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Record-breaking rains over three days have left regional roads cut and flood warnings in place for large parts of South Australia.

A number of towns recorded their biggest daily falls for January in what the Bureau of Meteorology said was a significant and unusual rain event for SA.

The Eyre and Yorke peninsulas along with parts of the state's north and west coast received the biggest drenching which began on Friday and continued into Sunday.

Winter Springs on Eyre Peninsula had the most with 228 millimetres falling over the three days.

Nearby Kimba also had 160mm over a 24-hour period, its biggest daily total since the start of records in 1967.

The State Emergency Service said multiple roads across the affected areas remained damaged or covered in debris including the Olympic Dam Highway between Pimba and Woomera where large sections of bitumen had been washed away.

Department chief executive Tony Braxton-Smith told a parliamentary committee on Monday that crews were working to reopen the highway with the damage also limiting access to Roxby Downs and the Olympic Dam mining community.

"As you know there's been record rains. I think it's been characterised as a one in 100-year event," he said.

Mr Braxton-Smith said other roads affected for varying periods over the weekend included the Sturt, Lincoln and Eyre highways.

He said those roads were being progressively reopened.

Meteorologist Kylie Egan said a very slow-moving low-pressure system with deep tropical moisture and a surface trough were the drivers of the "extraordinary" rainfall event.

"The slow-moving pattern resulted in a multi-day rainfall event which is rare for South Australia," she said.

Premier Steven Marshall said it was too early to tell the full extent of the damage across SA.

"Our priority is to get those roads and other critical infrastructure repaired," he said.

"We want to get behind and support those communities that are most impacted.

"We want to see what the options are for leaning in and supporting those communities at this pretty tough time."

© AAP 2022

Image by Sourabh yadav from Pixabay
 

20211130001601556814 Greg Hunt 600x400

The health minister has declared the Omicron wave of COVID-19 cases has peaked in several jurisdictions.

Greg Hunt said the peak of infections had passed in NSW, Victoria, the ACT and South Australia.

It comes as Australia's leading advisory group on vaccines gave the final approval to the Novavax vaccine.

The vaccine, the fourth to be approved in Australia for COVID-19, will be rolled out from February 21.

Adults wanting to get the Novavax vaccine will need two doses spaced 21 days apart.

Mr Hunt said COVID-19 figures in several states and territories were showing promising signs.

"We've seen a decrease in case numbers significantly and we've seen a decrease in hospitalisation numbers of over 100 in Victoria and NSW," Mr Hunt told reporters in Melbourne.

"That will flow through to ICU numbers and ventilation, so it's an important moment where we are seeing now clear signs this Omicron wave ... has peaked."

NSW reported 15,091 new cases and 24 deaths on Monday, while there were 17 deaths and 11,695 cases in Victoria.

Queensland recorded 13 more deaths and 10,212 cases, while South Australia and the ACT had two deaths each.

There were also 619 new infections in Tasmania, 2009 in SA, 286 in the Northern Territory and 756 in the ACT.

Monday marked the beginning of the rollout of free rapid antigen tests to concession card holders across the country.

More than six million Australians who have a concession card will be eligible for 10 free rapid tests at pharmacies throughout a three-month period, with a limit of five in one month.

However, Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey said supply shortages of the tests meant the rollout would be significantly impacted.

"We don't have enough today," he said.

"There are 6000 community pharmacies in Australia and 804 pharmacies went live this morning. The majority will simply not be going live."

Mr Twomey said 13 million tests were due to arrive in the next week and 22 million in the first three weeks of February just for pharmacies.

The health minister said pharmacists who were participating in the rollout had been reserving large supplies of the tests.

"All the participating pharmacists are putting aside tests, I think that's really important," Mr Hunt said, noting it was a phased program and a supplement to the broader rollout.

Mr Hunt said the hoarding of rapid tests had also contributed to the widespread supply issues across the country, but indicated there would be enough stock for pharmacists.

However, he warned retailers who were price gouging tests would be targeted by the consumer watchdog.

"There were clear cases where there had been some hoarding, unfortunately it does include people that were scooping up to resell at inflated prices," he said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the government ordered rapid tests too late, and then sought to shift the blame.

"They got their ads ready before they ordered the tests. Something that characterises this government is it sits back, waits for something to become a crisis then it blames others for the problem," he told the ABC.

Tuesday marks two years since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Australia.

© AAP 2022

Photo: Minister for Health Greg Hunt (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

COVID UPDATE

There have been 995 new cases of COVID-19 for the Illawarra and Shoalhaven in the 24 hours to eight o'clock last night.

That includes 348 positive rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 647 positive PCR tests.

302 cases are from the Wollongong Local Government Area, 180 cases from Shellharbour, 131 cases from Shoalhaven and 34 from Kiama.

In the Hunter New England Local Health District there are currently 94 COVID-19 cases receiving care in hospitals and five in intensive care units.

Sadly, there were four deaths.

One was in his 70s, two were aged in their 80s, and one was aged in his 90s.

Two are from Newcastle LGA, one is from Mid-Coast LGA, and one is from Port Stephens LGA.

In the Southern NSW Health District there were 322 new COVID-19 cases

205 cases were detected by PCR tests and 117 cases were by RAT tests.

NSW Health is reporting the death of a man in his 60s, from the Eurobodalla LGA.

The figures for the Wingecarribee were last updated on January 20.

There were 1149 active cases at that time.

Across the state and 34 people have died with covid-19 in New South Wales.

Hospitalisations have slightly increased to 2712, with 189 in intensive care.

20324 cases have been recorded, more than half are the result of P-C-R testing.

AMBOS

A nine-year-old boy has died after an all-terrain vehicle rolled over in regional NSW in an incident that also left a man injured.

Emergency services were called to a Cattle Creek property, about 124km south of Tamworth, at 9.40am on Saturday.

Despite the efforts of residents at the property, the boy - a passenger in the recreation vehicle - died at the scene.

The driver, a 41-year-old man, sustained arm and leg injuries and was transported to Tamworth Hospital for treatment and mandatory blood and urine testing.

Police said late on Saturday evening that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash was continuing.

© AAP 2022

Image: NSW Ambulance