COVID restrictions are being wound back from today in the 2 states that have seen the most COVID cases, including during the latest Omicron wave. In NSW, mask mandates, QR codes and density limits will be scrapped. And we hope you’ve stayed in tune/step because singing/dancing is back too. Victoria’s on the same page except for masks – they are still required indoors.

Thinking back to last month with all the Omicron disruption, it felt like so many businesses were closed. That’s hasn’t resulted in a jump in the headline unemployment rate of 4.2%, but fewer hours were clocked in January. After taking holiday leave into account, the Bureau of Statistics yesterday said the number of hours worked plunged nearly 9% last month with NSW and Victoria posting the steepest dives. Ouch.

And it won’t be a huge surprise to learn that the number of travellers coming to Oz in 2021 was a fraction of what they were pre-pandemic. For short-term arrivals, we clocked 245,770 visitors last year, and in 2019 it was 9,465,890. Double ouch…