Passengers on the first Newcastle to Brisbane flight since the border opened will spend Christmas in isolation.
Queensland Health has deemed all the passengers on the Virgin Australia flight 1105 as high risk and close contacts after someone on board tested positive to COVID-19.
The detection has put parts of Brisbane Airport and passengers on a connecting Virgin flight to Townsville on high alert as well.
The list of exposure sites appears to indicate that a COVID-positive patient flew from Newcastle and directly on to Townsville on flight VA375 so all the passengers on which have also been deemed close contacts.
In other parts of the Hunter there are some schools closed after a positive COVID-19 case in the school communities.
Lambton High School and Newcastle High School are both closed today with students and staff isolating until they receive further health advice.
All of this comes as NSW has restrictions eased from today.
The unvaccinated now have the same freedoms as everyone else and other restrictions like mask wearing, QR code checking in and showing proof of your COVID-19 vaccination have been eased today too.
There are some situations where mask wearing and checking in will still continue. Details: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/easing-covid-19-restrictions/opening-in-dec
Hospitality venues have their density limits scrapped from today as well.
Image credit: Reuters