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A motorcade carrying the body of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has arrived at his home in Tokyo, a day after he was assassinated by a lone gunman.

Mourners gathered at his residence and at the scene of Friday's attack in the western city of Nara, where Japan's longest-serving modern leader was gunned down while making a campaign speech.

Abe's murder was decried by the political establishment as an attack on democracy itself.

Authorities are reviewing security arrangements at the event where Abe was shot from close range by a 41-year-old unemployed man armed with a homemade gun. Police say the man held a grudge against Abe.

Elections for seats in Japan's upper house of parliament are going ahead as scheduled on Sunday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was back on the campaign trail visiting regional constituencies on Saturday after making an emergency return to Tokyo on Friday after the shooting.

A metal detector, not normally seen at election events in largely crime-free Japan, was installed at a site in Fujiyoshida city where Kishida was due to give a campaign speech. There was also a heavy police presence.

In Nara, some 450km southwest of Tokyo, a stream of people queued up to lay flowers on a table that also held a photograph of Abe.

"I'm just shocked that this kind of thing happened in Nara," Natsumi Niwa, a 50-year-old housewife, said after offering her flowers with her 10-year-old son, near the scene of the killing outside a downtown train station.

Niwa explained how Abe, a conservative and architect of the "Abenomics" policies aimed at reflating the economy, had inspired the name of her son, Masakuni.

Abe used to hail Japan as a "beautiful nation". "Kuni" means nation in Japanese.

A night vigil will be held on Monday. Abe's funeral will take place on Tuesday, attended by close friends, media said. There was no immediate word on any public memorial service.

Police are scrambling to establish details of the motive and method of Abe's killer.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested immediately after the attack.

He told police he believed Abe was linked to a religious group he blamed for ruining his mother financially and breaking up the family, media reported, citing police sources.

Police have not identified the group.

The man told investigators he had also visited other spots where Abe had made campaign appearances, including in the city of Okayama, more than 200km from Nara, media reported.

Sunday's election is expected to deliver victory to the ruling coalition led by Kishida, an Abe protege.

Abe's killing "heightens the prospect for stronger turnout and greater support for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)", Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a note.

The LDP, where Abe retained considerable influence, had already been expected to gain seats before the assassination.

Abe, 67, served twice as prime minister, stepping down citing ill health on both occasions.

© RAW 2022

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Evasive new Omicron variants are fuelling a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations across Australia but experts say it is too early to know if they cause more severe disease.

With data still to come for the ACT and Northern Territory, more than 40,000 new infections and 76 deaths were reported across Australia on Saturday as BA.4 and BA.5 overtake BA.2 as the dominant strains.

Almost 42,000 cases and 35 fatalities were also announced nationally on Friday.

The number of Australians hospitalised with the virus now tops 4000, up by more than 1000 in the past fortnight.

Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett says it's difficult to determine how transmissible the new variants due to waning vaccine immunity and differing levels of prior infection.

They make everyone "fair game" for either infection or reinfection but hospitalisations are unlikely to reach levels seen during the initial Omicron wave, she says.

Preliminary research from Japan indicates the variants could replicate more efficiently in the lungs than BA.2, and Prof Bennett says this could lead to an increase in lower respiratory tract and secondary infections.

"It's not like saying that's going to increase our death rate but it could as secondary infections become harder to manage," she said.

Increasing cases have led to calls from some experts to reintroduce indoor mask mandates in an attempt to curb transmission, a measure state health officials have also discussed.

However Prof Bennett says she doesn't believe compulsory mask-wearing should be reintroduced and instead wants authorities to re-engage with the COVID-fatigued community with targeted public health messages.

Based on her analysis of NSW data, the current risk of encountering an infectious person in a public place is somewhere between one in 25 and 50.

"It just makes you think, 'I'm in a store and it's probably got 25 people in it ... I'm putting a mask on so I don't give it to anybody else and I don't get it from them'," she said.

From Monday, Australians over 30 will be able to get a fourth vaccine dose - or second booster - after the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation expanded eligibility amid the case spike.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:

NSW: 11,434 cases, 33 deaths, 1894 in hospital with 61 in ICU

Victoria: 8776 cases, 20 deaths, 667 in hospital with 34 in ICU

Queensland: 5315 cases, eight deaths, 719 in hospital with 15 in ICU

SA: 3246 cases, four deaths, 245 in hospital, eight in ICU

WA: 5538 cases, 11 deaths, 252 in hospital, eight in ICU

Tasmania: 1511 cases, no deaths, 89 in hospital, two in ICU

© AAP 2022

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The federal government hasn't received any advice on retightening COVID-19 mandates, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says, as evasive new Omicron variants fuel a rise in cases.

More than 37,000 new infections and 77 deaths were reported across Australia on Saturday as BA.4 and BA.5 overtake BA.2 as the dominant strains.

Almost 42,000 cases and 35 fatalities were announced nationally on Friday, the third 40,000-plus day in a row.

The number of Australians hospitalised with the virus tops 4000, up by more than 1000 in the past fortnight.

Mr Albanese says restrictions, if they need to be reviewed or reintroduced, will be examined by individual states and territories.

However, the federal government on Monday will move forward on the issue of access to vaccines.

"It's recommended that those above the age of 50 do get their additional booster shot," he told reporters in Canberra on Saturday.

"I aim myself to get an additional booster. People, if they are eligible, should do that. It minimises the impact and people should follow that health advice. People of the age of 30 and above as well, they are eligible.

"The pandemic isn't over."

From Monday, Australians over 30 will be able to get a fourth vaccine dose, or second booster.

Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said it was difficult to determine how transmissible the new Omicron variants were due to waning vaccine immunity and differing levels of prior infection.

They made everyone fair game for infection or reinfection but hospitalisations were unlikely to reach levels seen during the initial Omicron wave, she said.

Preliminary research from Japan indicates the variants could replicate more efficiently in the lungs than BA.2, and Prof Bennett said this could lead to an increase in lower respiratory tract and secondary infections.

"It's not like saying that's going to increase our death rate but it could as secondary infections become harder to manage," she said.

Increasing cases have led to calls from some to reintroduce indoor mask mandates in an attempt to curb transmission.

However, Prof Bennett said she didn't believe compulsory mask-wearing should be reintroduced and instead wanted authorities to re-engage with the COVID-fatigued community with targeted public health messages.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:

NSW: 11,434 cases, 33 deaths, 1894 in hospital with 61 in ICU

Victoria: 8776 cases, 20 deaths, 667 in hospital with 34 in ICU

Queensland: 5315 cases, eight deaths, 719 in hospital with 15 in ICU

SA: 3246 cases, four deaths, 245 in hospital, eight in ICU

WA: 5538 cases, 11 deaths, 252 in hospital, eight in ICU

Tasmania: 1511 cases, no deaths, 89 in hospital, two in ICU

ACT: 1120 cases, one death, 138 in hospital, five inICU

NT: 354 cases, no deaths, 20 in hospital, one in ICU

© AAP 2022

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Police have charged one man and are hunting another after a nine-year-old girl was shot outside her home in Sydney's south.

The child was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, including a shot to the hip, which may leave her with with lifelong difficulties.

Police were called to the Connells Point home, 20km south of Sydney's city centre, on Friday evening after reports of shots fired, triggering a manhunt by the NSW anti-bikie squad.

The girl, her sister and mother had been unloading groceries before 6pm when the alleged shooter approached from the driveway and fired at the house.

Police say he fled in a black BMW, which was found on fire a short time later in the nearby suburb of Oatley. The 34-year-old was found soon afterward.

Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor said another man was involved. He is still on the run.

The intended target was a man who lived at the Connells Point house, Det Supt Taylor said. The man, who is known to police, was not home at the time.

"It is not bikie-related but it is connected to criminal networks that are known to us," Det Supt Taylor said.

The same house was involved in a gangland shooting in November last year.

Det Supt Taylor said it was unclear if the children were the target but he said the nine-year-old, who was in her pyjamas, would have been hard to mistake for an adult.

Police also seized a red Mini Cooper in Oatley near where the captured man was found, which they believe had been parked there days earlier.

The man was charged with shooting with intent to murder and will face Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.

Det Supt Taylor said the force's Raptor Squad kicked into gear "immediately" to find the alleged offender.

"This shooting was a dangerous, ungainly act of violence that resulted in a child being rushed to hospital for surgery," he said in a statement earlier.

Police urged the public to come forward with any information they had.

© AAP 2022