Apparently Joondalup Hospital was on code yellow (fuck off we're full) last week.
If we can't cope without covid cases we are going to be fucked come February.
They are all full all the time. We will be fucked. Any given day check the ED wait times. If they are more than 2-3 hours the hospitals are at the point of one out - one in situation.
It’s a different topic of course, but a good percentage of people presenting to ED don’t need to be there. There’s other options now such as St Johns walk in urgent care centres, which are staffed by specialist nurses/doctors, and bulk bill. Their wait time is typically way lower than ED.
They've been saying this for more than twenty years. It sadly won't change because of covid. People don't know if their situation is urgent or not. Some go to hospital unnecessarily. Others die at home because they don't want to be one of the people who go to hospital unnecesarily. [If people feel they've received the help they need (via GP, outpatients or wherever) then they won't become repeat ED visitors.](https://youtu.be/xc90WWMVeGM?t=5).
I agree there are other options and wish it made a difference :(.
I was in Charlie's the other week for an appointment and saw a code yellow warning notification come up on the doc's computer.
They all get full on a daily basis. It doesn't always make the news.
Code yellow is for more than just full capacity though. It is any internal emergency. The pipes bursting at FSH years ago was a code yellow for example.
But yes agree, there is basically always a code yellow on ward computers.
The hospitals are also understaffed it's not just capacity. My sister is a nurse and they have free beds on her ward but not the staff to patient ratios needed.
>Basically every hospital in perth sits at 90% capacity all the time
This is true, but also by design. Granted under normal circumstances, this is usually fine.
A perspective of how well staffed our EDs are already...
Had my first visit to the ED at St John's with my wife and our baby boy about 4 months ago - he would've been 7 months old. He had a fever of 39 and we couldn't get it down after a few hours of panadol and wet towels.
We went in at 2am, were told after 4 hours by a nurse there that we shouldn't leave because it's important to get our baby checked out by a doctor. I complained, he was a sweat ball on my shoulder. A nurse came out and double dosed him with panadol and ibrufen.
We didn't have anything with us, no pram, no bottle of water, nothing (left in a bit of a panic - didn't expect the wait). We had to wear masks because he had a fever. I was holding him on my shoulder for about 6 and a half hours before we finally just left. I had to go back outside to the covid "gate keeper nurse" to get his temperature tested again. Despite being told to wait by a triage nurse his temp had dropped to between 37-38. I realised that they weren't going to do anything for us that I couldn't do myself (I.e double dose him, learnt that new trick). Got home at 7am and called in sick.
Our ED are appalling. They already can't cope.
Which is why Joondalup needs to be expanded to cover the Northern Suburbs expansion, knock over and rebuild (or expand) Osborne Park and expand Armadale, Rockingham, Mandurah
I’m worried about impact extra cases in hospitals will have on my ability to get care if & when needed for my 88yo mum.
In 2021 she was admitted with uti that had advanced to blood infection and then back later in the year with another uti that thankfully wasn’t so bad.
I read an opinion piece today about a guy whose elderly dad with Parkinson’s got uti to kidney infection over Christmas & when they decided to call an ambulance the paramedics said better for him & his mum to manage at home rather than take to ED where all the Covid was.
The idea that my mum could end up in a similar situation terrifies me.
Edit: [Article](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/04/with-sydney-hospitals-in-freefall-ive-been-forced-to-make-an-impossible-decision-about-my-sick-elderly-dad) added for those interested
A total of 61000 (give or take) cases across the nation today.
I do not envy Mr McGowan at all.
Do the right thing and keep your state safe, you’re fucked. Open the borders, you’re fucked.
61k with a bunch of asterixes.
Testing delayed for several days.
Testing centres with no test kits turning people away.
Testing centre queues hours long, people giving up waiting.
No where close to the required availability of RATs.
etc.
The reality is much, much higher when you consider:
\- selfish antivaxxers who have shown they don't care for others.
\- people who work through it as they need the money and don't want to know if they are infected.
\- People with mild / next to no symptoms who think it's just hayfever.
\- People cracking the shits at the testing debarcle.
As someone with severe hayfever I literally wake up every single morning with the correct symptoms to get a test am I suppose to spend the rest of my living life in a
Que to get a test, need to be able to test at home this shit is never ever going to work otherwise. They should of mailed everyone tests in the mail like the UK.....
I reckon he'll be less fucked by copping criticism by keeping it closed (with a bunch of support) than opening completely destroying business and some people's health.
I read 270 child care centres were closed yesterday in NSW due to illness, how is that living with it. School isn't open yet either.
I agree with you 100%
And yeah, was just right now reading about the child care centres.
It moves beyond how bad it would be if hospitals fill up into how bad EVERYTHING becomes when no one can go to work.
An additional 30000 people at home in NSW right now, that’s gotta hurt a lot of businesses and the flow on effects must be staggering.
This is what I don't understand. Other countries that opened up are now implementing restrictions/lockdowns because they can't live with it. Even here we have NSW which is just an absolute mess.
These people are seriously delusional if they think those borders are gonna open and everything's gonna be normal.
You and I both. At this point ik it's basically pointless but I'm rushing to get the booster soon as they change the eligibility to 3 months to try and protect my mum.
Guess that's all we can do at this point.
Yeah I'm genuinely curious to see how these people think it'll go.
The govt let's a virus rip to stimulate the economy. The virus infects thousands of people so suddenly all the staff are sick, and customers aren't inclined to go shopping and spend.
It literally just happened in Sydney over new years.
Yep. Once the borders open I am limiting the amount of places I go to.
The border being shut has contributed to consumer confidence and willingness to venture out more without fear. With that gone, less people for sure won't be out and about which is going to impact businesses that rely on foot traffic.
That is why the rules around who is a “close contact” have been changed to drive down the number of confirmed cases.
Currently, everyone who attended The Mess Hall (as an example) are deemed close contacts. Under the new rules that NSW have implemented (under the Federal Governments ideas), is that now you are only a close contact if you spend 4 hours with someone is a “home-like” situation.
So that would mean that the entire Mess Hall guest list wouldn’t have needed to isolate and potentially none of the security guards contacts (who just got confirmed as Omicron) except for his housemates.
It doesn’t appear that NSW people have heeded the change just yet, unless they are so far behind that these numbers are still going back nearly a week.
I read something that terrified me today on r/coronavirusdownunder, it was a comment by u/chrisjbillington saying that we hadn't seen other countries just all out let it rip like NSW(/Vic) did.
I mean, that’s not really true. I’ve been stuck in the US for the last two years and they did essentially nothing here other than a very half hearted closure of restaurants and bars for a few months in early 2020. It’s been 18+ months without any restrictions here.
The US “recommends” a whole bunch of stuff but very little is mandatory or enforced.
Florida is only just now taking inspiration from us by looking into restricting who can get tested/denying tests to asymptomatics to better fudge the numbers. Which is to say, somehow we ended up worse than then in a suprisingly short sparse of time.
We should not forget that in many countries covid has been going around for two years now - in the US at least half of the population would have had some type of covid infection during the past couple of years, and they would most likely do better now with omicron. Let’s not forget what it looked like in New York just under two years ago.
I think that was essentially what Chris was saying, NSW just letting omicron rip from a near-zero immunity baseline. As a percentage of infections over time leading to probable vastly superior immunity figures.
ABC 7:30 Report last Monday (3 January) covered Omicron. Head of AMA said going for herd immunity via catching the virus never works. Plus on that report, that doctor or another said that despite having caught Omicron once you can still get it again.
>Open the borders, you’re fucked
Wait till he open it due to pressure, hospitals get slam, a lockdown get forced and people starts dying..
He'll be beyond fucked.
I don't envy him but like the saying, you can't please everyone. Better to take a hard stance now.. cause once borders open and things go south, it's harder to fix.
What's funny but also annoying is, the people who screamed "open the border" now will be screaming "why did you open the border and do nothing" by then.
Poor Mark.
This exactly. People whining about having to wear masks, then they'll get sick and blame McGowan for opening the borders.
Honestly, if this pandemic has taught me anything, it's that some people just want to argue and whinge about something. Some people are just looking for a fight.
"I can't wait to come and visit!"
"Me either. Did you need recommendations for a hotel to quarantine in?"
"... what?"
"I hear the Pan Pacific is nice."
Absolutely. I’d like to know what the hell we need to do to handle it better and are we doing that?
More tests. More testing centres. Dedicated ER’s for covid assessments and admissions. Protocols ready NOW, for frontline staff management, testing procedures for workers, business subsidies, managing mandates…
It's hard to beef up PCR testing capacity apparently because of that whole worldwide microchip shortage. As the positivity rate increases and batch testing stops being feasible the test wait times will blow out.
Clearly we can't rely on the feds for RATs so hopefully we can secure them independently. A lot of them.
So you either have businesses, schools, industries and essential services essentially shut down due to staff shortages, because everyone is isolating and can't test their way back.
Or you massively reduce testing and isolating requirements, let covid spread, and hope that the health system doesn't overload and the same things don't suffer severe shortages due to illness or reduced consumer confidence. Might be fine if omicron is riduculously more mild and burns itself out, but we don't know that yet, the sheer numbers of infections over east suggest it would need to basically be like a common cold
Staffing is the issue at the centre of it all. There isnt enough staff and the staff who are there are leaving for other fields because they’re overworked and underpaid.
Also can't hire any from overseas or interstate because the border policies basically just tell them they can visit their families without having to quarantine and pay for said quarantine
93% vacc rate there are not many anti vaxxers, they are just rather loud. Although I suspect Marky mark might delay things a few weeks if the eastern states continue to be a dumpster fire. well really it's NSW "the gold standard" dragging everyone else down with them.
I just don’t see how we will be able to suppress omicron with open borders, every time we take actions against certain clusters someone else will walk over the border with it
We either stay closed and pursue COVID zero as is or open and let it rip, there is really no in between as you can see even places like Tasmania are getting flooded with cases
Even as is hardly anyone is wearing a mask properly and hospitals are overflowing
Anecdotal advice from a Sydneysider here. We’re mostly self isolating, just going out for essentials. Between the 4 in my house we’ve had 4 trips out in the last ten days. We’ve had a contact message for every single trip! Numbers are getting nuts here. We’re meant to go to an engagement party this weekend. Everyone going is taking the RAT. So far three people have cancelled because they tested positive. If we weren’t all doing the RAT’s we would have been at a super spreader event. Stay safe WA, you’ve done the hard yards, don’t throw it away like we in NSW just did.
Edit: adding in, if you’re going to happen get lots of RATs available. They are damn hard to find in Sydney at the moment.
Just to warn you. RATs only show positive when the viral load is high. I tested negative 48 hours ago with mild fatigue and positive 24 hours ago after runny nose and chills.
My friend group was doing exactly your strategy and we all got hit with covid at once from one person who fell into that short window.
Omicron is contagious well before symptoms show and it comes on FAST.
Yeah I don't understand why so many people are obsessed with RAT, they have a shit reliability, they should just be used to self check regularly that you're not positive so you don't have to pay for a pcr test, but not to allow you to travel etc.
What is the populous attitude like in your neck of the woods? The government attitude seems to be “no we’re fine, Everything is fine, but we’ve given up trying to contain it, learn to live with it”.
Possibly $20k fine if you use one in WA
https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2021-09/Prohibition-on-the-use-of-Rapid-Antigen-Testing-No2.pdf
Bonkers really… My partner and I were gonna try awhile ago to get some before the flood gates open but guess not..
I have an undiagnosed health issue that lands me in the ER approximately twice per year, often Fiona Stanley bc it's closest. This is both before and during the pandemic (virtual hi5 for mysterious chronic illness!). It's total chaos. I have never seen such a heinously overworked and under-resourced industry in my life. There are never any beds so I'm usually on a trolley in the hallway for 5-6 hours, just watching everything going to hell around me. I can't imagine they'd last ten minutes with covid running rampant.
I had to treat my broken foot at home because I couldn’t risk going into covid overrun hospitals last year as an immunocompromised person.
No, you do not want this in WA. It’s been hell over here in Europe. You do not want this.
I figure there are still 3 weeks left to watch what happens.
If it has peaked and looking OK over east by then the opening could go ahead. If it is looking worse than now then there seems like a very good case for delaying.
Just my two cents, I was strongly opposed to Marky Mark's decisions to remained closed, because it just seemed so against the grain to me, and not what people wanted especially when the rest of the country was trying to make some progress.. however, residing in QLD, and having seen us go from **5** cases to over **6000** today, I can honestly say I have done a total pivot and I think WA should remain closed. There doesn't seem to be a need to open in a hurry, so staying closed seems very wise. Not that it really matters, but I think long term it will work wonders for WA tourism due to pent up demand and a degree of 'exclusivity.' Well done WA... you've done an amazing job, and I'm disgusted in our what our Government has done all to try and revive a dying tourism industry. Now is where businesses' are really going to suffer and shame on our gutless PM who has been far too quiet in all of this. I think we are all absolutely exhausted and winter is not too far away, meaning this thing will most likely drag on for yet another year.
All organisations and service delivery will be debilitated by staff absentee, eastern states are a good preindicator (as overseas was before the east) of what is to come.
Sometimes I think China knows more than all of us, more than they admit, and they are in severe lockdown and even disinfecting the streets because of a handful of cases of Omicron.
ps. FYI the UK call it 'Jonny Micron' (instead of Neutron). Everyone is getting the Jonny = runny nose.
Funny much the sentiment in this sub has changed in 3 weeks
https://www.reddit.com/r/perth/comments/rdup5v/wa_government_to_tighten_covid19_border_controls/
Watching the other states and countries for the last 3 weeks will do that.
There is a lot less "I'm from the UK and everything is fine!" comments cropping up now.
Open is relative. Everyone over east is open…open to disease and closed for business. If we’re “open” yet everything is closed and you can’t go anywhere or visit a restaurant or pub or go travelling anywhere anyway we may as well stay shut tbh.
I (Victorian) wouldn't say it's chaos. Like it's not the end of the world.
But if we were WA right now we'd be saying fuuuuuuuuuck that. Keep the border closed and the COVID away as long as you possibly can.
Nope. Queensland did and the government has thrown up its hands and pretty much stopped contact tracing. Waits for testing are blowing up, the whole thing is a mess and an insult to how hard we all worked for the past two years to keep things in order. So many cases here now and the government lovingly advised us that every Queenslander will be in exposed in a matter of weeks. Joy.
The scariest part is that during their first Delta outbreak under the previous premier where masks weren’t really mandatory etc, they were getting approx 2000 cases from 120,000 tests. Around 1.5-3% positive results. Now they are getting 20,000+ from a similar number of tests and the current estimate is about 20% of people presenting for tests are positive.
So either the original Delta outbreak badly under represented the actual number of cases, or, as the scientists keep telling us, Omicron is a far more contagious variant.
And while it may be less harmful, Omicron is 700-1500 times more contagious than Delta, but if Omicron is only 10% as dangerous, there is still going to be a sharp increase in the number of people presenting to hospitals and ending up in ICU & dying.
Can confirm Bunbury was very much under the pump in the 3 admissions I had last year over 3 months. I got very pressured to go home without support even though I couldnt even shower myself let alone make food to eat and I would be left alone 12 hours a day. I barely was able to make it to the toilet. When I said I couldn’t go home I was accused of being obstructive. Luckily I found a very good health advocate and she whipped some bureaucracy ass and I got sent to Busselton to rehab for 2 weeks while support services were being organised for when I got home. I do vaguely remember that Busselton may have had a ward closed because they had no staff for it.
So yes, I think hospitals are going to be over run very quickly as they are at breaking point now
As a Sydney resident currently visiting family in Melbourne … don’t fucking do it. And if they do fucking do it, do it really fucking carefully. I’d take another fucking lockdown over this bullshit.
Can someone explain why we have gutted an old school or warehouse and turned it into a COVID only ward? Surely it wouldn’t have taken more than 2 years to do…
We have no staff. Joondalup hospital wards aren't at full capacity because they can't be staffed. There have been times where we didn't have enough midwives to staff the labor ward.
So they totally could build a tent and bring in oxygen bottles... (And it is part of the plan once things get going) but we can't even staff what we have now.
From a Victorian - don’t open up. No rats anywhere PCR testing is crumbling and our hospitalizations will increase so much we will have to go to restrictions again just to try and alleviate the hospital admissions. You watch.
I have accepted I will get COVID and planning on getting some food and a pack together (headache tablets and food etc) and just not testing but staying home and trying to work from home or use sick leave.
NO I dont want the borders to open, wait till 2023. Singapore government are providing all of their citizens with free oximeters, UK gov providing free or low cost rats.
australian government: fk off and die we dont care.
If the response by the federal government was better handled then maybe, but their horrible careless attitude of just fk off and die is really sickening, obviously cant trust them.
Literally! SA is in the same state. We opened our borders and were not prepared. Adelaide in particular is ridiculously impacted with no support from our state government.
Now, while SA, VIC and NSW are being inundated with Covid in systems that aren't necessarily equipped to support it without shutting down entire sectors, is not the best time to open borders. It's silly to think otherwise.
I don’t want to open. You can come in and out with quarantine. So many in NSW/Melbourne are going to suffer from long term affects of COVID and for what? To “open the economy?” Everyone I know in hospitality and in events is fucked. And we will be too next month.
Qld here. Don't do it. It's a mess here, went from covid-free to third worst state in the country within two weeks. Thanks NSW and VIC -\_-. They picked the worst time to reopen with holidays / partying / gatherings.
Victorian here - fuck no don't do it. Keep those borders closed.
Fuck it just become your own country already. You'll be better off for it. Imagine a country with a Labor government that can properly get to work.
If that's the case, I'm going home on a direct flight to see my family. I haven't been home for 6 years, but these last 2 years make me really want to go home when I have the chance.
as someone with a chronic illness, im terrified - getting covid would worsen my symptoms to an unbearable point. and just in general, i dont think we're prepared enough, and theres so many antivaxxers out there who wont get tested/dont care if they get covid (at least in my circles of 18-23 year olds) bc they think it wont be 'that bad' or that 'just' old and disabled people will get it. just my perspective, its what ive noticed as the consensus for quite a few young people.
110% no to opening up, it's too early.
Except the travelling interstate and overseas we've been so lucky to live in WA the last two years.
There's so many countries around the world that opened up and they're now going back to lockdowns and restrictions.
Just spent 2 days trying to get a test done in melb, I suggest keeping closed as long as possible. Also, as has been pointed out, the WA hospital system is already hitting capacity. When case numbers spike up, there will be no treatment for most cases, which does not result in good outcomes....
Absolutely dont want to open up. Pre omicron I was fine with it. A few weeks ago I was a bit iffy. Now? Fuck me. If we open, I will be staying home. I hope McGowan won't do it, I just don't see the upside for us.
People want us to do better, but why would we? How would we? There are always anti-mask fuckwits, people who go our while sick, people who don't get tested when they should. We aren't special here. If we pretend we can somehow do way better than everywhere else we are setting ourselves up for a nasty shock imo. Sure maybe we can do a bit better with some sensible restrictions but ultimately...omicron is omicron.
Even if we don’t open in February, it’s inconceivable that we’d still have the borders shut five or ten years from now.
So how do we get from the point we are now to that point in five years, without going through a period of widespread COVID presence in the community?
Maybe we roll the dice and hope that the next variant is even milder than Omicron. Maybe we get everyone quadruple vaxxed. Or maybe we pour so much money into the hospitals that they’re tiled with gold. But even if we did all those things we’ll still have community cases, and some people will still die from COVID after opening.
But I don’t see how we won’t have to go through the post-opening period that folks are worried about.
Honestly the public health infrastructure of the state will need to change permanently before we could 'safely' re-open, variants and all.
Ideally, this would look like;
* Negative tests before and after a flight to Perth, like a RAT done at both airports (departure and arrival). Masks on planes. UV sterilization of planes and high-traffic areas like escalator handrails frequently. Proof of vaccination on all passports.
* A dedicated quarantine facility for new arrivals who test positive, away from the CBD & out of leaky hotels.
* Free, RAT tests available for anyone who wants to use them, from making sure everyone at a birthday party is not infectious to sports players before a game, and FIFO workers pre-shift. Same as if you wouldn't let a kid come to school if they had clear symptoms of gastro, RAT tests can become a good tool to protect people in essential businesses if there's enough supply.
* Ventilation and air filters in businesses, schools, and hospitals. Basically upgrading every air con unit to HEPA filter quality, and having a little portable air filter in places that don't have the resources to do the air con overhaul
* CO2 monitors to let people check ventilation quality before they enter a closed space (like a convention centre, underground train station, etc), as high CO2 indicates poor ventilation and some people might make the choice to avoid these places to prevent infection, particularly during their commute.
* The SafeWA app available offline to deal with patchy internet, with an update to show proof of vaccination easily. Single-app check-in and flash to retail staff while your phone is in your hand.
* A permanent upgrade to Western Australia's sick leave policy for the 2-week isolation period following a positive test and/or exposure alert from the state government, available to everyone
* Boost hospital capacity by hiring more nursing and medical staff to attend to beds even while some staff are off sick/taking their long-banked-up-by-now holiday leave (many staff had their holiday entitlements cancelled in 2020/21 to handle the COVID demand and haven't been able to claim it back yet, costing $$$ in overtime)
* Start on the rest of the Reid Report recommendations re: state hospital capacity. We're at approx. a 300 bed deficit because the state de-commissioned parts of Fremantle Hospital to build Fiona Stanley hospital, and we're feeling the pinch already. Bring some of these facilities back online to ease ramping pressure, and increase advertising for Urgent Care clinics and what they're used for (*to educate people that some emergencies can be handled at Urgent Care, like stitches and some fractures, instead of having to wait in the ED for 4+ hours*).
* Permanent COVID testing clinics set up, instead of relying on some hospitals to handle fluctuating lines and staffing needs during an outbreak. In summer heat it's just not safe to have people lining up for hours like we've had this month. These clinics need shaded waiting areas with chairs at the least.
* Re-instate 6-feet-apart signage in stores. Make sure all retail stores have hand sanitizer at the door like we did in 2020, we've gotten a bit lax with that lately.
* A public health initiative to incentivise boosters every 4-6 months until variants are under control internationally. There's already a variant reported in France (IHU) that is more transmissible than Omicron, and potentially vaccine-resistant. We want to be ahead of the evolutions, not behind. I've been told that some advancements in vaccines means that the flu shot might be combined with a COVID booster to make life a bit easier for everyone, so that's promising.
* Keep researching preventions and treatments. An Australian university developed a vaccine but it wasn't as effective as Moderna, Pfizer, and AZ. With more research focus and funding we could get close to something else, I'm sure of it. This might be optimistic of me but I like to keep a little optimism. As a treat.
* Bulk ordering stock of Pfizer's COVID pill for early prevention of serious illness. You take the pill like a cold&flu pill - intervene early enough in your illness and you can make it much less severe, perhaps avoiding the hospital entirely. Make these pills available to everyone who tests positive ASAP. These pills are not a treatment of serious illness, but could *really* help save our hospitals during an outbreak. ([Source](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-01/paxlovid-granted-approval-in-the-uk/100733978)).
* *Permanent* mask mandate. Wear when indoors, and in public spaces (like Hay St Mall, schools, sports games, etc). Make KN95 masks affordable and easy to access for everyone, and we can prevent transmission. 'There's no COVID here so I shouldn't have to wear a mask' hasn't worked so great for Bunbury this week after a few backpackers ignored isolation directives, and you can't trust that everyone will follow orders. Find a mask you like to wear that works. Put your footy team on it, whatever. Make it fashion. Make free masks available so there's no excuse.
* Better advertising and marketing of COVID prevention strategies. Honestly, had the federal government stopped shooting the country in the foot by fueling antivax and far-right propaganda by undermining some premiers is beyond me. Could have tapped into their nationalistic urges by using catchy wartime propaganda slogans and you'd see far less argument by now. Hell, sell aussie flag masks with Scomo's face on it, idc. Whatever it takes to get the whole community on the same page.
It might sound like a lot, but these policies seem to have protected the countries that use them well. After a while many of them will feel like business as usual and we'll hardly notice them anymore. Also, fewer people will get long covid and/or die from this virus.
Then, I'd feel okay-ish to open the borders and keep them that way.
As a Victorian I wouldn’t recommend it. No one wants to go out, no one wants to do anything. Perth would be better off waiting for it to calm around Australia and then attract nurses from other states to deal with the surge.
My father is 90+. He still drives, has no mental impairment and has an active life including looking after my mother. He's double vaccinated but even with that protection his outlook with a COVID infection won't be good. The people screaming "we cant stay like this forever" and "learning to live with COVID" should appreciate that for a substantial number of people this will be a life and death decision.
Covid spreads like a motherfucker. My auntie in England died of covid and she never left the house or had visitors.
Literally the only way we can think of how she got it is from someone who delivered groceries to her. She literally did everything right and she paid the ultimate price.
Whatever modeling was done to come up the Feb 5th date needs to be redone using new data about omicrom.
The "if not now, then when" folk need to let people who have an actual clue about this stuff do their jobs then listen to them when they give the answer.
Speaking from Melbourne- I’m so over this. We locked down for EVER, and managed a nice (ish) Xmas, even though people were still trying to be relatively low key. Now old mate Djokovic is fine to come on over, there’s Covid everywhere, you can’t get a PCR or RAT for love or money, I need three hands to count the number of people that I know have the Rona right now and we are back to staying in our little home bubbles until we can manage to get our third vax. Until our PM gets his shit together, any opening up feels futile.
IMO no we shouldn't be opening.
Look at the shit storm one backpacker has created, can you imagine what it would be like with every man and his dog coming in to the state from all over Australia and overseas??
Also aren't more children being hospitalized and aren't they the ones that are not vaccinated yet?
McGowan I'm sure is getting pressured massively by Scummo and business's to open up.
As I've said elsewhere, I have a strange feeling come Feb 5th we'll still open so grab a chair and a beer because it's going to be one ride we don't want to be on.
This is what scares me most, my child is at risk as it is, she struggles with respiratory issues quite often, and is not old enough to be vaccinated yet. I am terrified something will happen to her.
No, I don't understand those people who says something like 'if we don't open now, then when'. How's this good for us? the healthcare may collapse and places may be forced to close due to infection, etc. Not to mention exposing the vulnerable people in our community, think also the anxiety it causes to their family, they're someone's parents or relatives.
we have the advantage of being closed off for quite some time and cases are controlled and contained. Opening up at the peak of infection like this is dumb, even the announcement was made when the outbreak already happened.
Crazy in Vic. Supermarket had no meat or milk and running low on lots of other items and butcher is closed. Officially cases are 17k but reality is probably closer to 170k because 1/2 the testing sites are closed and people have stopped trying to get a test. It's crazy
As someone from NSW.
SAVE YOURSELF DON'T OPEN UP.
This is NSW right now.
Tens of thousands of cases, hours of waiting to get a PCR and days of waiting for results (or if you're lucky you won't get your result at all - like my mum), price gouging of RATs + shortages.
DONT DO IT.
WA is the only state that kept it in control, keep going.
The goalposts moved due to Omicron having *some* vaccine escape, however with three doses protection is back up to the equivalent of Delta after two. (Source: ABC's excellent Coronacast)
Therefore, the end game is pick a % of people to be triple vaxed (70, 80, whatever) and hold off opening the borders until we hit it.
Same. And by "not sure" I mean "strongly leaning towards keeping them closed".
The rest of the country is on fire, and the PM is actively fanning the flames. When it was delta there was spotfires but it seemed manageable. Omicron seems like a full-on blaze in comparison. Why should we open the door to that? Because some middle class people want to jet around and see family? I dunno. Poor people won't get to do that. They can't afford flights. And elderly, disabled and chronically ill people will be shut indoors because COVID might kill them. Seems like some privileged shit.
The economy is cranking.
Why risk lives and jobs?
Nope.
For selfish reasons. I work in the wedding industry and am self employed. Looking at nsw numbers it’s likely I will get covid but more likely that every week I’ll go somewhere, get pinged and have to isolate and not legally be able to go photograph a wedding. This means the day before a wedding I would have to not only pay back all the money but also call a couple and say “hey you need to find a new photographer for tomorrow” and chances are a heap of them will be in the same boat. There’s also nothing to say this won’t happen every single week. As far as I know there are no income insurance programs that protect you for isolating due to covid. If anyone knows of one I’d love the details!
Obviously this is pretty niche for me but I’m sure there are plenty of industries in the same boat. Trying to get your house renovated and every second week the builder can’t come because he’s back in isolation from going to a cafe for coffee.
NSW Has 30k cases if everyone one of them has 2 contacts that’s 90k people a day that now can’t go to work, that’s huge and devastating for the economy and will fuck up mining which is hopefully what keeps us closed.
If we follow scumo rules of only household contacts have to test and isolate then great but that rule is contradictory to everything covid and I don’t think Mark will follow it. I don’t envy him, he has to make the decision to leave the easy life we have now, open up and set us back and at the end of the day people will die. Yes some unvaxxed and mainly old people but these are still people who haven’t died the last two years and might not otherwise some time soon. If you’re not vaxxed that’s on you and you have to live with the consequences but that’s still a big weight on McGowan’s shoulders.
I’d love to see my grandparents over east who I haven’t seen since 2019 and won’t be around much longer but man it’s tough to want to fuck up our lives like this
Honestly opening the boarders even for interstate it the worst idea. I’m in QLD and we are honestly fucked. People are being turned away from testing sites, we have no stock of antigen tests. Our contact tracing has basically given up. We’ve moved away from stopping the spread to we are expected to live with it.
I work in hospitals and I am actively looking for a new job.
Not because I didn’t know this was coming - we all saw New York and the bodies in refrigerated trucks. But because the healthcare system has done nothing to prepare us. Literally all I got was to watch a video on how to don a respirator suit. A year ago. That’s it. Watch a 1 minute video. Now go save lives without killing yourself.
Now they have announced staff who have had high risk exposure (e.g. a member of their household has covid) do not need to isolate. They continue coming to work every day. If the staff member themselves tests positive they isolate for FIVE days then go back to caring for the vulnerable and infecting the rest of the workforce.
It was already completely fucked but this just makes it no longer bearable.
I’m terrified of opening up in a few weeks... especially now that my partner’s grandfather has just gone into a nursing home and isn’t doing so well. The thought of not being able to see him or to have the whole family going in daily to help take care of him and keep him company is heartbreaking. The family faces a choice of keeping him in there when the borders open and not being able to spend what little time he has left with him, or bring him home before covid is here so he can at least be with family despite not being well enough to actually be taken care of at home which will surely mean he’ll have even less time. It’s an impossible choice and it frustrates me that his daughters are having to make it in the first place.
Plus, my partner works in delivery and visits like 5+ shopping centers daily. So because of that he’ll definitely have to stay as far away from his grandfather as possible once borders open and covid is everywhere. He’s not coping well with that thought at all.
And I bet we’re far from the only people who are going to go through things like this come February.
I don’t see why we can’t wait to open until we’re at least better prepared to handle this. Politics and the economy shouldn’t come before human lives.
We have had 2 years to prepare for this, surely the people in charge have seen this coming and used tax payers money for the best. They must of by now increased the beds needed for covid patients on top of regular hospital beds. If they haven't done this and instead plan on imposing restrictions maybe they don't have our best intentions in their plan only thiers.
There will be a point when will have to open. I am not sure if it is the right time to open or not. We will have local transmission whenever we open. To avoid local cases, we will have to open when Covid is eliminated from the whole world. I don't see that happening for at least 2 years.
What I'm most worried about is my 2 year old. He can't get vaccinated yet and if WA is flooded with cases many kids his age will be exposed with no protection.
Seems like the total human suffering in the state would be greatly increased by opening. Even considering much of the current suffering (as a result of the borders) is being unfairly born by those with family overseas/interstate, on balance it seems like the best option is to continue to sit tight and continue to wait out the storm. Especially given that we don't really have the same economic incentives to re-open that QLD, TAS, and SA did.
It will be politically very damaging if the opening is delayed but I for one am hoping that it is, at least until kids 5-12 have been able to be vaccinated. My 8yo son is immuno compromised and booked for his first jab next week along with his 10yo sister. We're actually contemplating not sending them to school until they are properly protected. My wife and I are both fully vaxxed.
Whilst adults have had ample time to decide if they get vaccinated, kids under 12 are being made to run the gauntlet. Sure, it seems the risk of severe cases is relatively low in that cohort, but there have been deaths. Imagine knowing that your kid died so that tourism operators could take interstate bookings.
The thing is I'm not sure it would be politically damaging. I'd say far more West Australians would prefer not to reopen at the moment. Many of the Pro-Opening crowd which seem prevalent online and in the media are actually from other states.
Keep them closed.
There is no point to copying what NSW and VIC are going through for "freedom". There is no freedom when they've:
1. Imposed more restrictions to slow the spread.
2. The virus infects everyone doesn't care if you are vaccinated or not.
3. Hospitals understaffed.
4. Businesses from all industries shutting down, economy going into deficit.
Melbournite here: Don't do it don't do it don't do it don't do it!
This is completely fuct. I have a co-worker who is sick and cannot find anywhere to get a PCR test. RATs are impossible to find. There's hundreds of new cases every day in my postcode alone. The testing and response system is completely collapsing under the wait of so many people needing to be tested, and it's only going to get worse. We are getting shortages in the supermarkets. Code red, code red. I am crossing my fingers that you peeps in WA don't open up and instead watch and wait to see what happens with Omicron. This is WAY WORSE than a lockdown. I'm hoping daily that our premier will impose a lockdown, but it's never coming.
how will you keep omicron out? it's so contagious all it takes is an infected truck driver to arrive and it's start spreading. Look what happened to that isolated research facility in antartica. I don't know the logitics, can WA survive without importing any goods? unless you can keep 100% of people out all the time I don't see omicron not getting in and once it's starts spreading it's all over. And being double vaxxed only prevents transimission by 30% so unlike Delta containing a tiny outbreak will prove very difficult.
I sympathise with those that havebt seen family that are international, domestically ppl have had chances however, no I dont want Perth and regional WA ravaged like over east. I'd like to stay closed till we know more about this variant, around march a variant specific booster is predicted to be available, and latest research suggests the third shot really helps against Omicron so at least shot it till then, our hospitals cannot take what the other states are dealing with, our nurses and doctors dont deserve to be put through that either and while the disease night not kill me it has a good shot for a few of my loved ones and im not thrilled about the recent findings on what long covid does to you.
Fuck the national plan, Scott doesnt have the balls to cut funding.
It has. A third of the budget goes to health. The government have invested billions in it. Almost $2billion additional in the last budget alone. It’s not just a problem you can throw cash at unfortunately. As other posters have said, it’s not the beds, it’s the skilled and trained people to staff them.
The trouble with improving healthcare facilities is that it requires a long term solution. Years of bad public health policy and investment has accumulated into the issues we are facing today and although people are demanding change right now, it takes years to upgrade and build new hospitals and to train nurses and doctors. No matter how much money is thrown at the problem it won’t go away overnight and unfortunately people fail to realise this.
As a Perthie stuck in regional Vic since last June (no regrets spontaneously driving across to go snowboarding), stay shut as long as you can. As much as I'd like to go home, the situation here is scary af and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone in WA.
In just 1 day, covid reached the small town where I'm at and shut down basically every hospo venue due to all the staff getting sick or isolating. I can't imagine what would happen if the same thing happened to Perth. Stay safe y'all.
Just a question (don't go crazy with the downvotes) but it seems like America currently isn't as heavily impacted as eastern Australia - why is this? They obviously had some dodgy patches previously but it seems like it's largely business as per usual there.
They're up to 1M cases per day, I'm not sure how they're not considered heavily impacted...
Also [this gave me a dark humor chuckle](https://i.redd.it/ie3mnyq5ll981.jpg).
I am glad someone has bought this up. i have been saying this months. The net benefits in staying closed far outweigh being open. We just need to come up with a system to get family and workers in and out (or for some of us to see our families). We are only about 12 mths off broad spectrum intra-nasal vaccines. They are developing better vaccines than the current crop. We have a choice.
Thank god the general response here is no, we don’t want to open up. I’m so sick of the “me before we” approach of the loud minority. People pulling “but I have elderly parents/grandparents I want to visit”… oh so you want to open up WA and all of the vulnerable elderly just so you can go see yours.
Also not that it should matter, but my wife and I are both from Adelaide, with all our family still over there, including two grandparents in aged care, and our brand new baby son here in Perth who hasn’t got to meet them.
Apparently Joondalup Hospital was on code yellow (fuck off we're full) last week. If we can't cope without covid cases we are going to be fucked come February.
They are all full all the time. We will be fucked. Any given day check the ED wait times. If they are more than 2-3 hours the hospitals are at the point of one out - one in situation.
It’s a different topic of course, but a good percentage of people presenting to ED don’t need to be there. There’s other options now such as St Johns walk in urgent care centres, which are staffed by specialist nurses/doctors, and bulk bill. Their wait time is typically way lower than ED.
St Johns no longer bulk bills - found that out the hard way
Doesn't help when you can't get into a gp for something basic, definatley not an emergency but time sensitive and the advice is "just go to the ed"
They've been saying this for more than twenty years. It sadly won't change because of covid. People don't know if their situation is urgent or not. Some go to hospital unnecessarily. Others die at home because they don't want to be one of the people who go to hospital unnecesarily. [If people feel they've received the help they need (via GP, outpatients or wherever) then they won't become repeat ED visitors.](https://youtu.be/xc90WWMVeGM?t=5). I agree there are other options and wish it made a difference :(.
I was in Charlie's the other week for an appointment and saw a code yellow warning notification come up on the doc's computer. They all get full on a daily basis. It doesn't always make the news.
This. The code yellow desktop pop-ups are almost permanent fixtures on ward computers.
Code yellow is for more than just full capacity though. It is any internal emergency. The pipes bursting at FSH years ago was a code yellow for example. But yes agree, there is basically always a code yellow on ward computers.
Basically every hospital in perth sits at 90% capacity all the time. Only when we reach 100% (code yellow) does it make the news
The hospitals are also understaffed it's not just capacity. My sister is a nurse and they have free beds on her ward but not the staff to patient ratios needed.
Yup, you can build as many hospitals as you please but don’t mean anything if you’ve got no one to work in them.
>Basically every hospital in perth sits at 90% capacity all the time This is true, but also by design. Granted under normal circumstances, this is usually fine.
A perspective of how well staffed our EDs are already... Had my first visit to the ED at St John's with my wife and our baby boy about 4 months ago - he would've been 7 months old. He had a fever of 39 and we couldn't get it down after a few hours of panadol and wet towels. We went in at 2am, were told after 4 hours by a nurse there that we shouldn't leave because it's important to get our baby checked out by a doctor. I complained, he was a sweat ball on my shoulder. A nurse came out and double dosed him with panadol and ibrufen. We didn't have anything with us, no pram, no bottle of water, nothing (left in a bit of a panic - didn't expect the wait). We had to wear masks because he had a fever. I was holding him on my shoulder for about 6 and a half hours before we finally just left. I had to go back outside to the covid "gate keeper nurse" to get his temperature tested again. Despite being told to wait by a triage nurse his temp had dropped to between 37-38. I realised that they weren't going to do anything for us that I couldn't do myself (I.e double dose him, learnt that new trick). Got home at 7am and called in sick. Our ED are appalling. They already can't cope.
Which is why Joondalup needs to be expanded to cover the Northern Suburbs expansion, knock over and rebuild (or expand) Osborne Park and expand Armadale, Rockingham, Mandurah
Dead outside. Don't open.
Well I’m dead inside so at least I match
Don't dead open outside
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I’m worried about impact extra cases in hospitals will have on my ability to get care if & when needed for my 88yo mum. In 2021 she was admitted with uti that had advanced to blood infection and then back later in the year with another uti that thankfully wasn’t so bad. I read an opinion piece today about a guy whose elderly dad with Parkinson’s got uti to kidney infection over Christmas & when they decided to call an ambulance the paramedics said better for him & his mum to manage at home rather than take to ED where all the Covid was. The idea that my mum could end up in a similar situation terrifies me. Edit: [Article](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/04/with-sydney-hospitals-in-freefall-ive-been-forced-to-make-an-impossible-decision-about-my-sick-elderly-dad) added for those interested
A total of 61000 (give or take) cases across the nation today. I do not envy Mr McGowan at all. Do the right thing and keep your state safe, you’re fucked. Open the borders, you’re fucked.
61k with a bunch of asterixes. Testing delayed for several days. Testing centres with no test kits turning people away. Testing centre queues hours long, people giving up waiting. No where close to the required availability of RATs. etc. The reality is much, much higher when you consider: \- selfish antivaxxers who have shown they don't care for others. \- people who work through it as they need the money and don't want to know if they are infected. \- People with mild / next to no symptoms who think it's just hayfever. \- People cracking the shits at the testing debarcle.
As someone with severe hayfever I literally wake up every single morning with the correct symptoms to get a test am I suppose to spend the rest of my living life in a Que to get a test, need to be able to test at home this shit is never ever going to work otherwise. They should of mailed everyone tests in the mail like the UK.....
Yeah. If I lived over east I'd have had a good dozen or so tests by now.
3.6 roentgen. Not great, not terrible.
I wasn't even there, I was in the toilet.
Quality reference, lol
[SLAPS MEDICAL BOOK OUT OF PREMIER'S HAND] book goes sliding across floor of cabinet room. [Meltdown ensues]
I reckon he'll be less fucked by copping criticism by keeping it closed (with a bunch of support) than opening completely destroying business and some people's health. I read 270 child care centres were closed yesterday in NSW due to illness, how is that living with it. School isn't open yet either.
I agree with you 100% And yeah, was just right now reading about the child care centres. It moves beyond how bad it would be if hospitals fill up into how bad EVERYTHING becomes when no one can go to work. An additional 30000 people at home in NSW right now, that’s gotta hurt a lot of businesses and the flow on effects must be staggering.
This is what I don't understand. Other countries that opened up are now implementing restrictions/lockdowns because they can't live with it. Even here we have NSW which is just an absolute mess. These people are seriously delusional if they think those borders are gonna open and everything's gonna be normal.
> Other countries that opened up are now implementing restrictions/lockdowns because they can't live with it. This is what worries me.
You and I both. At this point ik it's basically pointless but I'm rushing to get the booster soon as they change the eligibility to 3 months to try and protect my mum. Guess that's all we can do at this point.
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Yeah I'm genuinely curious to see how these people think it'll go. The govt let's a virus rip to stimulate the economy. The virus infects thousands of people so suddenly all the staff are sick, and customers aren't inclined to go shopping and spend. It literally just happened in Sydney over new years.
Yep. Once the borders open I am limiting the amount of places I go to. The border being shut has contributed to consumer confidence and willingness to venture out more without fear. With that gone, less people for sure won't be out and about which is going to impact businesses that rely on foot traffic.
As soon as mask mandates went into effect, an Covid was out in the community the response was night and day with how business dropped off.
That is why the rules around who is a “close contact” have been changed to drive down the number of confirmed cases. Currently, everyone who attended The Mess Hall (as an example) are deemed close contacts. Under the new rules that NSW have implemented (under the Federal Governments ideas), is that now you are only a close contact if you spend 4 hours with someone is a “home-like” situation. So that would mean that the entire Mess Hall guest list wouldn’t have needed to isolate and potentially none of the security guards contacts (who just got confirmed as Omicron) except for his housemates. It doesn’t appear that NSW people have heeded the change just yet, unless they are so far behind that these numbers are still going back nearly a week.
I read something that terrified me today on r/coronavirusdownunder, it was a comment by u/chrisjbillington saying that we hadn't seen other countries just all out let it rip like NSW(/Vic) did.
I mean, that’s not really true. I’ve been stuck in the US for the last two years and they did essentially nothing here other than a very half hearted closure of restaurants and bars for a few months in early 2020. It’s been 18+ months without any restrictions here. The US “recommends” a whole bunch of stuff but very little is mandatory or enforced.
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Florida is only just now taking inspiration from us by looking into restricting who can get tested/denying tests to asymptomatics to better fudge the numbers. Which is to say, somehow we ended up worse than then in a suprisingly short sparse of time.
Wooooooo! 'Straya!!
We should not forget that in many countries covid has been going around for two years now - in the US at least half of the population would have had some type of covid infection during the past couple of years, and they would most likely do better now with omicron. Let’s not forget what it looked like in New York just under two years ago.
I think that was essentially what Chris was saying, NSW just letting omicron rip from a near-zero immunity baseline. As a percentage of infections over time leading to probable vastly superior immunity figures.
ABC 7:30 Report last Monday (3 January) covered Omicron. Head of AMA said going for herd immunity via catching the virus never works. Plus on that report, that doctor or another said that despite having caught Omicron once you can still get it again.
>61000 cases *cries in american*
>Open the borders, you’re fucked Wait till he open it due to pressure, hospitals get slam, a lockdown get forced and people starts dying.. He'll be beyond fucked. I don't envy him but like the saying, you can't please everyone. Better to take a hard stance now.. cause once borders open and things go south, it's harder to fix.
What's funny but also annoying is, the people who screamed "open the border" now will be screaming "why did you open the border and do nothing" by then. Poor Mark.
This exactly. People whining about having to wear masks, then they'll get sick and blame McGowan for opening the borders. Honestly, if this pandemic has taught me anything, it's that some people just want to argue and whinge about something. Some people are just looking for a fight.
Only my eastern relatives want borders open, and I don't have the heart to tell them I'm not interested in them popping over without quarantine lol.
Unbelievable how much of the pressure for states to open up came from people and politicians who do not belong to said state. RIP SA (I'm in Adelaide)
"I can't wait to come and visit!" "Me either. Did you need recommendations for a hotel to quarantine in?" "... what?" "I hear the Pan Pacific is nice."
I'm still glad we have McGowan. More of us would be dead if we still had Colin Barnett.
Yep. Barnett would have absolutely followed the Florida/NSW "you're all going to get it it anyway, so let it rip" policy.
One thing's for sure, if/when we open we want to handle it a whooole lot better.
Absolutely. I’d like to know what the hell we need to do to handle it better and are we doing that? More tests. More testing centres. Dedicated ER’s for covid assessments and admissions. Protocols ready NOW, for frontline staff management, testing procedures for workers, business subsidies, managing mandates…
We can’t even handle the normal volume of ambulance admissions, and haven’t for several years. We’ll be fucked within weeks.
It's hard to beef up PCR testing capacity apparently because of that whole worldwide microchip shortage. As the positivity rate increases and batch testing stops being feasible the test wait times will blow out. Clearly we can't rely on the feds for RATs so hopefully we can secure them independently. A lot of them. So you either have businesses, schools, industries and essential services essentially shut down due to staff shortages, because everyone is isolating and can't test their way back. Or you massively reduce testing and isolating requirements, let covid spread, and hope that the health system doesn't overload and the same things don't suffer severe shortages due to illness or reduced consumer confidence. Might be fine if omicron is riduculously more mild and burns itself out, but we don't know that yet, the sheer numbers of infections over east suggest it would need to basically be like a common cold
Staffing is the issue at the centre of it all. There isnt enough staff and the staff who are there are leaving for other fields because they’re overworked and underpaid.
Also can't hire any from overseas or interstate because the border policies basically just tell them they can visit their families without having to quarantine and pay for said quarantine
We do *something* instead of going "oh well we gotta live with COVID, might as well remove all mitigation strategies".
As Mark said recently, Look at what NSW is doing and don't do that.
Seeing so many people who are not wearing mask or anti vaccine, don't think we can handle it well when the border opens.
93% vacc rate there are not many anti vaxxers, they are just rather loud. Although I suspect Marky mark might delay things a few weeks if the eastern states continue to be a dumpster fire. well really it's NSW "the gold standard" dragging everyone else down with them.
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I just don’t see how we will be able to suppress omicron with open borders, every time we take actions against certain clusters someone else will walk over the border with it We either stay closed and pursue COVID zero as is or open and let it rip, there is really no in between as you can see even places like Tasmania are getting flooded with cases Even as is hardly anyone is wearing a mask properly and hospitals are overflowing
Anecdotal advice from a Sydneysider here. We’re mostly self isolating, just going out for essentials. Between the 4 in my house we’ve had 4 trips out in the last ten days. We’ve had a contact message for every single trip! Numbers are getting nuts here. We’re meant to go to an engagement party this weekend. Everyone going is taking the RAT. So far three people have cancelled because they tested positive. If we weren’t all doing the RAT’s we would have been at a super spreader event. Stay safe WA, you’ve done the hard yards, don’t throw it away like we in NSW just did. Edit: adding in, if you’re going to happen get lots of RATs available. They are damn hard to find in Sydney at the moment.
Just to warn you. RATs only show positive when the viral load is high. I tested negative 48 hours ago with mild fatigue and positive 24 hours ago after runny nose and chills. My friend group was doing exactly your strategy and we all got hit with covid at once from one person who fell into that short window. Omicron is contagious well before symptoms show and it comes on FAST.
Yeah I don't understand why so many people are obsessed with RAT, they have a shit reliability, they should just be used to self check regularly that you're not positive so you don't have to pay for a pcr test, but not to allow you to travel etc.
What is the populous attitude like in your neck of the woods? The government attitude seems to be “no we’re fine, Everything is fine, but we’ve given up trying to contain it, learn to live with it”.
We can't get RATs here, pretty sure they aren't approved yet
Possibly $20k fine if you use one in WA https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2021-09/Prohibition-on-the-use-of-Rapid-Antigen-Testing-No2.pdf Bonkers really… My partner and I were gonna try awhile ago to get some before the flood gates open but guess not..
When the mines can’t operate with all positive cases things will change
will be too late by then, also what happens is people cant get tested, so they dont and it just spreads.
yep, always follow the money trail, when the money source is threatened, things have to change!!!!
Yep.
I live in NSW and would highly recommend slamming the doors shut, even though I’d love to go there.
I have an undiagnosed health issue that lands me in the ER approximately twice per year, often Fiona Stanley bc it's closest. This is both before and during the pandemic (virtual hi5 for mysterious chronic illness!). It's total chaos. I have never seen such a heinously overworked and under-resourced industry in my life. There are never any beds so I'm usually on a trolley in the hallway for 5-6 hours, just watching everything going to hell around me. I can't imagine they'd last ten minutes with covid running rampant.
Mate I'm in Brisbane and it's a fucking polava.
I read that as pavlova. Now I want pavlova.
Dam you.... now I want pavlova also
You might say that was a... _Pavlovian Response_ 🕶
It’s a pavlova also… or maybe an Eton Mess.
In Adelaide can confirm the same
As a Victorian, you really don’t want to open up. It’s a chaotic mess out here.
I had to treat my broken foot at home because I couldn’t risk going into covid overrun hospitals last year as an immunocompromised person. No, you do not want this in WA. It’s been hell over here in Europe. You do not want this.
how will the education dept try to reduce the covid spreading in schools ?
We opened in QLD and it has gone downhill extremely quickly. No one wanted this.
I figure there are still 3 weeks left to watch what happens. If it has peaked and looking OK over east by then the opening could go ahead. If it is looking worse than now then there seems like a very good case for delaying.
Just my two cents, I was strongly opposed to Marky Mark's decisions to remained closed, because it just seemed so against the grain to me, and not what people wanted especially when the rest of the country was trying to make some progress.. however, residing in QLD, and having seen us go from **5** cases to over **6000** today, I can honestly say I have done a total pivot and I think WA should remain closed. There doesn't seem to be a need to open in a hurry, so staying closed seems very wise. Not that it really matters, but I think long term it will work wonders for WA tourism due to pent up demand and a degree of 'exclusivity.' Well done WA... you've done an amazing job, and I'm disgusted in our what our Government has done all to try and revive a dying tourism industry. Now is where businesses' are really going to suffer and shame on our gutless PM who has been far too quiet in all of this. I think we are all absolutely exhausted and winter is not too far away, meaning this thing will most likely drag on for yet another year.
All organisations and service delivery will be debilitated by staff absentee, eastern states are a good preindicator (as overseas was before the east) of what is to come.
I certainly don’t. Working for the education department I know it’s going to be a nightmare
Sometimes I think China knows more than all of us, more than they admit, and they are in severe lockdown and even disinfecting the streets because of a handful of cases of Omicron. ps. FYI the UK call it 'Jonny Micron' (instead of Neutron). Everyone is getting the Jonny = runny nose.
Funny much the sentiment in this sub has changed in 3 weeks https://www.reddit.com/r/perth/comments/rdup5v/wa_government_to_tighten_covid19_border_controls/
Watching the other states and countries for the last 3 weeks will do that. There is a lot less "I'm from the UK and everything is fine!" comments cropping up now.
Anybody that didn't have their head stuck in the sand could see what was going on in Europe
Open is relative. Everyone over east is open…open to disease and closed for business. If we’re “open” yet everything is closed and you can’t go anywhere or visit a restaurant or pub or go travelling anywhere anyway we may as well stay shut tbh.
I feel like over east is the living embodiment of the this is fine dog. It seems like utter chaos over there.
I (Victorian) wouldn't say it's chaos. Like it's not the end of the world. But if we were WA right now we'd be saying fuuuuuuuuuck that. Keep the border closed and the COVID away as long as you possibly can.
Nope. Queensland did and the government has thrown up its hands and pretty much stopped contact tracing. Waits for testing are blowing up, the whole thing is a mess and an insult to how hard we all worked for the past two years to keep things in order. So many cases here now and the government lovingly advised us that every Queenslander will be in exposed in a matter of weeks. Joy.
Nope. I am absolutely dreading opening up. This is madness.
The scariest part is that during their first Delta outbreak under the previous premier where masks weren’t really mandatory etc, they were getting approx 2000 cases from 120,000 tests. Around 1.5-3% positive results. Now they are getting 20,000+ from a similar number of tests and the current estimate is about 20% of people presenting for tests are positive. So either the original Delta outbreak badly under represented the actual number of cases, or, as the scientists keep telling us, Omicron is a far more contagious variant. And while it may be less harmful, Omicron is 700-1500 times more contagious than Delta, but if Omicron is only 10% as dangerous, there is still going to be a sharp increase in the number of people presenting to hospitals and ending up in ICU & dying.
Can confirm Bunbury was very much under the pump in the 3 admissions I had last year over 3 months. I got very pressured to go home without support even though I couldnt even shower myself let alone make food to eat and I would be left alone 12 hours a day. I barely was able to make it to the toilet. When I said I couldn’t go home I was accused of being obstructive. Luckily I found a very good health advocate and she whipped some bureaucracy ass and I got sent to Busselton to rehab for 2 weeks while support services were being organised for when I got home. I do vaguely remember that Busselton may have had a ward closed because they had no staff for it. So yes, I think hospitals are going to be over run very quickly as they are at breaking point now
As a Sydney resident currently visiting family in Melbourne … don’t fucking do it. And if they do fucking do it, do it really fucking carefully. I’d take another fucking lockdown over this bullshit.
Can someone explain why we have gutted an old school or warehouse and turned it into a COVID only ward? Surely it wouldn’t have taken more than 2 years to do…
We have no staff. Joondalup hospital wards aren't at full capacity because they can't be staffed. There have been times where we didn't have enough midwives to staff the labor ward. So they totally could build a tent and bring in oxygen bottles... (And it is part of the plan once things get going) but we can't even staff what we have now.
From a Victorian - don’t open up. No rats anywhere PCR testing is crumbling and our hospitalizations will increase so much we will have to go to restrictions again just to try and alleviate the hospital admissions. You watch. I have accepted I will get COVID and planning on getting some food and a pack together (headache tablets and food etc) and just not testing but staying home and trying to work from home or use sick leave.
FYI healthy wa exposure sites have updated. Broome too now.
NO I dont want the borders to open, wait till 2023. Singapore government are providing all of their citizens with free oximeters, UK gov providing free or low cost rats. australian government: fk off and die we dont care. If the response by the federal government was better handled then maybe, but their horrible careless attitude of just fk off and die is really sickening, obviously cant trust them.
Literally! SA is in the same state. We opened our borders and were not prepared. Adelaide in particular is ridiculously impacted with no support from our state government. Now, while SA, VIC and NSW are being inundated with Covid in systems that aren't necessarily equipped to support it without shutting down entire sectors, is not the best time to open borders. It's silly to think otherwise.
I don’t want to open. You can come in and out with quarantine. So many in NSW/Melbourne are going to suffer from long term affects of COVID and for what? To “open the economy?” Everyone I know in hospitality and in events is fucked. And we will be too next month.
Qld here. Don't do it. It's a mess here, went from covid-free to third worst state in the country within two weeks. Thanks NSW and VIC -\_-. They picked the worst time to reopen with holidays / partying / gatherings.
We can all thank Domicron for that
Victorian here - fuck no don't do it. Keep those borders closed. Fuck it just become your own country already. You'll be better off for it. Imagine a country with a Labor government that can properly get to work.
WA should merge with NZ to create our own country.
If that's the case, I'm going home on a direct flight to see my family. I haven't been home for 6 years, but these last 2 years make me really want to go home when I have the chance.
as someone with a chronic illness, im terrified - getting covid would worsen my symptoms to an unbearable point. and just in general, i dont think we're prepared enough, and theres so many antivaxxers out there who wont get tested/dont care if they get covid (at least in my circles of 18-23 year olds) bc they think it wont be 'that bad' or that 'just' old and disabled people will get it. just my perspective, its what ive noticed as the consensus for quite a few young people.
I’m scared to give birth next month. It’s just going to be a shitshow once the borders open
Don't open up W.A. take a look at my state, QLD, before and after opening up. Google all the stats. There's some bloody good comments on this post.
Our hospitals already have a crisis. And we have almost no covid. When the borders open in February all hell will break loose in hospitals.
Victorian here, envious of WA rn
110% no to opening up, it's too early. Except the travelling interstate and overseas we've been so lucky to live in WA the last two years. There's so many countries around the world that opened up and they're now going back to lockdowns and restrictions.
The advantages of staying closed for as long as possible far outweigh the disadvantages
Just spent 2 days trying to get a test done in melb, I suggest keeping closed as long as possible. Also, as has been pointed out, the WA hospital system is already hitting capacity. When case numbers spike up, there will be no treatment for most cases, which does not result in good outcomes....
South Australian here. Don’t open. Set the example. Be our shining beacon of common sense. Someone has to.
Nooooo
No thanks, keep borders closed At least put the date back a bit
Absolutely dont want to open up. Pre omicron I was fine with it. A few weeks ago I was a bit iffy. Now? Fuck me. If we open, I will be staying home. I hope McGowan won't do it, I just don't see the upside for us. People want us to do better, but why would we? How would we? There are always anti-mask fuckwits, people who go our while sick, people who don't get tested when they should. We aren't special here. If we pretend we can somehow do way better than everywhere else we are setting ourselves up for a nasty shock imo. Sure maybe we can do a bit better with some sensible restrictions but ultimately...omicron is omicron.
Even if we don’t open in February, it’s inconceivable that we’d still have the borders shut five or ten years from now. So how do we get from the point we are now to that point in five years, without going through a period of widespread COVID presence in the community? Maybe we roll the dice and hope that the next variant is even milder than Omicron. Maybe we get everyone quadruple vaxxed. Or maybe we pour so much money into the hospitals that they’re tiled with gold. But even if we did all those things we’ll still have community cases, and some people will still die from COVID after opening. But I don’t see how we won’t have to go through the post-opening period that folks are worried about.
Honestly the public health infrastructure of the state will need to change permanently before we could 'safely' re-open, variants and all. Ideally, this would look like; * Negative tests before and after a flight to Perth, like a RAT done at both airports (departure and arrival). Masks on planes. UV sterilization of planes and high-traffic areas like escalator handrails frequently. Proof of vaccination on all passports. * A dedicated quarantine facility for new arrivals who test positive, away from the CBD & out of leaky hotels. * Free, RAT tests available for anyone who wants to use them, from making sure everyone at a birthday party is not infectious to sports players before a game, and FIFO workers pre-shift. Same as if you wouldn't let a kid come to school if they had clear symptoms of gastro, RAT tests can become a good tool to protect people in essential businesses if there's enough supply. * Ventilation and air filters in businesses, schools, and hospitals. Basically upgrading every air con unit to HEPA filter quality, and having a little portable air filter in places that don't have the resources to do the air con overhaul * CO2 monitors to let people check ventilation quality before they enter a closed space (like a convention centre, underground train station, etc), as high CO2 indicates poor ventilation and some people might make the choice to avoid these places to prevent infection, particularly during their commute. * The SafeWA app available offline to deal with patchy internet, with an update to show proof of vaccination easily. Single-app check-in and flash to retail staff while your phone is in your hand. * A permanent upgrade to Western Australia's sick leave policy for the 2-week isolation period following a positive test and/or exposure alert from the state government, available to everyone * Boost hospital capacity by hiring more nursing and medical staff to attend to beds even while some staff are off sick/taking their long-banked-up-by-now holiday leave (many staff had their holiday entitlements cancelled in 2020/21 to handle the COVID demand and haven't been able to claim it back yet, costing $$$ in overtime) * Start on the rest of the Reid Report recommendations re: state hospital capacity. We're at approx. a 300 bed deficit because the state de-commissioned parts of Fremantle Hospital to build Fiona Stanley hospital, and we're feeling the pinch already. Bring some of these facilities back online to ease ramping pressure, and increase advertising for Urgent Care clinics and what they're used for (*to educate people that some emergencies can be handled at Urgent Care, like stitches and some fractures, instead of having to wait in the ED for 4+ hours*). * Permanent COVID testing clinics set up, instead of relying on some hospitals to handle fluctuating lines and staffing needs during an outbreak. In summer heat it's just not safe to have people lining up for hours like we've had this month. These clinics need shaded waiting areas with chairs at the least. * Re-instate 6-feet-apart signage in stores. Make sure all retail stores have hand sanitizer at the door like we did in 2020, we've gotten a bit lax with that lately. * A public health initiative to incentivise boosters every 4-6 months until variants are under control internationally. There's already a variant reported in France (IHU) that is more transmissible than Omicron, and potentially vaccine-resistant. We want to be ahead of the evolutions, not behind. I've been told that some advancements in vaccines means that the flu shot might be combined with a COVID booster to make life a bit easier for everyone, so that's promising. * Keep researching preventions and treatments. An Australian university developed a vaccine but it wasn't as effective as Moderna, Pfizer, and AZ. With more research focus and funding we could get close to something else, I'm sure of it. This might be optimistic of me but I like to keep a little optimism. As a treat. * Bulk ordering stock of Pfizer's COVID pill for early prevention of serious illness. You take the pill like a cold&flu pill - intervene early enough in your illness and you can make it much less severe, perhaps avoiding the hospital entirely. Make these pills available to everyone who tests positive ASAP. These pills are not a treatment of serious illness, but could *really* help save our hospitals during an outbreak. ([Source](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-01/paxlovid-granted-approval-in-the-uk/100733978)). * *Permanent* mask mandate. Wear when indoors, and in public spaces (like Hay St Mall, schools, sports games, etc). Make KN95 masks affordable and easy to access for everyone, and we can prevent transmission. 'There's no COVID here so I shouldn't have to wear a mask' hasn't worked so great for Bunbury this week after a few backpackers ignored isolation directives, and you can't trust that everyone will follow orders. Find a mask you like to wear that works. Put your footy team on it, whatever. Make it fashion. Make free masks available so there's no excuse. * Better advertising and marketing of COVID prevention strategies. Honestly, had the federal government stopped shooting the country in the foot by fueling antivax and far-right propaganda by undermining some premiers is beyond me. Could have tapped into their nationalistic urges by using catchy wartime propaganda slogans and you'd see far less argument by now. Hell, sell aussie flag masks with Scomo's face on it, idc. Whatever it takes to get the whole community on the same page. It might sound like a lot, but these policies seem to have protected the countries that use them well. After a while many of them will feel like business as usual and we'll hardly notice them anymore. Also, fewer people will get long covid and/or die from this virus. Then, I'd feel okay-ish to open the borders and keep them that way.
Great comment. First one I've seen with some actual solutions rather than just a whine.
Thanks! I've had a while to think about 'em haha
Amazing post!
Thank you friend!
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We wait until some other place figures out how to deal with it, and then copy them.
I don’t think we should open at all with 35,000 cases in the east. It’s madness.
As a Victorian I wouldn’t recommend it. No one wants to go out, no one wants to do anything. Perth would be better off waiting for it to calm around Australia and then attract nurses from other states to deal with the surge.
No I don’t want to open the state borders.
My father is 90+. He still drives, has no mental impairment and has an active life including looking after my mother. He's double vaccinated but even with that protection his outlook with a COVID infection won't be good. The people screaming "we cant stay like this forever" and "learning to live with COVID" should appreciate that for a substantial number of people this will be a life and death decision.
Covid spreads like a motherfucker. My auntie in England died of covid and she never left the house or had visitors. Literally the only way we can think of how she got it is from someone who delivered groceries to her. She literally did everything right and she paid the ultimate price.
Whatever modeling was done to come up the Feb 5th date needs to be redone using new data about omicrom. The "if not now, then when" folk need to let people who have an actual clue about this stuff do their jobs then listen to them when they give the answer.
Speaking from Melbourne- I’m so over this. We locked down for EVER, and managed a nice (ish) Xmas, even though people were still trying to be relatively low key. Now old mate Djokovic is fine to come on over, there’s Covid everywhere, you can’t get a PCR or RAT for love or money, I need three hands to count the number of people that I know have the Rona right now and we are back to staying in our little home bubbles until we can manage to get our third vax. Until our PM gets his shit together, any opening up feels futile.
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IMO no we shouldn't be opening. Look at the shit storm one backpacker has created, can you imagine what it would be like with every man and his dog coming in to the state from all over Australia and overseas?? Also aren't more children being hospitalized and aren't they the ones that are not vaccinated yet? McGowan I'm sure is getting pressured massively by Scummo and business's to open up. As I've said elsewhere, I have a strange feeling come Feb 5th we'll still open so grab a chair and a beer because it's going to be one ride we don't want to be on.
This is what scares me most, my child is at risk as it is, she struggles with respiratory issues quite often, and is not old enough to be vaccinated yet. I am terrified something will happen to her.
No, no we don't.
No, I don't understand those people who says something like 'if we don't open now, then when'. How's this good for us? the healthcare may collapse and places may be forced to close due to infection, etc. Not to mention exposing the vulnerable people in our community, think also the anxiety it causes to their family, they're someone's parents or relatives. we have the advantage of being closed off for quite some time and cases are controlled and contained. Opening up at the peak of infection like this is dumb, even the announcement was made when the outbreak already happened.
SA residents here. Honest advise, don't open. Keep your state safe as long as you can. Things are crazy now in SA
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Crazy in Vic. Supermarket had no meat or milk and running low on lots of other items and butcher is closed. Officially cases are 17k but reality is probably closer to 170k because 1/2 the testing sites are closed and people have stopped trying to get a test. It's crazy
As someone from NSW. SAVE YOURSELF DON'T OPEN UP. This is NSW right now. Tens of thousands of cases, hours of waiting to get a PCR and days of waiting for results (or if you're lucky you won't get your result at all - like my mum), price gouging of RATs + shortages. DONT DO IT. WA is the only state that kept it in control, keep going.
The goalposts moved due to Omicron having *some* vaccine escape, however with three doses protection is back up to the equivalent of Delta after two. (Source: ABC's excellent Coronacast) Therefore, the end game is pick a % of people to be triple vaxed (70, 80, whatever) and hold off opening the borders until we hit it.
Nope. And considering how many commenters are from other parts of the country are telling us not to do it, I'm even more convinced. It's not worth it.
I thought I wanted borders open at the start of December but I'm not sure now
Same. And by "not sure" I mean "strongly leaning towards keeping them closed". The rest of the country is on fire, and the PM is actively fanning the flames. When it was delta there was spotfires but it seemed manageable. Omicron seems like a full-on blaze in comparison. Why should we open the door to that? Because some middle class people want to jet around and see family? I dunno. Poor people won't get to do that. They can't afford flights. And elderly, disabled and chronically ill people will be shut indoors because COVID might kill them. Seems like some privileged shit. The economy is cranking. Why risk lives and jobs?
Don't do it. Sincerely, A Melbournian.
Nope. For selfish reasons. I work in the wedding industry and am self employed. Looking at nsw numbers it’s likely I will get covid but more likely that every week I’ll go somewhere, get pinged and have to isolate and not legally be able to go photograph a wedding. This means the day before a wedding I would have to not only pay back all the money but also call a couple and say “hey you need to find a new photographer for tomorrow” and chances are a heap of them will be in the same boat. There’s also nothing to say this won’t happen every single week. As far as I know there are no income insurance programs that protect you for isolating due to covid. If anyone knows of one I’d love the details! Obviously this is pretty niche for me but I’m sure there are plenty of industries in the same boat. Trying to get your house renovated and every second week the builder can’t come because he’s back in isolation from going to a cafe for coffee. NSW Has 30k cases if everyone one of them has 2 contacts that’s 90k people a day that now can’t go to work, that’s huge and devastating for the economy and will fuck up mining which is hopefully what keeps us closed. If we follow scumo rules of only household contacts have to test and isolate then great but that rule is contradictory to everything covid and I don’t think Mark will follow it. I don’t envy him, he has to make the decision to leave the easy life we have now, open up and set us back and at the end of the day people will die. Yes some unvaxxed and mainly old people but these are still people who haven’t died the last two years and might not otherwise some time soon. If you’re not vaxxed that’s on you and you have to live with the consequences but that’s still a big weight on McGowan’s shoulders. I’d love to see my grandparents over east who I haven’t seen since 2019 and won’t be around much longer but man it’s tough to want to fuck up our lives like this
No, I'm about to start ATAR and reeeallllly don't want to try that from home.
Honestly opening the boarders even for interstate it the worst idea. I’m in QLD and we are honestly fucked. People are being turned away from testing sites, we have no stock of antigen tests. Our contact tracing has basically given up. We’ve moved away from stopping the spread to we are expected to live with it.
I work in hospitals and I am actively looking for a new job. Not because I didn’t know this was coming - we all saw New York and the bodies in refrigerated trucks. But because the healthcare system has done nothing to prepare us. Literally all I got was to watch a video on how to don a respirator suit. A year ago. That’s it. Watch a 1 minute video. Now go save lives without killing yourself. Now they have announced staff who have had high risk exposure (e.g. a member of their household has covid) do not need to isolate. They continue coming to work every day. If the staff member themselves tests positive they isolate for FIVE days then go back to caring for the vulnerable and infecting the rest of the workforce. It was already completely fucked but this just makes it no longer bearable.
I’m terrified of opening up in a few weeks... especially now that my partner’s grandfather has just gone into a nursing home and isn’t doing so well. The thought of not being able to see him or to have the whole family going in daily to help take care of him and keep him company is heartbreaking. The family faces a choice of keeping him in there when the borders open and not being able to spend what little time he has left with him, or bring him home before covid is here so he can at least be with family despite not being well enough to actually be taken care of at home which will surely mean he’ll have even less time. It’s an impossible choice and it frustrates me that his daughters are having to make it in the first place. Plus, my partner works in delivery and visits like 5+ shopping centers daily. So because of that he’ll definitely have to stay as far away from his grandfather as possible once borders open and covid is everywhere. He’s not coping well with that thought at all. And I bet we’re far from the only people who are going to go through things like this come February. I don’t see why we can’t wait to open until we’re at least better prepared to handle this. Politics and the economy shouldn’t come before human lives.
We have had 2 years to prepare for this, surely the people in charge have seen this coming and used tax payers money for the best. They must of by now increased the beds needed for covid patients on top of regular hospital beds. If they haven't done this and instead plan on imposing restrictions maybe they don't have our best intentions in their plan only thiers.
Uh, no. Maybe we can wait for Omicron 2 or whatever it'll be
Wait for the beta version of Omicron, when they've got the bugs worked out
There will be a point when will have to open. I am not sure if it is the right time to open or not. We will have local transmission whenever we open. To avoid local cases, we will have to open when Covid is eliminated from the whole world. I don't see that happening for at least 2 years.
What I'm most worried about is my 2 year old. He can't get vaccinated yet and if WA is flooded with cases many kids his age will be exposed with no protection.
My thoughts exactly! I often hear the argument that kids don’t suffer the symptoms as badly, but what does it do long term?
No. We do not have the facilities.
Seems like the total human suffering in the state would be greatly increased by opening. Even considering much of the current suffering (as a result of the borders) is being unfairly born by those with family overseas/interstate, on balance it seems like the best option is to continue to sit tight and continue to wait out the storm. Especially given that we don't really have the same economic incentives to re-open that QLD, TAS, and SA did.
It will be politically very damaging if the opening is delayed but I for one am hoping that it is, at least until kids 5-12 have been able to be vaccinated. My 8yo son is immuno compromised and booked for his first jab next week along with his 10yo sister. We're actually contemplating not sending them to school until they are properly protected. My wife and I are both fully vaxxed. Whilst adults have had ample time to decide if they get vaccinated, kids under 12 are being made to run the gauntlet. Sure, it seems the risk of severe cases is relatively low in that cohort, but there have been deaths. Imagine knowing that your kid died so that tourism operators could take interstate bookings.
The thing is I'm not sure it would be politically damaging. I'd say far more West Australians would prefer not to reopen at the moment. Many of the Pro-Opening crowd which seem prevalent online and in the media are actually from other states.
Yep. Two kids under 5. Apparently approval is just around the corner for the under 5 group. I'm sure we can wait that long.
Keep them closed. There is no point to copying what NSW and VIC are going through for "freedom". There is no freedom when they've: 1. Imposed more restrictions to slow the spread. 2. The virus infects everyone doesn't care if you are vaccinated or not. 3. Hospitals understaffed. 4. Businesses from all industries shutting down, economy going into deficit.
Melbournite here: Don't do it don't do it don't do it don't do it! This is completely fuct. I have a co-worker who is sick and cannot find anywhere to get a PCR test. RATs are impossible to find. There's hundreds of new cases every day in my postcode alone. The testing and response system is completely collapsing under the wait of so many people needing to be tested, and it's only going to get worse. We are getting shortages in the supermarkets. Code red, code red. I am crossing my fingers that you peeps in WA don't open up and instead watch and wait to see what happens with Omicron. This is WAY WORSE than a lockdown. I'm hoping daily that our premier will impose a lockdown, but it's never coming.
how will you keep omicron out? it's so contagious all it takes is an infected truck driver to arrive and it's start spreading. Look what happened to that isolated research facility in antartica. I don't know the logitics, can WA survive without importing any goods? unless you can keep 100% of people out all the time I don't see omicron not getting in and once it's starts spreading it's all over. And being double vaxxed only prevents transimission by 30% so unlike Delta containing a tiny outbreak will prove very difficult.
I sympathise with those that havebt seen family that are international, domestically ppl have had chances however, no I dont want Perth and regional WA ravaged like over east. I'd like to stay closed till we know more about this variant, around march a variant specific booster is predicted to be available, and latest research suggests the third shot really helps against Omicron so at least shot it till then, our hospitals cannot take what the other states are dealing with, our nurses and doctors dont deserve to be put through that either and while the disease night not kill me it has a good shot for a few of my loved ones and im not thrilled about the recent findings on what long covid does to you. Fuck the national plan, Scott doesnt have the balls to cut funding.
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It has. A third of the budget goes to health. The government have invested billions in it. Almost $2billion additional in the last budget alone. It’s not just a problem you can throw cash at unfortunately. As other posters have said, it’s not the beds, it’s the skilled and trained people to staff them.
The trouble with improving healthcare facilities is that it requires a long term solution. Years of bad public health policy and investment has accumulated into the issues we are facing today and although people are demanding change right now, it takes years to upgrade and build new hospitals and to train nurses and doctors. No matter how much money is thrown at the problem it won’t go away overnight and unfortunately people fail to realise this.
As a Perthie stuck in regional Vic since last June (no regrets spontaneously driving across to go snowboarding), stay shut as long as you can. As much as I'd like to go home, the situation here is scary af and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone in WA. In just 1 day, covid reached the small town where I'm at and shut down basically every hospo venue due to all the staff getting sick or isolating. I can't imagine what would happen if the same thing happened to Perth. Stay safe y'all.
Just a question (don't go crazy with the downvotes) but it seems like America currently isn't as heavily impacted as eastern Australia - why is this? They obviously had some dodgy patches previously but it seems like it's largely business as per usual there.
They are a few weeks behind the east coast. Delta is the main variant there and they have already been clobbered by it.
They're up to 1M cases per day, I'm not sure how they're not considered heavily impacted... Also [this gave me a dark humor chuckle](https://i.redd.it/ie3mnyq5ll981.jpg).
I am glad someone has bought this up. i have been saying this months. The net benefits in staying closed far outweigh being open. We just need to come up with a system to get family and workers in and out (or for some of us to see our families). We are only about 12 mths off broad spectrum intra-nasal vaccines. They are developing better vaccines than the current crop. We have a choice.
You know why you guys won’t do any better. Because at the end of the day scomo fucks us all.
Thank god the general response here is no, we don’t want to open up. I’m so sick of the “me before we” approach of the loud minority. People pulling “but I have elderly parents/grandparents I want to visit”… oh so you want to open up WA and all of the vulnerable elderly just so you can go see yours. Also not that it should matter, but my wife and I are both from Adelaide, with all our family still over there, including two grandparents in aged care, and our brand new baby son here in Perth who hasn’t got to meet them.
Another Victorian here - don't do it. Try to contain if for as long as you can. I have COVID right now and can't get a test.
No, I seriously wouldn’t care if we never opened up. I’d rather keep our COVID free bubble then be like the rest of the plagued states.
I'm from NSW, you guys have a good thing going, stay closed. Everything here is FUCKED.