* Quarantine-free, trans-Tasman travel will be allowed from April 19, the New Zealand government says. Kiwis have been able to visit Australia without undertaking quarantine for about six months.

* Australia provides more visitors than any other country to New Zealand and the announcement is expected to start a stampede across "The Ditch".

* Prime Minister Scott Morrison is likely to be one of the first Australians to skip NZ's quarantine queue when the long-awaited bubble is finally launched, with an Australia-NZ Leaders' Meeting to be scheduled imminently.

* Australian authorities are also looking at Singapore, Japan and South Korea as other potential bubble destinations but are not in a position yet to move, Mr Morrison says.

* Western Australia has also relaxed its borders, with Queenslanders allowed entry from Wednesday. Queenslander will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days.

* A 77-year-old man has died from COVID-19 in a Queensland hospital. The dual PNG-UK national was evacuated to Queensland on March 28 after he was diagnosed in PNG.

* Meanwhile, COVID-19 restrictions in northern NSW have been lifted after four days of no locally-acquired infections. The measures were introduced after a Queensland virus cases visited Byron Bay.

* NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has cast doubt on the federal government's plan to vaccinate everyone in the country by October, saying getting all six million people in NSW their first shot by then will be a "big stretch".

* Labor has thrown its support behind stadium-style vaccination hubs to speed up the national rollout.

* The federal government has played down the need for mass vaccination sites, insisting its growing network of general practice clinics has the program under control.

* Meanwhile, Oxfam Australia says failure to vaccinate the entire global population could cost each Australian more than $1300 as the economy stutters and mutant strains take hold. A cheaper "people's vaccine" is possible if intellectual property rights are waived and drug companies share recipes, it says.

SPORT:

* New Zealand sporting teams won't rush home from their temporary Australian bases but say confirmation of a travel bubble allows them to dream of games in front of home fans.

* The NRL's Warriors and A-League's Wellington Phoenix will stay in Australia but plan to host games later this season, while the bubble is promising for the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman tournament due to begin on May 14.

AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:

* Australia reported no locally-acquired virus cases on Monday. There were 7 overseas-acquired cases reported in hotel quarantine, all in NSW.

* 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).

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:

* Cases: at least 131,828,000

* Deaths: at least 2,861,000

* Recovered: at least 74,852,000.

Data current as of 1800 AEDT on April 6, taking in federal and state/territory government updates and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures.

Australian Associated Press