And that’s where we’ll say goodbye for this evening. You can find all the daily Covid statistics in the summary post pinned at the top of the blog. Sadly, it’s been Australia’s deadliest day of the pandemic yet, with 77 people having died from Covid across the country.
Here’s what else happened today:
• Federal health minister Greg Hunt announced the government was activating its private hospital agreement, which will see up to 57,000 nurses and over 100,000 staff from the private hospital system made available to the public health system to help deal with the Covid-19 surge across the country.
• Hunt has also slammed anti-vaccination sentiments – including those from within his own government – saying: “Frankly, the anti-vaxxers aren’t just losing the debate, they’ve lost the debate … Wherever people have said things that are anti-vax, we disagree with them.”
• In Victoria, the state government has issued a “code brown” across all public metropolitan and major regional hospitals from midday on Wednesday, which means the hospital system is being pushed to the limit and some logistical changes need to take place to ease the pressure.
• Tonga could be cut off for weeks amid efforts to repair an undersea communications cable, after the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano sent tsunami waves across the archipelago and blanketed islands in ash. Leaked New Zealand military photos show the scale of the damage.
Thanks for coming along for the ride with me this afternoon. See you tomorrow!
Updated
Aerial images prepared by the New Zealand defence force for the Tongan government have been leaked online and show some areas have had “catastrophic” devastation inflicted by the tsunami and volcanic eruption, while others were relatively unscathed.
When you’ve read that story, here’s a companion piece – a gallery of images of the eruption itself.
Another warning for potentially damaging winds, this time for parts of Victoria.
⚠️ A Severe Weather Warning ⚠️ for Damaging Wind gusts has been issued for parts of the central, western, and southern ranges on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 18, 2022
Details here: https://t.co/XGfGIZjjF8 pic.twitter.com/zQh9mqKBgL
