Hazardous dust storm turns sky eerie orange as residents urged to ‘stay inside'

Parts of Australia have been hit by a hazardous dust storm which has turned the sky completely orange, with the public warned to stay inside.
Footage shared by the District Council of Orroroo Carrieton shows a fierce storm raging across a town in South Australia, with trees and signs shaking wildly.
'Stay safe everyone, stay off the roads and inside if you possibly can', the council said online.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for most of the state.
The storm has also spread to New South Wales, with the state's health agency issuing alerts for very poor air quality.

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The Guardian

2 hours ago

• The Guardian

Psychiatrist body holds firm on 25% pay bid but NSW Health says shortages are ‘more nuanced'

Closing submissions have been heard in the long-running dispute between psychiatrists – who are pushing for a 25% pay increase – and the New South Wales department of health, bringing to a close a landmark legal action brought by the psychiatrists, who argue psychiatric care in NSW is facing 'collapse' because of poor pay and conditions. Over two days this week, the Industrial Relations Commission court in Sydney heard closing submissions from lawyers, before the full bench retired to consider their decision. At the heart of the dispute is the proposition from the psychiatrists, represented by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (Asmof), that NSW staff specialist psychiatrists are significantly underpaid compared with their interstate counterparts. This, they argued, has led to an exodus of qualified psychiatrists to other jurisdictions or the private sector, leading to drastic and dangerous understaffing of psychiatric units and overwork and moral injury of staff. Asmof is arguing for a special levy to increase their pay by 25% to stem the flow of specialist doctors leaving the state's public system. In January, 206 psychiatrists in NSW threatened to resign; 62 have resigned, while others await the commission's decision. In closing submissions Thomas Dixon, the barrister for Asmof, pointed the commission to evidence it had heard about the 'proliferation' of mental health patient presentations in the public health system in recent years, at the same time there has been a reduction in the number of public psychiatric specialists. Dixon said that in the five years from July 2019, the number of staff psychiatric specialist vacancies in NSW increased from 35 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles to 131, a near 400% increase. 'Why is this occurring?' he asked the full bench. 'The reasons are many, including pay … stress, overwork and concern for patient outcomes. All of these factors were caused or exacerbated by staff shortages. 'Staff shortages are having a negative impact on the quality of patient care and integrity of the health system.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email According to Asmof, psychiatrists are paid significantly more in states other than NSW. Salaries were up to 51% higher in Western Australia, 44% higher in the Northern Territory, 38% higher in South Australia, 28% in Queensland and 25% in Tasmania. They are 2% higher in Victoria, but Asmof said that in Victoria, as most psychiatrists do not work full-time, they are paid an hourly rate which amounts to 31% more than in NSW. Dixon reminded the court of evidence it had heard that giving a pay rise to psychiatrists would actually end up costing the government less than its current policy, which was to fill gaps in staffing with locums or visiting medical officers (VMOs). Dixon said that a full-time staff psychiatrist cost the same as a VMO working at 0.6FTE. Ian Neil SC, the barrister representing the secretary of health and the NSW department of health, argued that there was no evidence that increasing the pay of psychiatrists with a special levy would have any impact on the attraction and retention of staff, except for stopping those who had threatened resignation pending the outcome of the arbitration, which he urged the court not to consider. 'Asmof loaded up the gun and pointed it at our heads,' Neil said of the mass resignation threat. 'That ought not to be taken into account.' Neil told the court that increasing the pay for psychiatrists by 25% in an interim 12-month order was problematic in that it meant the commission would have to keep that pay uplift in other award negotiations going forward, and that it would not address the issue that Asmof hoped it would remedy. 'Wage fixing is not an appropriate mechanism to address the problem of attraction and retention, of itself,' he said. 'The problem of workplace shortages … are a much more nuanced problem that requires a nuanced response.' Neil was pushed by the justices to give an account of what the health secretary contended the solution was for the problem of attraction and retention, if not a pay increase, to which he said: 'There is no simple answer to that question because it's not a simple issue. It would be a simple issue if funds were infinite, it would be a simple issue if the source of trained staff specialist psychiatrists were infinite, but none of those propositions are true or realistic.' The full bench has adjourned to consider its judgment.

Telegraph

3 hours ago

• Telegraph

‘I hate the way my husband breathes'

When Jane Gregory met her husband Steve at a comedy night in Melbourne, she thought she had hit the romantic jackpot. He was handsome, clever, and funny, and the two of them couldn't stop chatting. The only catch? He was British and lived 10,000 miles away. What followed was a three-year-long, transcontinental relationship, a wedding, and eventually – for Gregory, anyway – a one-way ticket to London. At last, they were living together in wedded bliss. 'After a few weeks, I started to realise something was really bothering me,' she says. 'Eventually, I turned to him and asked if he had always breathed that loudly. He looked really confused.' At the time, Gregory had never heard the word 'misophonia'. She just knew she felt a hot rage descend on her each time he inhaled. And then exhaled shortly after. Unlike a snore, which will often stop with a well-aimed kick, or a cough, which will usually get better with time or antibiotics, breathing is a sound you can't turn off. It's not a bad habit. It's a fundamental proponent of being alive – and even the most irritable spouse would pause before asking their partner to 'Please, for the love of God, just stop breathing'. Soon, Gregory was unable to sleep next to her husband or even share a sofa with him. 'I would beg him to breathe a bit quieter, but that wasn't easy for him either,' she recalls. 'It wasn't until much later that I understood what was happening.' Misophonia, literally 'hatred of sound', is a condition that affects an estimated 18 per cent of people in the UK, according to a study from King's College London. It's sometimes called 'sound rage', but that barely scratches the surface of the emotional chaos it can cause, and one of the most common triggers is breath. While most of us find heavy breathing annoying at times, people with misophonia are flooded with an almost primal reaction – disgust, anger, even panic – that can be set off by the sort of gentle inhalations others wouldn't notice. Now, new research shows that the way we breathe is as unique as our fingerprints – researchers measured the breathing of 97 healthy people for 24 hours and found that they could identify participants with relatively high accuracy from their breathing pattern alone. That might be shallow, slow or raspy – but for those with a sensitivity to spousal noise, the adjective they'd preferably use to describe their partner's breathing is 'silent'. Gregory, no doubt, is correct in saying that her husband breathes in an unusually loud way – but it is also true that if he had married someone without misophonia, they probably would never have noticed. 'I have lived with one other romantic partner before,' she says. 'But he was just a much quieter breather than Steve. My husband breathes loudly – that's just a fact. If he's standing next to someone, I can usually hear Steve breathing but not the other person. Gregory was already a clinical psychologist when she got married, but since learning about misophonia, she has joined a research team at the University of Oxford and is now one of the UK's leading experts in the condition. The more research she does, the more she understands that neither she nor her husband is to blame. 'Telling someone that the way they breathe is repulsive can be incredibly hurtful. But if you're the one being triggered, it's unbearable. It's a real problem unless you talk about it openly.' We are only in the foothills of understanding the condition, but some therapists believe an aversion to breathing can be an emotional shorthand for something going wrong in the relationship. A breath that's perceived as too loud might mean: You're not listening. You're not communicating with me. You're not helping me. 'By the time we landed at Gatwick, it was over' Jasmine, 44, remembers the moment she realised she had misophonia. It wasn't during a doctor's appointment or in therapy. It was on a holiday in Mallorca with a seemingly great new boyfriend. 'I was 39 at the time and really wanted to meet someone and have a baby, and he ticked all the boxes,' she says. 'So I ploughed on with the relationship even though we didn't actually have that much to say to each other. We went on this romantic holiday together and one evening he told me he wanted to get serious, and I realised almost immediately that I couldn't stand the way he breathed. The more I was around him, the more I felt myself spiralling into panic whenever I could hear the sounds of his breath.' The relationship was over by the time they landed in Gatwick. It was the first time Jasmine wondered if she should explore this aversion to certain people's breathing patterns – but it wasn't the first time she had felt this way. 'I've felt rage and disgust with boyfriends and dates who have breathed in a way I didn't like,' she says. 'I've literally looked for exits during dinner because I am so desperate to get away from the sound.' Now, she is starting to understand that, for her, the condition is often tethered to situations where she feels trapped on some level. 'My therapist says it's like an alarm system. I notice it comes out when I feel claustrophobic: at home as a kid, at work, or with a partner I shouldn't be with.' 'We communicate now without actually speaking' For Elizabeth, married for 15 years with two children, similar feelings play out, only in the subtler tones of long-term domesticity. She doesn't scream or panic or storm out when her husband's breathing drives her to distraction. Instead, she slams the fridge door slightly harder than usual. 'We can communicate now without actually speaking,' she says. Elizabeth is so attuned to her husband's breath that she can now tell what response he is hoping to get from her by the tempo of his inhalations. Often, he will breathe more heavily while performing household tasks (cleaning the recycling bin with exaggerated sighs or grunting theatrically as he lugs garden waste to the car). 'It's his way of saying, 'Look at me, I'm being useful,'' she says. It used to drive her to distraction, and her anger was only slightly mollified once she realised it was a family trait. 'His dad does it too,' she says. 'Opening the dishwasher sounds like a cardiac event. I don't even ask his dad to help anymore. I assume that was the plan all along.' Like so much else in relationships, what began as an unnoticed quirk in those heady early days of dating has, over time, evolved into a major irritation. Jane Gregory and her husband now sleep in separate bedrooms, a decision that once might have portended the beginning of the end, but which, to the couple, feels almost romantic. 'We spent so long in a long-distance relationship,' she says, 'that coexisting separately actually feels natural. And it makes things so much easier – I can't sleep at all once I tune into the sound of him breathing.' They also use music as a buffer: often Gregory will turn on Taylor Swift mid-meal. 'When I click on Spotify, he knows something's bothering me. It's our way of handling it, without blame or drama.' Ezra Cowan, a psychologist who specialises in misophonia, says that without tricks like these, the dynamic can be heartbreaking, and explains he has watched otherwise happy couples ruin their marriages over something as universal as breathing. 'You have one person who's desperate for relief, and another who is just breathing like they always have since the day they were born. It becomes a vicious cycle. The breather tries to change, the other says it's not enough. Guilt turns into anger. Accommodation turns into resentment.' The real tragedy, he says, is that everyone is trying. And yet, the condition has a way of making both parties feel like there is something wrong with them. Interestingly, studies show that breathing-related misophonia is more prevalent among women, with some academic papers suggesting that they are almost twice as likely to get the condition as men. 'It might be a socially acceptable outlet for emotional pain,' says Cowan. 'If a woman feels ignored or overwhelmed, it might manifest in sensitivit y to something as simple as breath.' Equally, it is an aversion that is far more likely to come out in relation to your spouse than to your children or, say, a friend. 'I know people worry about having kids as they worry they would be triggered by the sounds they make,' says Gregory. 'But when they are really little, in particular, it is very rarely a problem. It is usually directed at other adults who you share an intimate space with, in other words, a partner. And it's hard: I know people who have ended relationships because of it.' Complicated as it is to be driven to distraction by a sound that is keeping the person you love alive, misophonia doesn't always ruin relationships. In some cases, it even brings them together. Gregory and her husband are now putting on a comedy show together in Oxford this summer. And the title? If You Loved Me You'd Breathe Quietly.

The Independent

6 hours ago

• The Independent

Rabies: What you need to know about the disease before going abroad

The recent death of a British woman from rabies after a holiday in Morocco is a sobering reminder of the risks posed by this almost universally fatal disease, once symptoms begin. If you're considering travelling to a country where rabies is endemic, understanding how rabies works – and how to protect yourself – may go a long way in helping you stay safe. Rabies is a zoonotic disease – meaning it is transmitted from animals to humans – and is caused by a viral infection. In 99% of cases the source of the infection is a member of the Canidae family (such as dogs, foxes and wolves). Bats are another animal group strongly associated with rabies, as the virus is endemic in many bat populations. Even in countries that are officially rabies-free, including in their domestic animal populations – such as Australia, Sweden and New Zealand – the virus may still be found in native bat species. Other animals known to transmit rabies include raccoons, cats and skunks. Rabies is caused by lyssaviruses (lit. rage or fury viruses), which are found in the saliva of infected animals. Transmission to humans can occur through bites, scratches or licks to broken skin or mucous membranes, such as those in the mouth. Once inside the body, the virus spreads to eventually reach the nervous system. Because it causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, symptoms are primarily neurological, often stemming from damage to the nerve pathways responsible for sensation and muscle control. Patients who develop rabies symptoms often experience altered skin sensation and progressive paralysis. As the virus affects the brain, it can also cause hallucinations and unusual or erratic behaviours. One particularly distinctive symptom – hydrophobia, a serious aversion to water – is believed to result from severe pain and difficulty associated with swallowing. Once rabies symptoms appear, the virus has already caused irreversible damage. At this stage, treatment is limited to supportive intensive care aimed at easing discomfort – such as providing fluids, sedation and relief from pain and seizures. Death typically results from progressive neurological deterioration, which ultimately leads to respiratory failure. It's important to note that rabies symptoms can take several weeks, or even months, to appear. During this incubation period, there may be no signs that prompt people to seek medical help. However, this window is crucial as it offers the best chance to administer treatment and prevent the virus from progressing. Another danger lies in how the virus is transmitted. Even animals that don't appear rabid – the classical frothing mouth and aggressive behaviour, for instance – can still transmit the virus. Rabies can be transmitted through even superficial breaks in the skin, so minor wounds should not be dismissed or treated less seriously. It's also important to remember that bat wounds can often be felt but not seen. This makes them easy to overlook, should there be no bleeding or clear mark on the skin. The vaccine The good news is that there are proven and effective ways to protect yourself from rabies – either before travelling to a higher-risk area, or after possible exposure to an infected animal. Modern rabies vaccines are far easier to administer than older versions, which some may recall – often with discomfort. In the past, treatment involved multiple frequent injections (over 20 in all) into the abdomen using a large needle. This was the case for a friend of mine who grew up in Africa and was one day bitten by a dog just hours after it had been attacked by a hyena. The vaccine can now be given as an injection into a muscle, for instance in the shoulder, and a typical preventative course requires three doses. Since the protective effect can wane with time, booster shots may be needed for some individuals to maintain protection. Sustaining a bite from any animal should always be taken seriously. Aside from rabies, animals carry many potentially harmful bacteria in their mouths, which can cause skin and soft tissue infections – or sepsis if they spread to the bloodstream. First aid and wound treatment is the first port of call, and seeking urgent medical attention for any bites, scratches or licks to exposed skin or mucous membranes sustained abroad. In the UK, this also applies to any injuries sustained from bats. A doctor will evaluate the risk based on the wound, the animal involved, whether the patient has had previous vaccines, and in which country they were bitten, among other things. This will help to guide treatment, which might include vaccines alone or combined with an infusion of immunoglobulin infusions – special antibodies that target the virus. Timing is crucial. The sooner treatment is started, the better the outcome. This is why it is so important to seek medical help immediately. In making the decision whether you should get a vaccine before going on holiday, there are recommendations, but ultimately the choice is individual. Think about what the healthcare is like where you are going and whether you'll be able to get treatment easily if you need it. Vaccines can have side-effects, though these tend to be relatively minor, and the intended benefits vastly exceed the costs. And of course, avoid contact with stray animals while on holiday, despite how tempting it may be to pet them. Several rules of thumb can counteract the dangers of rabies: plan your holiday carefully, seek travel advice from your GP, and always treat animal bites and scrapes seriously.