Good morning and welcome to the week.

1. NSW Health has issued an alert after a Wollongong resident tested positive for COVID-19 two days after leaving hotel quarantine. The virus was detected under the recently implemented day-16 follow-up test. A range of venues have been listed by NSW Health as possible exposure sites across Wollongong and south-east Sydney.

2. Victoria has a new case, too. A hotel quarantine worker at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport has tested positive. “The individual is being interviewed and a full public health response is underway,” the alert from the state’s health department said.

3. More Australians overseas will be allowed to return home after the National Cabinet agreed to boost state intake caps. From February 15, NSW will accept 3,010 people each week, while Queensland will welcome 1,000 returning Australians. Caps in Victoria and South Australia will also be lifted, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterated Australia’s border remains closed.

4. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Board remains unconcerned with an Australian housing bubble for now, Governor Philip Lowe told a parliamentary committee on Friday. While prices have rebounded strongly in recent months, Lowe said the central bank didn’t think growth was unsustainable at the moment, but is keeping a close eye on the amount of debt Australians are racking up.

5. Victoria helped Australia’s total retail sales volume rise 2.5% in the December quarter, according to new ABS data. Analysts say sales volume would have dipped without Victoria’s impact, and month-on-month retail turnover fell 4.1% in December. “The shift back towards pre-COVID spending patterns will continue,” said Dr Sarah Hunter, chief economist for BIS Oxford Economics.

6. Google has been scrambling to negotiate deals with Australian news publishers, according to the SMH. The federal government has signalled it may revise its media bargaining code if Google can convince publishers to sign up for Google News Showcase, its own product which offers payments for publishers for content – but not links. Google has been speaking to a range of publishers such as News Corp, the ABC, Guardian Australia, Daily Mail Australia, and Nine Entertainment Co.

7. AstraZeneca said its shot offers only limited protection against the South African COVID-19 variant. The news is based on early data from a trial of 2,026 predominantly young healthy adults. An AstraZeneca spokesman said the drugmaker is currently adapting its vaccine against the variant.

8. The AFR reports that Australian buy now, pay later company Zip Co is looking for US investors, in an effort to catch up with competitor Afterpay. The company is highlighting its growth in the world’s biggest economy, where it owns local BNPL brand QuadPay.

9. Dogecoin jumped as much as 35% in 24 hours as Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about the jokey cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency’s price later dropped again before climbing back to about 25% gains. Year-to-date returns on the meme-based cryptocurrency were about 1,032.91%, according to CoinDesk.

10. Robinhood on Friday withdrew trading limits on GameStop and AMC, both popular among Reddit traders. Last Tuesday, the trading app had relaxed buying and selling restrictions on both. Also last week, Robinhood secured $3.4 billion in its largest fundraising since its 2013 launch.

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