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Several Sydney Swans players have tested positive for COVID-19 in what is the biggest outbreak to hit an AFL club.

As NSW broke a national record with 3057 new cases on Tuesday, the Swans confirmed multiple members of their football department had tested positive for COVID-19 while on leave.

"All affected players and staff are double vaccinated and all report to be in good health," the Swans noted in a statement.

"The club's primary concern is for the health and safety of all players, staff and their families."

Every Sydney player returned negative COVID-19 test results before their final training session of the year on December 15.

Players are due to return to training on January 6, meaning the practical impact of the cases is likely to be relatively small compared to if it occurred mid-season.

But the size of the outbreak could force the AFL to re-think its COVID-19 plans and protocols for players and club staff ahead of the 2022 season, which begins in March.

The news comes as Australia and England cricketers prepare to enjoy Christmas with their families despite biosecurity concerns over the Ashes series amid the national surge of cases.

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley confirmed he would stick to his pre-series promise of balancing safety with player welfare as several Australian players returned home to families.

They will regroup in Melbourne on Thursday to ramp up preparations for Sunday's Boxing Day Test, where Australia can wrap up the Ashes.

Players from both sides will be placed under stricter conditions in Melbourne and Sydney, including a ban on dining indoors at restaurants.

A Christmas Day tradition in Melbourne when Australian players and staff enjoy lunch with their families will continue.

"Everyone will be looking forward to coming together with families on Christmas Day in Melbourne," Hockley told SEN on Tuesday.

"The players, family members, staff and match officials are all part of the overall cohort.

"They are all part of level-four restrictions. There has just been a latest group of England families arrive in Melbourne."

Pat Cummins's absence from the second Test after becoming a close contact prompted questions about further restrictions.

Hockley has stressed the need to be vigilant, with two tours called off globally in recent months as a result of COVID-19 cases within playing groups.

The AFL and cricket were not the only major sporting codes facing COVID-19 challenges on Tuesday.

Canberra are believed have also learned of further cases within their NRL group, after two staff members tested positive last week forcing their entire squad to isolate.

The Raiders will not comment on the current number of cases, but will monitor and assess their situation before returning to training on January 5.

Fellow NRL clubs Newcastle, Wests Tigers and South Sydney have also had pre-season training disrupted in recent weeks because of COVID-19 cases.

Western United A-League Men captain Alessandro Diamanti had been due to attend a joint press conference with Melbourne Victory skipper Josh Brillante.

But United pulled out of the joint media opportunity out of caution after they had three positive COVID-19 cases among their playing group last week.

Macarthur FC, Sydney FC and Newcastle's ALM squads have also had players test positive in recent weeks, along with a Jets A-League Women player.

Perth Glory are in hotel quarantine in Brisbane after a positive case in their playing ranks.

© AAP 2021

New Zealand has postponed its phased border reopening plans until the end of February over concerns about the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The nation had just started easing some of the world's toughest pandemic measures and its international border restrictions were to progressively loosen from January, with all foreign tourists allowed into the country from April.

Non-quarantine travel, which was to have opened for New Zealanders in Australia from January 16, would be pushed back until the end of February, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said at a press conference in Wellington on Tuesday.

"All of the evidence so far points to Omicron being the most transmissible COVID-19 variant yet.

"There's no doubt this is disappointing and will upset many holiday plans, but it's important to set these changes out clearly today so they can have time to consider those plans."

The measures were a precaution as it was still unclear how sick Omicron makes people and the impact it had on health systems was not yet fully understood, he said.

New Zealand also said the length of stay in state quarantine facilities would be increased from a week to 10 days. The pre-departure test requirement to enter New Zealand was reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours before travel.

National airline Air New Zealand said it would cancel around 120 services through to the end of February due to the reopening plans being pushed back, affecting about 27,000 customers.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the decisions were taken to give the government more time to prepare for Omicron.

"It's unfortunately not a case of if (it spreads in New Zealand) but when ... it's so easily spread. So we are doing everything we can to maker sure we are prepared," Ardern said on Facebook Live.

The Omicron variant was first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong and has spread with lightening speed to at least 89 countries so far.

New Zealand has reported 22 cases with the Omicron variant but all at the border quarantine facilities and there's been no commuinity cases yet.

© RAW 2021

Premiers want Australia's COVID-19 booster program sped up as pressure mounts on states to agree to uniform pandemic restrictions to curb surging Omicron infections.

But Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists the time for the "heavy hand of government" has passed despite Australia's cumulative new daily infections surpassing 4500.

He has also accused states of slowing the vaccine rollout amid disruptions to booster supplies.

"Over the last few months, the number of places that the Commonwealth has directly supported in vaccination has increased," Mr Morrison told reporters in Queensland on Tuesday.

"But the states have been pulling theirs back over the last couple of months and it is time to switch those back on."

More than 1.3 million Australians have received a booster shot. The double-dose vaccination rate for people aged 16 and older is sitting around 90.5 per cent.

States are pushing for a shorter booster shot interval as the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation weighs up cutting the recommended wait time from five months.

Consideration is also being given to whether people will need three doses, not two, to be considered fully vaccinated.

Mr Morrison will meet with premiers and chief ministers on Wednesday.

"Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to compare notes to get the most recent information," he said.

"When we last met last Friday week, there was a lot we still didn't know about Omicron. We know more now."

Pressure is mounting from experts including Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly for states and territories to adopt uniform indoor mask mandates.

But Mr Morrison doesn't agree.

"As a country, we've got to get past the heavy hand of government and we've got to treat Australians like adults," he said.

The Australian Medical Association is calling on states and territories to agree on a unified approach to tackling Omicron.

"Tightening public health restrictions should not be seen as a policy failure," president Omar Khorshid said.

"COVID-19 has thrown many different challenges at governments, and we need to be able to respond to these, otherwise we put people's lives and livelihoods at risk."

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians wants governments to bring back, or maintain, mandatory indoor masks and QR code check-ins across the board.

They also call for indoor crowd caps reintroduced over the Christmas and New Year period.

Meanwhile, there's a push to make rapid antigen tests free as many traditional testing sites across the country are overwhelmed and demand forces some to close.

"We need a certain nimbleness that we haven't had to date in terms of thinking about how we do alter the testing procedures," University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter told ABC radio.

She favoured incorporating rapid antigen tests into Australia's existing official screening regime.

NSW recorded 3057 new infections and two more deaths on Monday. There were 1245 cases in Victoria alongside six additional deaths.

South Australia reported 154 new infections, Queensland 86, the ACT 16, the Northern Territory 14 and Tasmania four.

© AAP 2021