* Australia has edged closer to 70 per cent COVID-19 vaccine coverage, boosting hopes international tourists, workers and students can return before Christmas.

* Tasmania's lockdown in the state's south will end at 6pm following no evidence of onward transmission from an infected hotel quarantine escapee.

* Queensland will fully reopen in time for Christmas regardless of whether the state has vaccinated 80 per cent of its population by the predicted date of December 17, accepting arrivals who test negative within the previous 72 hours.

* NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has reached out to Victorian counterpart Dan Andrews about easing border rules.

* More than 148,000 students across kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 12 returned to classrooms in NSW on Monday.

* 80 per cent of Canberra residents over the age of 12 have been vaccinated as Year 11 and 12 students return to schools in the ACT.

* The Northern Territory has also reached 80 per cent first dose vaccination. An announcement that workers who interact with the public must be vaccinated by December 24 prompted a surge in bookings.

* Victoria will halve the mandatory stint in isolation for fully vaccinated, non-household primary close contacts of COVID-19 cases who will now have to quarantine for only seven days.

* South Australia has moved to free up 432 more beds in hospitals and community care for an expected rise in COVID-19 cases once the state relaxes border restrictions.

* Meanwhile, Western Australia's vaccine commander is pleading for the state's vaccine-hesitant residents to get the shot and expects to reach 60 per cent double vaccination by the end of the week.

SPORT:

* Richmond have confirmed one of their AFLW players tested positive for COVID-19 after a pre-training rapid antigen test on Saturday.

AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NUMBERS:

* There have been 32,653,925 doses administered in the national COVID-19 vaccination rollout up to midnight on Sunday, including 159,806 in the previous 24 hours.

* Of the total, 19,062,957 have been administered by the Commonwealth (an increase of 58,012 in the previous 24 hours).

* 17,978,560 have been issued in primary care (+54,112) and 1,084,397 in aged and disability facilities (+3900).

* 13,590,968 have been administered by the states and territories, including 101,794 in the previous 24 hours.

AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:

* Australia reported 2185 local cases on Monday: 1903 in Victoria, 265 in NSW and 17 in the ACT.

* The national death toll is 1543: Victoria 972, NSW 531, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 7, ACT 9, and SA 4. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:

* Cases: at least 240,666,000

* Deaths: at least 4,898,000

* Vaccine doses administered: at least 6,617,676,000

Data current as at 1700 AEDT on October 18, taking in federal and state/territory government updates and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures.

Australian Associated Press