland will likely follow a couple of weeks after.

As thousands of West Australian graduates wait to learn if they have been accepted into university, WAtoday has crunched the numbers on which courses are the most sought after.

Today on Please Explain, senior writer Wendy Tuohy joins Bianca Hall to talk about anxiety, which has been described as the defining mental issue of our decade.

There were 1738 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 134 are in intensive care units.

James Kondilios, who was double vaccinated and had no significant underlying health conditions, died at St Vincent’s Hospital this week. 

The decisions were made following a state government’s economic recovery committee meeting on Thursday morning.

A largely unspoken issue in this pandemic is its effect on trainee registrar and junior doctors.

Women in their 20s are told nothing is more beautiful than confidence. Yet friends of mine have already started undergoing cosmetic procedures. This is not entirely surprising.

Sydney GPs have been forced to reschedule or delay the start of children’s COVID-19 vaccinations after authorities said there had been “unprecedented demand”.

Almost six years after it was forced to leave Darling Harbour, the owner of the South Steyne is still struggling to find a permanent home for the grand lady.

The use of numerical goals to monitor performance across police regions and commands has been criticised by legal bodies and civil libertarians as enabling the targeting of vulnerable groups.

Novak Djokovic’s family was on Friday morning rallying support at home in Serbia as the tennis star started his second day in Australian immigration detention.  

The Prime Minister is probably telling the truth when he says we have no choice but to “ride the wave of COVID-19”.

Pin-ups have been given their marching orders by the official magazine of the British Army.

Victorian RSL President Bruce Ruxton almost came to blows with delegates from Melbourne’s African Community Centre following his comments on Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge with today’s interactive superquiz and target.

The babysitter has recently lost her job in hospitality due to the vaccine mandates and went to Anna Ritchie’s Winthrop home for a job interview on January 3 after the family posted an ad online for a nanny.

COVID-19 cases are climbing in NSW aged care facilities, there are changes to Australia’s testing requirements and tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa has been rejected.

Robert Ian Logan slashed the victim’s throat, drank some of his blood and wrote on the bedroom walls with more of it.

Elective surgeries will be pulled back to make room for a flood of COVID-19 patients and hospital staff will be reallocated.

All roads lead to Orange.

The Hyatt Hotel guard is the second hotel worker to become infected in recent days after a Pan Pacific worker tested positive to the Omicron variant on Sunday.

That sense of family will be palpable at the State Library of Victoria’s summer program, which will celebrate all things Lego starting this month.

Ghassan Amoun, brother of underworld figure Bassam Hamzy, was killed in South Wentworthville on Thursday afternoon.

Omicron may be a milder strain of COVID-19 than previous outbreaks, but it’s having a devastating effect on Sydney’s arts industry.

The Health Minister revealed a third of all tests results processed in Victoria on Wednesday were positive, as the national tally of new cases exceeded 72,000.