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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has kept the door open for Novak Djokovic to return to Australia before the completion of a three-year ban on entering the country.

The tennis star's visa was cancelled by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday using discretionary powers, a decision upheld by a Federal Court.

Under such a decision, Djokovic would be banned from re-entering the country for a three-year period.

While some ministers have said Djokovic may have played his last tennis match in Australia, Mr Morrison said there was a possibility of him returning before the completion of the ban.

He told radio station 2GB Djokovic could be allowed to return under the right circumstances.

"I'm not going to precondition any of that or say anything that would not enable the minister to make the various calls they have to make," Mr Morrison said.

"It does go over a three-year period, but there is the opportunity for (Djokovic) to return in the right circumstances and that would be considered at the time."

The world No.1 flew out of Melbourne on Sunday night, hours after the Federal Court rejected his bid to stay in the country and compete at the Australian Open.

He arrived in Dubai on Monday afternoon, Australian time.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said Djokovic had potentially played his last Australian Open match, due to entry requirements stipulating travellers must be vaccinated or have a valid medical exemption.

The three-year ban could be eased sooner, but Ms Andrews said there would need to be compelling reasons for that to happen.

"Any applicant would need to go through the process, it doesn't matter if you're Novak Djokovic or anyone else ... it's not a straightforward process," she said.

"The saga could have been avoided if Novak Djokovic was vaccinated."

While Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally welcomed the decision to cancel Djokovic's visa, she said the situation had been handled poorly by the government.

"This has been a situation that is entirely preventable because the Morrison government gave Novak Djokovic a visa on November 18 and for 60 days failed to act," she told reporters in Sydney.

"They should have cancelled his visa back on November 18. They shouldn't have given him one."

However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Djokovic was initially granted the visa through an automated process.

"We get lots of visas, there's a computer-generated process. It relies on the applicant putting in what they believe are their conditions," he told the Seven Network.

"(Djokovic) said that he had a legitimate exemption, but that wasn't the case, and ultimately the decision of the minister was upheld."

The deportation decision has also led to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accusing Australia of "torturing" the tennis star.

Speaking on the BBC, Mr Vucic criticised Australia's handling of the situation, likening it to a witch hunt.

Labor also hit out at the government for cancelling Djokovic's visa due to fears the tennis player would incite anti-vaccination sentiment, when multiple government members have expressed anti-vaccination views previously.

However, the prime minister said such criticism was conflating two separate issues.

"If you're an Australian, you're a resident and you're a citizen, you can be here and you can express your views," he said.

"If you're someone coming from overseas and there are conditions for you to enter this country, well you have to comply with them, it's as simple as that."

© AAP 2022

Hospitals in NSW are facing unprecedented stress amid the latest COVID-19 wave and health care workers are exhausted as thousands of patients are admitted each day, a senior Sydney doctor has warned.

"Our capacity to manage everything else has ... really changed," said lung specialist Lucy Morgan, who works at Nepean and Concord Hospitals, on Monday.

"In the short term, that's OK. But in the long term, and (the pandemic has lasted) two years now, this is bad."

The state's hospitals are caring for 2776 patients, an increase of 126.

Some 203 people are in intensive care, of whom half are unvaccinated. That figure has nearly doubled in the past two weeks: a fortnight ago, there were 105 ICU patients.

With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly through the community, health workers are being exposed and left unable to come to work to help out with the growing caseload.

About 6000 health workers were isolating after being exposed to the virus on Sunday, Dr Morgan said.

On January 9, the date of the most recent official data, there were 5536 health workers in isolation, most of whom were exposed to the virus in the community.

That was up from 3159 on January 3.

Health leaders are now thinking "way outside the box" to find ways to cover the staffing shortfall, including asking administrative staff to help in caring roles.

Dr Morgan urged NSW residents to get a booster shot to protect themselves against Omicron and alleviate the burden on the health system.

The Greens are calling on the NSW government to make urgent $5000 cash payments to nurses and paramedics to stop burnt-out workers resigning.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said there was nothing more he could do to stop the spread of the virus.

"The best way out of this pandemic is to continue to stand strong and to push through," he told reporters on Monday.

"It's not the easy approach but it's the right approach."

The "only alternative" was a lockdown, he said.

In contrast to Dr Morgan's warnings, he said the health system was tracking well - "better than the best case scenario" in modelling published last week.

Meanwhile, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant and Health Minister Brad Hazzard have condemned those spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccination.

Dr Chant called it "just incredibly dangerous" and urged people to rely only on trusted sources of information.

"I'm aware of the social media rumours and misinformation ... particularly targeting parents of children, but also pregnant women and also our Aboriginal communities," she said.

Mr Hazzard said those spreading the "wrong, spurious, misleading" misinformation could "cause someone's death".

The state reported 29,504 new cases on Monday along with a further 17 deaths.

The majority of deaths were people from south west or western Sydney where cases continue to surge.

The 12 men and five women were all in their 60s or above.

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.

Dr Chant said data suggests 95 per cent of new cases are the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, Mr Perrottet on Monday announced a $43 million fund would support music festivals and events that are cancelled under public health orders.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said it would do nothing to help artists and organisers who voluntarily cancel events.

© AAP 2022

ACCC boss Rod Sims says retail price-gouging on COVID-19 rapid antigen tests is "beyond outrageous", as demand for the kits continues to surge across the country.

The consumer watchdog said at the "extreme end" it had received reports of RATs costing up to $500 for two tests through online marketplaces, and more than $70 per test through convenience stores, service stations and independent supermarkets.

Despite wholesale RAT costs being up to $11.45 a test, the agency said prices for the kits are often retailing between $20-$30 and are priced much higher through smaller outlets.

"It's just beyond outrageous ... it's extremely concerning," Mr Sims told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

He labelled retail mark-ups of more than 100 per cent on RATs as "beyond the pale" and said the agency was working with the Therapeutics Goods Administration and the Australian Federal Police to stamp out unscrupulous selling of RATs.

"We're very much looking forward to what (retailers') explanations are for the very high pricing that's been reported," he said.

"Often some of these high prices are at stores you wouldn't expect like petrol retailers, tobacconists and convenience stores. We're very much looking at those as well as pharmacies."

In addition to exorbitant prices, some retailers were failing to provide receipts, while other traders were breaking up wholesale bundles of RATs designed for medical centres and selling them retail.

The agency had also received reports of people onselling RATs at more than 20 per cent mark-up, which was illegal.

Mr Sims said the ACCC planned "very soon" to take action - which could include fines and legal proceedings - against profiteering retailers.

"There's a lot going on and we hope companies hear this message and adjust their behaviour," he said.

The watchdog said the "concerning practices" had come to light from analysis of more than 1800 reports from the public since Christmas.

Close to 150 reports are coming in each day from concerned members of the public about sky-high RAT pricing, it said.

Chemists are the worst offenders, followed by convenience stores, tobacconists, supermarkets and petrol stations, with the ACCC pointing in particular to some King of the Pack and Metro Petroleum stores.

The ACCC has so far contacted more than 40 test suppliers, major retailers and pharmacy chains across the country reminding them they need to back up claims to consumers about reasons for higher prices.

"We will continue our investigations and analysis of information from consumers, retailers and suppliers, and will provide further updates in coming weeks," Mr Sims said.

© AAP 2022