Like millions of Melbourne residents who participated in one of the most rigorous lockdowns on the planet, Ray Thomas spent 262 days confined to his home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. A single father with two children, he managed to pay the bills during that time.
Until in October some of the restrictions and the spirit of Thomas began to be lifted. His company that organizes shows and events resumed its activities when bars and nightclubs reopened.
But then came the omicron.
This variant of the coronavirus is wreaking havoc in Australia despite its high vaccination rates and strict restrictions on the entry of foreigners, which kept the country virtually isolated from the rest of the world for almost two years. Those measures, which made Australia a nearly COVID-19-free utopia at the start of the pandemic, are being reevaluated as the country tries to deport tennis player Novak Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open for refusing to be vaccinated.
Lockdown-weary Australians are wondering why their country, which in theory did everything it needed to do to contain the spread of the virus, is facing a wave of infections.
“They tell you, ‘Stay at home, you can’t go beyond the mailbox after eight at night, for days and months.’ And then they come up with the idea that ‘we have to redouble our efforts,’” complained Thomas, whose company, Anthem Entertainment, has been suffering losses for 23 months. “Once again with all this. Again!”.
Officially, there are more than 600,000 active infections among Australia’s 26 million people, although experts believe the number is much higher. The outbreak, according to two experts, is due to two reasons: Politicians did not want to renege on their promises, made before the arrival of the omicron, to relax restrictions, such as the order to wear face masks, and the new variant was incredibly contagious.
After the arrival of the new variant, the government of New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, ordered the use of masks again. But by then it was too late.
While hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low, vaccines have not curbed infections. On the other hand, the vaccination program, for which 80% of the population has received at least one dose, began later than in other Western nations, so there are many people who still cannot receive the third dose.
“Vaccines alone are not enough,” says epidemiologist Adrian Esterman, director of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia. “We were doing very well, until New South Wales decided they didn’t want any more lockdowns.”
Esterman asks politicians to make the use of masks and social distancing mandatory, and to improve the ventilation of schools. Children are rushing back to school after the southern summer.
Just this month the vaccination of boys from five to 11 years of age was approved.
“We don’t have enough vaccines for children,” says Esterman, who once worked for the World Health Organization. “We know what needs to be done to make schools safe: The first thing is to vaccinate students and teachers, make sure that ventilation is good and that children wear masks. Are we doing it in Australia? No”.
Although high vaccination rates prevent an even greater crisis in hospitals, the president of the Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid says that it is hard to see the situation the country is going through after having been a global example of the fight against COVID -19.
“It is frustrating to see our infection rate per inhabitant become one of the highest in the world in places like New South Wales, when not long ago we had one of the lowest,” he lamented. “It is sad that the reopening of the country coincided exactly with the arrival of the omicron.”
In recent months, the government has gone from a “zero COVID” policy to one that “you have to live with the virus”, generating confusion in the population.
“The omicron changed everything,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week. “My government wants Australia to stay open and for us to come out ahead somehow.”
Sydney resident Rodney Swan believes the government failed to respond in time and is shocked at the number of infections.
“These are figures that are given in England,” he says. “I have friends in London, because I lived there, and they are amazed at what is happening in Australia.”
Epidemiologist Nancy Baxter, director of the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, says politicians fear unrest if they impose new restrictions. But he notes that infections could be contained if the public has access to N95 masks and free rapid tests.
“We could stem the tide, but there is no political will to do so,” Baxter said.
Former human rights commissioner Chris Sidoti, who has two grandchildren in and out of hospitals after contracting COVID-19 two weeks before the start of vaccination of minors, blames the government for the omicron wave.
He wonders why the government didn’t have enough rapid tests before the PCR testing system was overwhelmed. And why the ruler of New South Wales refused to impose restrictions such as the use of face masks in November, when the new variant appeared, before the vaccination of minors began and before most adults could receive the third dose.
“We did everything wrong from day one because our politicians don’t learn and don’t prepare,” Sidoti said in an interview. “People don’t listen because there is no consistency, there is no credibility, and there are no answers.”
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