Last week, Australia realised it had been six months since the first case of coronavirus was identified in NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This week, Australia has realised the second wave has come crashing down in Victoria with more force than the first.
Victoria recorded three more deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the national death toll above 200.
Another 397 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Victoria on Saturday, and while it signalled a significant drop from Thursday's peak of 723, the state has now had 116 deaths.
Premier Daniel Andrews indicated lockdown restrictions could be extended past the initial mid-August expiry if daily case numbers remained high.
"It is not acceptable to have this virus and be out and about - it is very dangerous, fundamentally irresponsible and it needs to stop," Mr Andrew reiterated in front of reporters this weekend.
It came as the same time NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty was offering his condolences to the family of a man in his 80s who died in the state early Saturday morning.
The death of the 83-year-old man was linked to Sydney's Crossroads Hotel COVID-19 cluster, taking NSW's death toll to 52.
The Northern Territory government was also forced to increase its response, after a woman recorded a positive COVID-19 test the day after arriving on a flight from Melbourne.
The NT government said it will employ an extra 100 frontline health workers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the gloom, resilient teenagers in NSW continue preparing for their HSC.
Emily and Lilly Wykes reflected on studying year 12 from the front seat of a car for six weeks.
"For Lilly and I, we live on the same property so we both had satellite internet which is very prone to dropping out and just not working ... we're in a gully out there," Emily said.
"My sister would walk up with a camper chair and I'd be in the car with a cow just licking my window."
Whether your in the bush or the city coming to terms (again) with the new normal, stay safe.
Did you know you can receive this daily digest by email? Sign up here
The news you need to know
- A healthy dose of humility and fear: 'We are not the centre of the earth'
- Bird flu emerges in Victoria's Golden Plains Shire
- Exercise your brain with the weekend quiz
- Stricter lockdown nears for virus-hit Victoria
- Man fined for travelling to Ballarat for 'fresh air' as state records 397 new cases
- From cruising to caravanning: how to make the change
- Uncertain fate for precious Holdens of the past
- Tell us your VP Day stories for the 75th anniversary