PM

Concession card holders get free rapid tests from today, but they're still scarce, with the government warning of hoarding and price gouging. Aged care is in crisis – almost eight thousand residents are infected with COVID in homes across Australia with claims some are going without food, water, and medication. Amd claims of Chinese government censorship after the Prime Minister loses access to his WeChat messaging account, are there implications for the upcoming election?

There's frustration, but also great relief as Western Australia decides to stay cut off from the nation, while the rest of Australia records its deadliest day of the pandemic.

88 people have died, a funeral director who’s witnessed their families’ pain shares her experience.

And Australia's fair and knowledgeable tennis crowds are becoming more unruly, we'll speak with tennis legend John Alexander who's seen an evolution in courtside behaviour.

No national agreement on rules around getting children back in classrooms and hope that vaccine hold-outs might join the masses, with a new shot – Novavax - winning approval.

After a public outcry, IVF services have been exempted from Victoria's code brown emergency, now some doctors say day surgery should return as well.

And US President Joe Biden thinks Russia will soon invade western-leaning Ukraine, but why would Vladimir Putin want the fight?

The search for a missing nine-year-old ends with the discovery of remains in a barrel and a man charged with murder.

Cash incentives for international students and backpackers to come to Australia as the government tries to bolster the workforce.

And US mobile carriers again delay turning on some 5G towers near airports over fears they may interfere with landing aircraft.

Dozens more are reported to have died of COVID and hospitals are stressed, is the loss of life inevitable after two years of suppressing the virus?

“Disbelief that we could throw away the hard work of two years,” Associate Professor David Anderson of the Burnet Institute joins ‘PM’, reflecting on the death toll.

The Omicron wave triggers a crisis of confidence in the economy, just as the government winds back another pandemic payment.

Fears of devastation in Tonga, we'll speak to members of the Tongan diaspora in Australia, desperate to know the extent of the damage, but hopeful for the future.

Pressure on health workers remains intense amid Australia's Omicron onslaught, we'll hear from inside one Sydney intensive care unit.

And North Korea launches two more missiles showing its capacity is growing in size and sophistication, is there a threat to Australia?

Hospitals and hotels are being readied for some difficult weeks ahead; Fear and fury among parents and childcare operators as relaxed isolation rules introduce a fresh layer of risk; And, another rocky start to the year for the arts industry - how much more can it take?

National cabinet agrees to relax isolation rules across a raft of new industries, as supply chain woes continue;

We head to the northern hemisphere where classrooms are open again after the Christmas break. What can we learn from the US experience of Omicron in schools?; And, PM speaks with a graduate nurse who's about to embark on her career mid-pandemic.

With chokepoints now right along the food and grocery supply chain, businesses are desperately looking for a way through; A warning from food distributors about the knock-on effects for some of the most vulnerable Australians; And we bring you the latest twist in the Novak Djokovic saga.

Despite an emphatic court win, tennis star Novak Djokovic's freedom to stay to play in Australia remains in doubt; An increasing number of Australians are being cleared to return to work as labour and supply shortages bite so what are the obligations to keep workplaces covid safe?; And we take a look at the shrinking rental options in regional Australia.