Authorities are preparing for conditions to worsen again by Saturday in NSW and Victoria, where thousands of properties have already been razed and at least 18 people have lost their lives.

A seven-day state of emergency has been declared in NSW, as officials warn residents and holidaymakers to flee the fire-ravaged east coast.

Satellite images taken on Saturday showed wildfires burning around East Gippsland and Kosciuszko National Park.

Stunned residents watched on as the huge fire swarmed the dry, grassy area in Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday night.

Jules Robinson has thrown her hat into the fundraiser ring in an effort to raise cash for the bushfire crisis. 

Australia's worst bushfires in living memory aren't just leaving a trail of devastation in New South Wales and Victoria. They are also threatening to push the economy into a recession.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver has said the bushfires engulfing Australia could wipe off up to 1 per cent of the nation's GDP growth this year - a staggering $13billion.

Elton John told a crowd of thousands he had donated $1million to help bushfire victims during his Sydney concert on Tuesday night.

Staff from New South Wales Health will help federal biosecurity staff to monitor travellers following an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus which is believed to have spread from Wuhan.

Fake social media posts are claiming coronavirus is spreading in several Sydney suburbs, and is even found in Lipton ice tea.

Joel McIlroy, who could face seven years in prison if convicted of assault a young policewoman, was granted $10,000 bail in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Monday.

Two Sydney mums have been charged after a bizarre online spat over the coronavirus allegedly ended in a wild brawl.

Belal Shmait, 36, from Western Sydney was sentenced to two years behind bars over his role in a violent attack of a man in Bondi Beach in 2017.

A young mother-of-two broke down in tears at a pharmacy in Sydney's Bondi Beach on Tuesday after discovering that coronavirus hoarders had bought all of the Children's Panadol Baby Drops.

Dimitri Moskovich, one of Bondi's most recognisable citizens, has renewed his campaign to rid the beach of mounted police, claiming they treat the world-famous landmark as a 'horse toilet'.

NSW Health is looking into expanding testing to those even with the mildest symptoms in a bid to further flatten the curve of the deadly virus.

Dominic Grieve is one of a number of former Tories telling people to vote 'tactically' to stop Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the EU on January 31, writes DOMINIC LAWSON.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Boris Johnson is getting all the plaudits and Jeremy Corbyn all the blame. That's what you'd expect after an election in which the Conservatives gained a more crushing victory.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Florence Widdicombe opened a pack of Tesco charity Christmas cards and found on one a note from a prisoner in China declaring that he had been forced to do this work.

DOMINIC LAWSON: A lot of us feel a bit grim at this time of year. But we just get on with it. That's not so true of our near neighbours in France and Germany.

DOMINIC LAWSON: As if Labour doesn't have enough problems with alienating Britain's Jewish community, it now seems intent on becoming a hostile environment for Catholics, too.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Within days, we are told, the Government will 'decide' whether to award the Chinese firm Huawei the contract to develop and maintain this country's vital electronic network.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Lord Lucan is alive! Or so claims a building contractor called Neil Berriman. And why should we listen to Mr Berriman? Well, he is the son of the Lucan family nanny.

DOMINIC LAWSON: This was meant to be bad news, and in a way it is: Storm Ciara (easier to write than to pronounce) has swept across the United Kingdom.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Every year my sister gives me the same birthday present. Sorry, that's not fair: Nigella gives me a jumper, but each year it is one of a different colour.

DOMINIC LAWSON: So that's clear: it is absolutely unacceptable for anyone with eugenicist views to have a position of the slightest influence within British politics.

DOMINIC LAWSON: The 12th Baron Lucas inaugurated a debate asking the Government to ensure that at least half of toilet facilities in public buildings are available to women only.

DOMINIC LAWSON: The coronavirus sweeping the world can be traced back to a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new strain first transferred from wildlife to humans.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Johnson said in 2007 that Mayor Larry Vaughn was the true hero of the film Jaws: it was 'laudable' that he strove to help businesses in defiance of mounting hysteria.

DOMINIC LAWSON: The founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong, invented a term for 'reactionaries' in the West who made threats against his regime. He called them 'paper tigers'.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Only a certain type engages in professional point-scoring in the midst of a pandemic. But Sir Paul Nurse, the Nobel prize-winning scientist, seems to fit that bill.

DOMINIC LAWSON: How mortifying to be complimented by a representative of the totalitarian regime now in the global dock for its conduct during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Locked-in Shirley Parsons (pictured) suffered a colossal haemorrhagic stroke from a clot on her brain in 2003. But she said she is happier than before her stroke, writes DOMINIC LAWSON.

Princess Charlotte, four, enjoyed a day out at the polo with her family on Wednesday. Eagle-eyed royal watchers spotted she was carrying a little sequin unicorn Beanie Boo purse, which costs just £4.

The Duchess looked glamorous in a bespoke green D&G midi dress, estimated to have cost £2,150, previously worn in 2016 on a visit to Kelowna, during a royal tour of Canada.

Princess Charlotte, accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George, will attend her first day of school at Thomas's Battersea on Thursday September 5.

Arriving at Thomas's Battersea, where her brother George is two years above, four-year-old Princess Charlotte clung to her mother's hand and was sure to keep her manners in check.

Actress Michelle Dockery, 37, heaped praise on Kate Middleton, 38, as she recalled the royal's visit to the Downton Abbey set in 2015, as she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Executive assistant manager Ann-Kathrin Reichel, 31, from Cloppenburg, Germany, now owns 60 'repli-Kate' outfits, spending between £20 and £90 on each over the past year.

TALK OF THE TOWN: The Duchess of Cambridge, pictured, used the special entrance - originally installed by Prince Harry, to access the Hollywood Arms in Chelsea.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 37, is allegedly working on her tennis game at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, west London and is often joined by her husband and children.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's 2019 Christmas card featuring their children Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince Louis has been shared online.

LIBBY PURVES: Princess Charlotte certainly stole the show on her first walk about at Sandringham this week: in her smart little double-breasted coat, she wowed the crowd with aplomb.

Louise Heren, from the UK, spent time researching at Norland College - where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's nanny, Maria Borrallo, trained. She revealed the skills she learned to Mirror Online.

From the floral smock dresses to the tailored wool coats, Gucci's latest collection, which debuted in Milan earlier this week, appears to pay homage to Princess Charlotte's, 4, style.

Princess Charlotte, four, was given a £1.50 pink plastic flamingo by royal fan Gemma Clark, 39, as she left St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate.

London-based Charlie van Straubenzee, who was one of Prince Harry's ushers, welcomed daughter Clover on Wednesday last week, reports The Sunday Times.

Royal fans are going wild online over the 'uncanny' resemblance between Princess Charlotte, 5, in her new birthday portraits and the Queen's niece Lady Sarah Chatto's, 55.

The trio joined the likes of Sam Smith, Emma Stone, Haim, Lily Collins, Jaime Winstone, Judge Rinder and Greg Rutherford at the sell-out event.

Former British Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford, 32, revealed he's been victim of online trolls who have been sending him cruel comments about his 'dad bod' while preparing to swim for charity.