Covid has not gone away

 

Image: Tip chiplanay

Covid has not gone away. In January it was the second leading cause of death in Australia and by now it might be top because our death rate has increased. But, it is okay , isn't it, it is only old people . The very people who built the strength, safety and security of Australia. The ones who spent their lives making this a prosperous, positive nation. It is okay if they die as long as we can have coffee, go on trips and be normal. The death rate for older people is not acceptable at all. While they are dying, younger people are dying too but no one seems to care. It is only a cold. Just mild really.  There was an article which tried to address this lack of care we had. In the end it assumed it wasn't our fault really. All very understandable. Killing old people is pretty normal and if we had the death rate we have been having this year for anything else, we would be acting on it. We have more than doubled our deaths this year form the previous two years. South Australia has just lost it. Until November 23rd 2021 we had four deaths from the pandemic. It has stayed that way from the beginning. Today we have 351. What is wrong with people?

Reinfection is undesirable, killing people is not nice, putting under 5s at risk is horrible. Forgetting we are coming into flu season and there are other Covid variants is high risk behaviour. So why do we not care? What is the matter with us? Doing what works is not hard and being a rebel without a clue is silly. We are not rebelling, though. We just aren't doing what works. We are not using preventative measures which make a difference. That is not rational. The statistics to do with Covid are starting to amass and picture is not pretty. Living in a disadvantaged area increases your chances of not surviving. 

While we are spouting election tripe we should focus more on our own health and welfare. The election campaign should not exclusively fill the airwaves when we need to stop putting ourselves at risk from a vile disease. Not wanting it is not sufficient reason to ignore it because we have to collaborate to get rid of it. 

For a start , it needs to be broadcast about the distance between primary vaccinations which ATAGI has just notified. They have changed this based on all the data they are collecting. We do have people who are spending all their time trying to help us get through this pandemic. We need to practice the art of noticing and, at the very least, put on a mask. 

Infection city

 

Image: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

We are doing well. We have infected so many more people between yesterday and today. We are winning. Best number of infections we have ever had. Mr. Malinauskas is thankfully keeping our vaccination clinics open. Who wanted to shut them when we are trying to get everyone sick and vaccines will help keep them less sick, alive even? We have nothing to offer the under 5s except sending them home from kindy in shame if they cough or have a runny nose. We are totally divorced from Adelaide being in hayfever month from November to May. Some of us can look forward to having flu and covid in winter.  Brighton Secondary School has shifted its students and staff online and other schools have done that with some students as well. Was that wise? Shouldn't we just keep infecting everyone? We need to get the masks off at Easter, though. Best thing, eh? We enjoyed having Christmas disrupted so we were isolating or staying away from family over the festive season. This time we have put a real effort into getting those numbers up so people can be infected for Easter. Whole families can be sick together and eat Easter eggs. We are mad. We need to use some decent  mitigations but that means we forgo moaning and complaining about health protocols which work. We have vaccines. We don't have to shut everything. Masks work. Distancing works. Why on earth we are aiming to keep infecting others is well and truly beyond me. It is not one of my aims in life to ensure I can infect other people with dreadful diseases. So well done schools for keeping your communities safer. Professor Spurrier says we might be reaching the infection peak. It is peak bonkers, that is for sure. Can't wait for us to reach peak long covid which hasn't entered people's minds yet because they don't want to wear masks . Honestly, they are so inconvenient. If this is normal, send help, please.