Last Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews said that Victoria would explore relaxing the restriction on close contacts. At present, they need to isolate for 7 days. It is under consideration that close contacts can leave their homes subject to a negative RAT result every day. NSW will also consider similar arrangements. Yes, we all agree that living with Covid-19 will mean more procedures to protect our community with minimal impact on the daily lives of people.
The number of infections was slowly increasing as the sub-variant BA.2, also named as the son of Omicron, is proved to be more infectious but not known to be more severe or not. It is gradually developed as the most dominant variant with new infections amounting to over 40,000 on Monday but only leading to a few deaths. Our medical system is coping quite well at this moment.
We are not sure what will happen with more relaxation of restrictions, the dwindling of protection for the third doses of vaccine, together with the coming of the winter soon. The ATAGI has agreed on the fourth dose of vaccine for immuno-compromised Australians while considering others need it or not. One thing is sure, all Australians need to be re-educated to know how to respond in the new society with Covid-19 together.
Yes, we do have a lot of possible measures to implement to face the challenge of Covid-19. However, the hesitancy in taking up the third dose and vaccination for the 5-11 age groups suggest that without the direct threat of the death figures, Australians do not necessarily know what is the best strategy for them to stay safe from Covid.
It is time for the governments (both federal and state governments) to work with community leaders to promote community education for all Australians to face this challenge.
The winter is coming and time is running short.