The number of infected cases in Australia is gradually decreasing and the governments are considering further easing quarantine rules for close contacts. Cruise ships are prepared to start again by the end of May, while tourists, students and workers are coming back. We hope that Australia with its high vaccination rate will survive even with the various subvariants of the virus.
Judging from the people infected, hospitalized and died from Covid-19, the government has indicated that there is no immediate plan to introduce the fourth dose of the vaccine for all Australians. This is a good sign that full vaccination with 3 doses may give protection for people for some time. With the weak severity of the Omicron, Australians can focus more on the rebuilding of the society and businesses, as many small businesses have suffered a lot during the long lockdown in the past two years.
However, we do need to keep remembering that a new protocol needs to be followed as the virus is clearly still active in the community. Every day, we heard from friends and people surrounding us that they are infected, finally. Though the symptoms are mild and many of them recovered in a week or so by themselves, we still need to learn about the daily measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Many are still unaware of the vaccine policy and have little knowledge about the severity of variants.
One thing everybody can do to help to prevent the spread of the virus is to note the symptoms and what the responses should be in case one is infected. With full vaccination, personal isolation for seven days when infected is the mandated rule. The severity of the present Omicron variant is limited. There should not be fear. The isolation policy for close contacts is under review and may change soon. Australians should be aware of all this to going through the “Living with Covid” phase of the pandemic.