• More than 100 SA aged care facilities with COVID cases
• Djokovic visa cancelled
• Testing requirement shake-up
• Changes criticised by medical experts
• Siddle leads Strikers to breakthrough win
• Barty battles back in Adelaide opener

More than 100 SA aged care facilities with COVID cases

The number of aged care facilities in South Australia dealing with COVID-19 cases has doubled in less than a week, with more than 100 now implementing protocols for dealing with positive cases.

SA Health provided the latest figures after inquiries yesterday from InDaily, which reported that Aged & Community Services Australia had written to the department warning that staff and PPE shortages were putting local facilities in an “untenable position”.

Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier last Friday revealed more than 50 aged care facilities in the state had reported positive cases – but that figure has now doubled to more than 100 as of January 5.

That includes more than 200 positive staff members and almost 200 positive residents across all sites, SA Health said.

Opposition Health spokesman Chris Picton said it was “shocking that COVID has now impacted over 100 aged care residences and 400 staff and residents across the state”.

“These are very concerning numbers and highlight how out of control the COVID situation in SA has become since the Marshall Government opened the borders,” he said.

“The aged care providers and family members I have spoken to are furious at the lack of support and the lack of booster doses rolling out.

“There’s estimates that only about a half of aged care residents have received their booster to give them the best protection against Omicron.”

Djokovic visa cancelled

The federal government has cancelled the visa of tennis player Novak Djokovic just days out from the Australian Open.

The decision comes after the world number one said he had a COVID-19 vaccination exemption, allowing him to compete in the event.

Djokovic was detained at a Melbourne airport for several hours following his arrival in Australia around 11.20pm on Wednesday after the Australian Border Force raised concerns over his entry visa.

It’s expected the decision will be appealed.

Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled. Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.

— Scott Morrison (@ScoMo30) January 5, 2022

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the visa was cancelled following an overview of the exemption provided by the Victorian government.

“It is a matter for him whether he wishes to appeal, but if a visa is cancelled, somebody will have to leave the country,” Hunt told the Seven Network.

The ABF said Djokovic did not have the appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews warned ahead of Djokovic’s arrival that while the Victorian government and Tennis Australia may allow a non-vaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it was the federal government that dealt with border entry requirements.

Since December 15, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can arrive in Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption and can travel to eligible states and territories without having to quarantine.

But if a person is not vaccinated, they must provide proof they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons or be turned away.

Djokovic has not officially disclosed his vaccination status but it is widely believed he is unvaccinated.

“No individual competing at the Australian Open will be afforded any special treatment,” Andrews warned on Wednesday afternoon.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said this was a classic case of “money and power”.

“I really don’t care whether you have power or money. If your visa is not satisfactory and you haven’t got the right one, send them home,” she told Nine Network on Thursday.

“He might be a tennis great but he has to play by the rules and regulations for other Australians and people coming here.

Overnight, Victoria’s Sports Minister Jaala Pulford said the federal government had asked if the state would support Djokovic’s visa application to enter Australia.

“We will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam,” she posted on Twitter.

Testing requirement shake-up

Greater use of rapid antigen tests, including free tests to be provided to concessional card holders, are expected to help relieve pressure on COVID-19 testing centres.

The national cabinet has agreed to multiple changes to COVID-19 testing requirements to help alleviate pressure on stretched health systems around the country.

Rapid antigen tests will play a key role in tackling the Omicron wave with leaders agreeing to provide 10 free rapid tests to more than six million Australians who are concessional card holders.

The tests will be available through pharmacies within the next two weeks.

Universal access to free rapid tests was not agreed to by any state or territory leaders or the federal government,  PM Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

“The cost for those tests being provided concessionally will be met 50-50 by the states and territories and the Commonwealth,” he said.

The prime minister said 200 million rapid tests would be coming to Australia over the next two months.

He said retailers caught hiking up prices by more than 20 per cent could face a penalty of $66,000 and up to five years in jail.

National leaders also agreed to limit the number of tests people can buy to one box of either two or five tests at a time.

People who return a positive COVID result from a rapid antigen test no longer need to have their infection confirmed with a PCR test.

Testing sites will also begin administering rapid tests to help ease the pressure on pathology labs.

Overseas travellers will need to have a rapid test upon arrival and will no longer need to have a second PCR test after arriving in Australia, except if landing in Queensland.

Morrison said all states and territories were moving away from the requirement for a rapid antigen test to travel.

However this was not the case in WA, which did not send a government representative to attend the national cabinet meeting.

“Western Australia will continue, while they were not there today, to operate as they have been,” the prime minister said.

“We envisage that when they open their border and are confronted with the same issues, that they will move into the same system that is operating elsewhere in the country.”

On Tuesday, there were 176,223 boosters administered across the country, the highest daily number for the third doses.

More than 64,000 COVID cases were reported nationally on Wednesday, the highest daily number since the pandemic began.

NSW registered a high of 35,054 cases and eight deaths, while there were 17,636 cases and another 11 deaths in Victoria.

SA posted 3493 new cases.

Changes criticised by medical experts

The changes to Australia’s COVID-19 testing regime have been criticised by medical experts, who are warning surveillance of the virus could be undermined.

Some argue the shift would lead to the true number of COVID-19 cases not being properly recorded in daily reports, because rapid tests results are generally done at home and are not officially recorded.

An epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne, Professor Tony Blakely, said COVID-19 surveillance would not be accurate going forward.

“The horse has bolted, I think this is the biggest policy failure so far in Australia,” Blakely told the Seven Network on Thursday.

“We also haven’t thought about how you can load up that data to the surveillance system, so we won’t get that in place in the next couple of weeks.”

Blakely said he hoped rapid tests sold in Australia would be equipped with a QR code for patients to upload their results.

A similar setup has been implemented in the UK, where rapid tests are free for everyone.

Siddle leads Strikers to breakthrough win

Captain Peter Siddle’s blistering bowling masterclass combined with Matt Short’s career-best knock have inspired the Adelaide Strikers to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the Hobart Hurricanes at Adelaide Oval.

Siddle snared 5-23 to skittle the Hurricanes for a lowly 126 which the Strikers easily hauled in with 29 balls to spare, thanks largely to Short’s swashbuckling unbeaten 72 on Wednesday night.

The comfortable victory snapped the Strikers’ six-game losing streak.

“The pleasing thing is to finally be able to complete a game with bat and ball,” Siddle said.

“We’ve got some momentum now and some confidence.

“That’s what we’ve been crying out for – putting close enough to the perfect game together.

“Tonight we got that.”

Siddle introduced himself in the powerplay and struck with his second delivery when danger man Ben McDermott – the competition’s leading run scorer – miscued a high catch to Tom Kelly on 11.

The super-accurate Siddle skittled Tim David (28) with a yorker during the power surge before polishing off the tail, castling Mitch Owen (16), Tom Rogers (8) and Sandeep Lamichhane (1) in the 20th over.

Siddle moved to equal first place alongside Perth Scorchers paceman AJ Tye for most wickets this season (16) after bagging the second five-wicket haul of his Twenty20 career.

Barty battles back in Adelaide opener

World No.1 Ash Barty has gamely battled back from a set and a service break down to beat American teenage prodigy Coco Gauff in her season-opener in Adelaide.

Barty showcased every bit of her unflinching fighting spirit in battling back from a set and a service break down to pull off a steely 4-6 7-5 6-1 comeback victory over Coco Gauff on Wednesday night.

Without a match since the US Open in September, Barty took a while to shake off the rust as 17-year-old Gauff played very much like the young woman in a hurry that the American prodigy is.

After nabbing the opening set with two breaks of Barty’s serve, Gauff forged to a 4-2 lead in the second and appeared set to add another big scalp to her growing list as the top-seed’s alarming unforced error rate mounted.

But, in the blink of an eye, Barty burst to life.

Opening her shoulders, the Wimbledon champion and Australian Open title favourite reeled off a stunning run of clean winners to force a deciding set.

With Barty officially boasting the best three-set record in women’s tennis last year, the writing was on the wall for Gauff.

Looking resigned to have missed her moment, the world No.22 dropped serve meekly again – then again – as Barty won 11 of the last 13 games to clinch the match in two hours and 12 minutes.

“I felt like I played a pretty good-quality match, considering it was the first match in a few months,” Barty said.

“Coco played great; she made me hit a lot of balls tonight and I got better and better as the match wore on so it was nice to come out here and get some court time.”

-with AAP