LATEST COVID-19 DEVELOPMENTS
* The federal government says it's confident the coronavirus vaccine program can safely continue despite problems with the rollout at aged care homes in Brisbane and Melbourne.
* Federal health authorities have decided to throw out up to 150 doses of Pfizer vaccine that were set to be used at an aged care home in Victoria, after concerns the doses had spoiled after being left at the wrong temperature.
* Australia's vaccination rollout has so far delivered more than 23,000 jabs across the country.
* Victoria will ease mask rules and social gathering restrictions from 11.59pm on Friday.
* Victoria recorded two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak, breaking the state's six-day run of no new infections.
* In Western Australia, air flow assessments of hotel quarantine rooms are underway, as authorities investigate how a guard contracted COVID-19 from an infected person with whom he never had contact.
* South Australia has dropped its last COVID-19 border ban, clearing the way for people from Melbourne to enter the state from Friday without quarantine or testing.
* Queensland will also reopen to Melbourne residents from 1am on Saturday.
* In NSW, a range of remaining COVID-19 restrictions have been eased, with the state going 40 days without a locally-acquired case.
* Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has played down expectations that international travel could restart in October, despite plans to have most of the country vaccinated by then.
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AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* There were ten new virus cases recorded in Australia on Friday: two local cases in Victoria, four in NSW and four in Queensland. The NSW and Queensland cases were in hotel quarantine.
* The national death toll is 909: Victoria 820, NSW 56, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* Cases: at least 112,999,297
* Deaths: at least 2,507,444
* Recovered: at least 63,732,295
Data current as of 1730 AEDT on February 26, taking in federal and state/territory government updates, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures.
Australian Associated Press
