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What we know today, Monday January 17

More than 50,000 new COVID cases and 23 virus-related deaths have been recorded in Victoria and New South Wales overnight.

Jan 17, 2022, updated Jan 17, 2022
A mural of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Photo: AAP/Bianca De Marchi

A mural of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Photo: AAP/Bianca De Marchi

More than 50,000 new cases in Victoria, NSW

NSW has reported 29,504 new COVID-19 cases and another 17 virus-related deaths, with Victoria recording more than 22,000 new cases and six deaths overnight.

NSW COVID hospital admissions continue to rise, with the state’s hospitals now caring for 2776 COVID-19 patients – 126 more than the day before.

Some 203 people are in intensive care with COVID-19, an increase of 12.

At the depths of the Delta outbreak last September, there were 244 COVID-infected people in ICUs.

Of the newly reported cases on Monday, 17,646 were traditional PCR tests and 11,858 were the results of at-home rapid tests reported to the government.

More than 1000 of the rapid test results were more than a week old, but newly reported through ServiceNSW.

The total number of positive results reported was 5156 fewer than the day before.

NSW Police will on Wednesday officially begin enforcing a $1000 fine for people who fail to report rapid results, although it remains to be seen how they will do so in practice.

Some 93.8 per cent of all eligible adults in NSW are now double dosed, while 26.1 per cent have also received a booster jab. Of children aged 5-11, 13.1 per cent are now single vaccinated.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant is expected to address the media on Monday morning, as Premier Dominic Perrottet announces new support for major events affected by the Omicron outbreak.

Victoria has recorded 22,429 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths as authorities begin handing out millions of rapid antigen tests to essential workers and vulnerable people.

It brings the total number of active cases in the state to 245,040, including a record 1229 patients in hospital.

Monday’s patient number is a 115 increase on the 1114 reported on Sunday.

The number of people in ICU has grown by seven to 129 with 38 on ventilation, three more than the previous day.

The figures come as the state government on Sunday received three million of the 44 million RATs it ordered.

Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters the three million tests will be distributed to essential workers in health and aged care, disability and emergency sectors.

Victorians with pre-existing conditions, which make them susceptible to severe illness, will also be prioritised for a RAT.

Teachers union mulls industrial action over SA schools plan

South Australia’s public teachers union will today consider possible industrial action in response to concerns it has over the Marshall Government’s “hybrid” back to school plan.

The State Government announced on Thursday that only students in reception, year 1, 7, 8 and 12 will return to the school for face-to-face learning for the first two weeks of term one, with the remaining year levels to work from home.

Premier Steven Marshall said it was not the State Government’s intention for schools to shut down if a COIVD-19 case is recorded.

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier also said that if a positive case is detected in a class setting, students will be “strongly encouraged” to continue attending and teachers in such a situation would be “considered very similar to a close contact critical worker” and allowed to continue working instead of isolating.

However, a teacher who tests positive for COVID-19 will have to undertake 10 days of isolation.

New Australian Education Union SA Branch president Andrew Gohl said the union’s executive would meet this morning to discuss concerns with the plan.

Gohl said the union’s main issues were the lack of information about rapid antigen tests in schools, the unreleased results of the Education Department’s ventilation audit, and the COVID-positive isolation and close contact requirements for teachers.

“The Department haven’t dealt with these issues, and our primary concerns are safety for kids, safety for staff,” he told InDaily.

“We’ve already sent the Department our points that they need to address in terms of making the workplace safer.

“Executive need to consider what’s going to be the response if the Department fails to, as the employer, … do all that’s reasonable to make the workplace safer.”

It comes as South Australia recorded another 3450 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Sunday, with 220 people currently in hospital, 26 in intensive care and six on a ventilator.

Asked about the potential for a teachers strike, Marshall on Sunday emphasised that national cabinet would undertake further discussions about plans for the return to school.

“I’m quite sure that we can resolve these issues and I certainly don’t think there’s any need for strike action in South Australia,” he told reporters.

“I just don’t think it’s going to be necessary, what’s we’ve tried to do is get out to be the first state in Australia to put our return to school policy in place.

“It was always subject to the discussions at national cabinet this week on the use of rapid antigen tests for teachers and potentially for some students.

“We’ll update that as soon as that comes available.”

Serbian fury as Djokovic departs Australia

Novak Djokovic on his way to the court hearing where his visa cancellation was upheld yesterday (AAP Image/James Ross)

An “extremely disappointed” Novak Djokovic has accepted his Australian Open fate and flown out of the country, unable to defend his title and facing the possibility of losing his place as the world’s No.1 men’s player.

The grand slam kicks off in Melbourne on Monday without its men’s champion, who has been deported from Australia after an extraordinary 11-day saga amid protests from back home in Serbia that he’s been treated scandalously.

The nine-times champion Djokovic was expelled after his last-minute challenge to a decision to cancel his visa failed on Sunday, a three-judge panel of the Federal Court ruling unanimously against him.

The decision came after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke cancelled Djokovic’s visa for a second time on Friday, citing a risk to public health and the chance the unvaccinated star’s presence in Australia could excite anti-vaccination sentiment.

Djokovic had been scheduled to begin his defence against fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.

But after five nights in a detention hotel, he wasted no time leaving and boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai that left at 10.30pm AEDT.

It still wasn’t clear where Djokovic’s ultimate destination was but there was an outpouring of anger and support in Serbia, where the country’s president Aleksandar Vukic urged him to come home and the prime minister Ana Brnabic called his treatment “scandalous”.

“We had hoped that justice would prevail. That ‘public interest’ would not serve as a pretext for a decision that was eventually made,” Djokovic’s family said, adding that politics had won over sport.

“I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling,” the 34-year-old Djokovic himself said in a statement.

“I respect the Court’s ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country.

“I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love.”

The blame game is set to intensify now that his bid to play in the Open is officially over, with Djokovic also facing the prospect of losing his cherished world No.1 ranking to either Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev should one of them annex his title.

Woolies suspends supplier after dispute over SA facility’s COVID policies

Woolworths has suspended arrangements with one of its main suppliers after Australia’s peak union body claimed the abattoir made COVID-positive employees at a South Australian facility keep on working.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil on Saturday called on the supermarket giant to take action after Teys Australia workers in Naracoorte were directed to wear coloured hairnets to indicate their infection status.

“Woolworths is turning a blind eye to the exploitation of workers by a major food supplier in the supermarket’s supply chain … who are forcing workers to continue turning up for work even though they are infected,” she said in a statement.

O’Neil said the practice was demeaning but staff were reticent to take a stand.

Woolworths on Sunday rejected the claims, saying it had not been involved in a decision approved by authorities to introduce exceptional temporary COVID measures at the abattoir last week.

It said had decided to suspend “all supply through Tey’s South Australian facility while we work with Teys, SA Health and Safework SA to understand the protocols currently in place for their team and operations”.

A spokeswoman for the retailer told AAP it expected all of its suppliers to “adhere to the COVID safety protocols set by their relevant state authorities”.

It’s understood health officials approved the exceptional arrangements at the Naracoorte abattoir between Monday and Thursday last week to avoid significant loss of unprocessed beef.

However those measures are no longer in place.

No Woolworths-sourced cattle are currently at the site and it has ceased servicing the retail chain’s meat requirements.

Woolies says it will process meat via a number of other abattoirs across the country and source additional supply from partners until it can be satisfied by the measures in place at Teys under the guidelines of health authorities.

Australian flight to assess Tonga tsunami damage

Satellite image shows the extent of the undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (NICT via AP)

Australia will send a surveillance flight to help Tonga assess tsunami damage after an underwater volcano eruption severely disrupted communications with the Pacific island and left it under a cloud of ash.

The P-8 plane is set to reach Tongan airspace by 9am on Monday to gather information on critical infrastructure such as roads, ports and powerlines.

The flight is part of a coordinated response by Australia and New Zealand, which will also send a surveillance aircraft on Monday.

“While communications remain limited we are continuing to receive regular updates through our High Commission in Tonga, with early reports of substantial ash coverage around (capital) Nuku’alofa and coastal inundation and damage to infrastructure,” a Department of Foreign Affairs statement said.

Australia is also preparing humanitarian assistance through a flight from Brisbane which should be ready to go on Monday but – like the surveillance flights – will be subject to weather conditions.

“Australia will work in partnership with other Pacific neighbours, including New Zealand, to support Tonga in a COVID-safe way,” the statement said.

“Tonga is part of our Pacific family and both the thoughts and the prayers of Australians are with the entire nation, which has been impacted by this natural disaster.”

Australians and officials living in Tonga have all been accounted for despite communications being disrupted in the wake of the tsunami that struck the country after the nearby underwater eruption.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted at 3.10pm AEDT on Saturday, with tsunami waves observed in the aftermath.

Land warnings were issued earlier for Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island, however these were downgraded and replaced with marine warnings on Sunday morning.

Marine warnings were cancelled for the two islands on Sunday night but remain for coastal areas of NSW.

Tsunami warnings for Macquarie Island and coastal areas of Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania were cancelled on Sunday morning.

Countries around the Pacific were also on alert, with residents in parts of Japan advised to evacuate after waves of more than a metre.

England greats slam ‘gutless’ Hobart batting collapse

Joe Root and his England squad face questions after Sunday’s performance (AAP Image/Darren England)

Alastair Cook believes England has hit “rock bottom” while Ian Botham has lamented the “embarrassing” and “gutless” batting collapse that handed Australia a 146-run win and a comprehensive 4-0 Ashes series triumph in Hobart last night.

Chasing 271 to win, an abject England batting line up lost 10 wickets for 56 runs in just 22.5 overs, falling to pieces in less than session despite reaching 0-68.

“That was very tough viewing, that has to be our rock bottom, there cannot be a worse a place than getting bowled out in an hour and a half,” former England skipper Cook said on BT Sport.

“I actually can’t believe – an hour and a half to lose 10 wickets – that’s the biggest shock as a batter and a professional who plays cricket.

“You get bowled out in a session once or twice in a career.

“After a couple of wickets, we said ‘something is on here’ and you see a batting line-up devoid of all confidence.

“Once they lose one or two, no one steps up and stops the slide.”

Botham was similarly critical of an England batting line up which has failed to reach 300 runs in any one of its 10 innings this summer.

“It’s been embarrassing … gutless,” he said.

“The way that they performed today will have disappointed me and disappointed everyone back home.

“They should be disappointed in that dressing room.

“The one thing we have to do now is take our heads out of the sand and we need to pull together and prioritise red-ball cricket.

“Because if we’re not careful, the Eskimos will be beating us.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s No.5 batsman Travis Head was awarded player-of-the-series and man-of-the-match gongs in Hobart.

The South Australian captain won the Compton-Miller medal despite sitting out the drawn SCG Test after contracting COVID-19.

Head has scored 357 runs at 59.5 to occupy top spot on the run-scoring charts for the five-Test series.

Head after scoring his second century of the series in Hobart on Friday (AAP Image/Darren England)

It came a year after he was axed at the halfway point of Australia’s series against India, one of several junctures when pundits questioned whether the left-hander would ever fulfil his potential.

Even at the start of this summer, Head stared down a challenge from Usman Khawaja to claim the final spot in Australia’s XI.

There is now no doubting the credentials of the 28-year-old.

“It’s great to have an impact,” Head said, rating his century in the fifth Test above that scored in Brisbane.

“It helps batting behind a couple of blokes who average 60.

“I have worked on a lot of things over the last couple of years.

“After 19 Tests I had a reasonable idea of what the expectation was and was so eager to get back.”

Barty centre stage for Australian Open lift-off

Ash Barty celebrates after defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the Adelaide International Final at Memorial Drive last week (AAP Image/Matt Turner)

With a cloud of uncertainty lifted from the Australian Open, local favourite and women’s world No.1 Ash Barty looks set to shine on opening day.

The Federal Court’s ruling on Sunday against the now-deported defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic ended an ugly saga that overshadowed the build-up to the first grand slam of the year.

The men’s world No.1 was scheduled to begin his quest for a 10th title at Melbourne Park against fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday night.

Italy’s Salvatore Caruso, who lost during qualifying and was then put on stand-by in case of injury, will instead take Djokovic’s place in that match, which has been shifted to an outdoor court.

Women’s world No.1 Barty returns to Rod Laver Arena as the headline act in prime time.

Barty takes on Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko and is a hot favourite to break Australia’s infamous 44-year Open title drought.

“It feels like an eternity since I played here at home,” Barty said, having fallen to Czech Karolina Muchova in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park a year ago.

“It’s exciting going into it. I’m very fortunate and grateful that I’m in the draw and I’ve got a chance just like everyone else.”

Women’s defending champion Naomi Osaka will take on unseeded Colombian Camila Osorio in the second match of the day session at Rod Laver Arena, before 2009 men’s champion Rafael Nadal begins his bid for a record 21st grand slam title against American Marcos Giron.

Australian women’s No.2 Ajla Tomljanovic and local men John Millman, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Aleksandar Vukic and James Duckworth are also in singles action on Monday.

Kokkinakis meets Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, fresh from claiming his first ATP Tour title in front of home fans in Adelaide on Saturday.

-With AAP and Reuters

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