COVID-19 updates comments and concerns

[G1Optimal]

So far it looks like omicron only infects nose throat and windpipe

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...5b19da975f2f36

[Tha_Phantom]

Some very promising news about omicron from our own deputy chief medical officer. This is consistent with what I've been reading about it elsewhere, including South Africa.
My biggest concern at this point is that it may mutate into a more harmful variant.

[griffin]

The federal and most state governments here seem to have given up with the whole testing system... trying to have people NOT get tested because they didn't ramp up availability and access during the surge.
No one would have predicted that Omicron would be so much more contagious, but with the states and country opening up at the end of last year, it was known that case numbers would go up here, but where was the ramping up of available testing sites and services?
Being caught with their pants down and unprepared, the authorities (led by the morrison government who backed themselves into a corner by pronouncing their intention to take a step back from the virus so that they aren't interfering with the freedoms of the people) have been constantly re-defining contact definitions and testing requirements to limit the numbers of people who can get PCR tests.
I can understand why they are changing the definitions and testing requirements, as it stops whole businesses and industries shutting down for up to two weeks just because of one infected person, but there are two major problems with the recent testing changes...
- 1) as more people are being encouraged to just use the home Rapid Tests, we won't have reliable case numbers from official sources, because people won't be required to report a positive result (unless they are wanting government assistance, and then have to get a PCR test).
- 2) the primary purpose of testing is to help find the infected people who don't have symptoms (who were in close proximity to someone who was infected), so that they are forced to isolate and not infect others without knowing it... but now if people are only being allowed to get tested if they have symptoms, it is only going to identify infected people who already should be isolating because they have symptoms and want a confirmation of it being covid.
Huge numbers may look bad (and Republican politicians in America are still trying to limit testing just to make their state's case numbers look better), but hiding the numbers don't prevent the infection from spreading... it just lets health services (and government agencies) know how bad the infection is in certain areas, to better prepare for it, and ramp up services where they are needed.

And media still isn't focusing on the proportions in ICU and deaths that are unvaccinated, so anti-vaxxers are having a field day with this explosion of case numbers with their claims that vaccines don't work (especially Palmer's United Party, with billboards all over the place stating that vaccines don't work). The vaccine isn't an impenetrable forcefield like on star trek, it is there to improve your chances when (not if) you catch it. With Delta and Omicron only having 3-4 days incubation until symptoms start showing, if your immune system takes more than that time to start generating anti-bodies, you probably won't survive... so having the anti-bodies in your system from day 1 from a vaccine, gives you a 2-3 day head-start with generating more anti-bodies when you need them.

[Golden Phoenix]

as more people are being encouraged to just use the home Rapid Tests, we won't have reliable case numbers from official sources, because people won't be required to report a positive result (unless they are wanting government assistance, and then have to get a PCR test).

In VIC they are making it mandatory to report a RAT positive result (through either a phone line or online portal of some sort), and said they will add them into the daily numbers. They said people who get a positive RAT result will have the same assistance as if they got a positive PCR result, so they don't have to then go and get a PCR test.

It's not 100% perfect, but it's something at least.

[DELTAprime]

In VIC they are making it mandatory to report a RAT positive result (through either a phone line or online portal of some sort), and said they will add them into the daily numbers. They said people who get a positive RAT result will have the same assistance as if they got a positive PCR result, so they don't have to then go and get a PCR test.

It's not 100% perfect, but it's something at least.

Too bad those RAT kits are so damn expensive in Australia.

[1AZRAEL1]

Unfortunately being charged like a raging bull for these tests means alot of people are just gonna say "screw it, I'll just keep working" and then spread it around. Scotty from marketing saying he doesn't want to undercut businesses and pharmacies is nothing but a cop-out

[christalcase]

Scotty from marketing saying he doesn't want to undercut businesses and pharmacies is nothing but a cop-out

I don't want to get into it too much other than I am disappointed with how State and Fed govt were so unprepared for this surge, after all the sacrifices we had made and all the warning signs that they had. However, I cannot believe Scott Morrison said that he doesn't want to stop business from ****ing the consumers so that they can still make record profits (Harvey Norman conveniently had stock of these tests to sell, as did other stores that you don't associate with medical supplies). I reckon he's just trying to cover himself for not buying enough of these in the first place but the least he could do is make a statement that makes it *seem* like he has the country's health in mind, rather than just economy economy economy (ignoring the fact that you need a healthy population to have a good economy as we seeing now with businesses forced to temporarily shut due to staff shortages).

[1AZRAEL1]

Ruby Princess makes headlines again, this time in San Francisco...

[Tha_Phantom]

Got covid close to two weeks ago. Yes, I am double-vaxxed.
Had a cold like condition for three days - runny nose, cough, small degree of weakness. The next few days it was mild with the occasional bad cough.
Didn't experience any breathing issues or loss of taste. Barely even had a fever most of the time. I've certainly felt sicker than this in my life (your experience may vary, this is just mine).
10 days on I can say I feel back to normal.

Worth noting that even 2 days into my peak symptoms I was still testing negative on home RATs.
On the 4th day (just after peak) I finally tested positive. So do be careful trusting RATs.

[G1Optimal]

Glad you got over it ok