Fire crews are battling to control a large bushfire in the Adelaide Hills although authorities say there's no immediate threat to lives and property. The blaze broke out during hot and windy conditions in the Cherry Gardens area. It has burnt through around 1,200 hectares and many residents took refuge overnight on the Mount Barker Oval. There are fears some fires in the area may have been deliberately-lit with police last night arresting a driver seen speeding away from the scene of a separate blaze in the area.
There'll be no reprieve from the sweltering heat with extremely hot conditions forecast for the eastern states. Temperatures are tipped the rise above 40 in many places and total fire bans in place today for parts of New South Wales and Victoria. Authorities are urging people trying to cool down to be careful in the water after a spate of drownings in recent weeks.
Fragments of coronavirus is still being detected in sewage systems in New South Wales despite another day of no new local cases. New South Wales health has urged around 1.4 million people in Sydney's Northern Beaches and the city's west to be on alert after fragments of the virus were found at treatment plants in Warriewood, North Head and Liverpool. Today marks one year since Victorian authorities reported Australia's first case of coronavirus in the country.
And testing is underway in New Zealand to determine what strain of COVID-19 has been detected in a woman who's tested positive for the virus. It is the country's first case of coronavirus in the community in more than two months. The 56-year-old spent time in Europe late last year and returned to New Zealand via London at the end of December. She has tested positive after being released from two weeks in quarantine.
