My colleague Elias Visontay has filed the latest Covid-19 news on the situation in NSW here:

On that note, as one of many of you spending Christmas far away from family and loved ones, I’m going to hand this blog over to Elias to take you through the afternoon, and crack a bottle of cheap fake champagne for myself.

Thanks for sharing your comments and thoughts throughout the day. Stay safe, and Merry Christmas.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas so far, even if it’s being spent far away from loved ones. Here is a recap of today’s news so far:

• In NSW the Avalon Covid cluster hit 108 cases on Friday after four new infections linked to the cluster were reported. Three other locally acquired cases were reported in NSW on Friday, and their origin is under investigation. In total seven new cases were announced in NSW on Friday.
• NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged people not to attend Boxing Day sales. Her comments prompted a rebuke from the Australian Retailers Association, which said the day is the biggest on the retail calendar.
• Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have thanked essential workers for helping Australia through the coronavirus pandemic in their Christmas messages.
• World Health Organization director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged people not to “squander” the sacrifices of health workers and people doing the right thing by taking public health and hygiene measures. He acknowledged those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic in his Christmas message.
• The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee issued a statement on the new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 spreading in the UK, saying: “At this stage, it is not clear whether the mutations are responsible for the higher growth rates in cases. It could also be a combination of factors such as a mutation, winter, superspreading events, or found in areas or populations where people live in more crowded settings.”

The pandemic cast a pall over Christmas celebrations worldwide, with South Korea reporting record daily cases, the pope holding a reduced Christmas eve mass, and China halting UK flight arrivals indefinitely.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China had decided to follow the example of dozens of countries that introduced bans following the emergence of a new, apparently more transmissible, variant of the coronavirus. There are currently eight weekly flights between mainland China and Britain, including two by British Airways.

Late on Thursday, Hong Kong announced it had extended mandatory hotel quarantine from 14 to 21 days for all overseas arrivals, after announcing it for UK arrivals earlier this week. Some UK travellers discovered the new measures only upon their arrival, reported RTHK.