Good morning. The Australian Open is in full swing with the focus finally on the court following Novak Djokovic’s deportation. The Omicron outbreak continues to add pressure to struggling sectors as Australians fight to access tests and booster shots.
Paramedics across Sydney who are already “drunk on fatigue” are being asked to drive ambulances home and to be on call as demand soars due to the Omicron outbreak. Chris Kastelan, the New South Wales president of the Australian Paramedics Association, suggested it was unprecedented for paramedics to be on call in Sydney and warned that the conditions were becoming unsafe. “I would suggest that the fact that that’s happening shows that the rostering or the staffing levels for both metropolitan Sydney and regional NSW is just not enough for the workload at this point in time,” he said. Last week, NSW Ambulance averaged 4,500 triple zero callouts per day. Prior to the Omicron outbreak, there had never been more than 4,000 calls on a single day. Tuesday was Australia’s deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 77 deaths across the country.
Tonga is facing an “unprecedented disaster” from the massive volcanic eruption that covered the nation in ash and 15-metre tsunami waves that destroyed almost all the homes on two small islands, the government has said. Leaked images from the New Zealand defence force show some areas have had “catastrophic” devastation while others were relatively unscathed. Three people have been confirmed dead, but authorities fear the death toll could rise as the government has still not managed to make contact with several inhabited islands.
Nobody was quite sure how Nick Kyrgios would perform at the Australian Open after missing all the warm-up events due to asthma problems and a bout of Covid. But he bested British qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 54 minutes. The game featured many of the theatrics that Kyrgios is known for, but, after the match, his actual words were of surprise. “The first couple of days [with Covid] I was bedridden, I didn’t know if I’d be able to play,” he said. “I’m just super happy to be here again.” In other games, Andy Murray beat No 21 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 and Emma Raducanu defeated Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.
Australia
Facebook ads were used to push unapproved rapid Covid test kits to Australians and users are attempting to sell large volumes of rapid tests on Facebook marketplace, charging up to $300 for 20-packs, contrary to the site’s rules.
A NSW GP who allowed an elderly patient to pay for his child’s school fees, buy him expensive medical equipment and build a granny flat on his property for her care has had his registration cancelled.
A disabled man has been told he will have to wait “another month or two” to get Covid booster after an Australian vaccine contractor that provides home services prioritised aged care clients.
A “clash of two crises” is looming when students return to NSW schools, as the Omicron wave adds pressure to a system that already faced severe and prolonged staffing shortages.
The world
A woman who may have seen Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre at a London nightclub 20 years ago is “willing” to provide testimony in Giuffre’s civil lawsuit against the royal, the witness’s lawyer said.
The Israeli police allegedly conducted warrantless phone intercepts of Israeli citizens using the NSO group’s controversial Pegasus spyware, according to an investigation local media.
Norwegian far-right mass murderer Anders Breivik has appeared in court asking to be released on parole after serving 10 years in prison for killing 77 people in 2011.
Recommended reads
Comedian Nazeem Hussain shares his love of massage guns, and a sad childhood story of loss in this week’s interview about beloved objects. “I’d save my massage gun [from a house fire]. I bought it on a whim in 2020 from an ad on either Facebook or Instagram. There’s usually a huge endorphin rush with purchasing things online and it’s all downhill from there – when it arrives, it’s meant to underwhelm you. But this was the opposite – the massage gun has made every night happier. I know that sounds wrong – I don’t mean it that way! Please don’t make this sound sexual!”
Rebecca Sharrock is one of a handful of people worldwide with highly superior autobiographical memory. But remembering minute details of your own life has its downsides. “I need to have distractions such as noise and light around me to get to sleep,” Sharrock says. “If everything’s quiet, memories just flash into my mind and that keeps me awake … It’s awful to be a medical exception because very few people understand what you’re going through and there just aren’t many treatments designed for it.”
Listen
Covid positive? More than a million people are currently infected with Covid across Australia. The Full Story team speaks to Dr Karen Price about which symptoms to expect and when to seek emergency medical care, while psychiatrist Prof Jayashri Kulkarni talks about some mental health dos and don’ts while in isolation.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Witness K and lawyer Bernard Collaery helped correct what they saw as a gross injustice. For today’s Australia Reads, Luke Henriques-Gomes introduces Christopher Knaus’ story about espionage, oil fields and diplomatic embarrassment for the Australian government.
Listen to the best of Guardian Australia’s journalism on Australia Reads podcast on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The AFL has “immoral form” and is “corrupting and compromising the sport” with deals like the $25m sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency firm Crypto.com, according to a gambling reform campaigner.
The Tennis Australia board has broken its silence on the Novak Djokovic saga on Tuesday night to come out in support of its chief executive, Craig Tiley, while acknowledging it “deeply regrets” the distraction the Djokovic deportation caused other Australian Open players.
Media roundup
Victorian nurses are calling for military support as the state’s health sector enters a “code brown” amid record numbers of hospital admissions, reports the Age. The ABC reports the upcoming Aukmin talks between the UK and Australia will be dominated by the recent Aukus nuclear submarine deal and the growing concerns over China’s power in the Indo-Pacific.
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