AUSTRALIAN WOMAN SETS QUARANTINE HOTEL ON FIRE

A 31-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly lighting a fire in her hotel bedroom. She has been charged with arson.

The fire destroyed part of the 11-storey Pacific Hotel in Cairns, Queensland.

The BBC reports that she shared a room with two children and on Sunday morning she lit a fire under one of the beds in the room.

Although no one was injured, more than 160 people had to be evacuated.

New restrictions have been implemented in the country as two cases of the new Covid variant Omicron were identified.

In an effort to keep Covid out of the country, most Australians have spent almost two years under some of the harshest restrictions. Most of the restrictions were lifted earlier in November and while all flights from South Africa and its neighbouring countries have been banned from entering Australia, some locals fear that the new variant might bring back some of the restrictions.

Unvaccinated travellers are still required to quarantine for 14 days in designated hotels across the country. Australia is one of the countries with the highest vaccination rates in the world.

Image credit: The Australian