It's a bit like watching a parent insist they really don't have a favourite child - as they fawn all over unnamed favourite child.
As the verbal snipe-athon between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews continued for another day, so too, did New South Wales' poster child status relating to all things COVID.
The PM wasn't backward in expressing his disdain at Mr Andrews' roadmap to a COVID-safe time which was revealed yesterday.
Mr Morrison wants restrictions lifted quicker, but conceded Victoria would have the final say.
"The plan that was outlined yesterday, I hope, is a worst-case scenario," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
The prime minister indicated Victoria's contact tracing capability wasn't up to scratch, comparing it to NSW despite his home state dealing with far less cases. He also vowed to interrogate the plan and demanded state authorities show him detailed modelling underpinning the strategy.
"Under the thresholds that have been set in that plan, Sydney would be under curfew now," Mr Morrison said.
And as if Victoria needed a highlighter to underline how far back it is in the national field right, NSW Premier Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed school formals and graduation ceremonies can go ahead at the end of the year if COVID-19 numbers remain low.
There are now 1781 active cases in Victoria, a drop of about 80 from yesterday after 41 new cases emerged today. Sadly, nine more Victorians have lost their lives to the virus. That brings the state toll to 675 and the national figure to 762.
NSW recorded four new coronavirus cases, including three healthcare workers at Liverpool and Concord hospitals, who caught the virus from a colleague. NSW is investigating possible surface transmission, as the original infected worker was wearing a mask.
Elective surgeries at Ipswich in Queensland have been cancelled amid a COVID-19 cluster with another health worker among two new cases recorded in the Sunshine State.
They were quick out of the blocks in Tasmania today.
The snappily named "Make Yourself At Home travel vouchers" released to Tasmanians today are designed to keep economies normally laden with tourists ticking along while borders are closed. Something like a "holiday at home scenario" if you will - with a monetary incentive to get you there.
It took just 40 minutes for the vouchers - valued at $7.5 million - to be snapped up. Forget making yourself at home, just pitch up and claim squatters' right as quick as you can!
And one last fun fact for today - totally unrelated to anything really but shared by an avid reader of The Informer: "On September 7 it's been 226 days since Australia recorded its first COVID-19 case. That's just about the gestation period for a hippopotamus."
Thanks, David, from suburban Sydney.
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