Two years ago today the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Australia.
Back then it wasn’t called that yet.
We had heard about a scary-sounding virus circulating in Wuhan, as the news filtered through that the entire Chinese city was in lockdown.
By the end of that day, we would have our first case, a man in his 50s who had spent time in the city and flown back to Melbourne from Guangzhou six days beforehand.
Two years, 2.29 million cases and more than 3,200 deaths later, here we are.
Since “reopening,” mid December, the country, except for Western Australia which continued restrictions, has experienced a avalanche of cases.
Because case numbers are basically irrelevant now due to changes in test reporting ie. a combination of government PCR and self administered RAT, we have to rely on hospitalisation, ICU, ventilator and, unfortunately, death numbers to assess the current situation.
The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in New South Wales (NSW) has now reached an all-time high, dashing hope that those numbers were already on the decline following several hopeful days of numbers.
There are an additional 127 people in hospital with Covid-19 in NSW today, bringing the total to 2,943. However, there are now 183 people in the ICU, a decrease of 13.
Total deaths to date (Tdtd):1139
Victoria has also seen a jump in hospitalisation numbers, with 1,057 now in Covid wards, up from 998 yesterday. There are now 119 in ICU, which remains stable.
Tdtd: 1836
Queensland has confirmed 928 in hospital, 51 in ICU.
Tdtd: 129
In Tasmania, 35 people are in hospital, 3 requiring intensive care.
Tdtd: 16
There are now 67 people in hospital in the ACT, including 3 in the ICU.
Tdtd: 25
In South Australia there are 287 people being treated in hospital, including 32 in ICU and 5 requiring ventilation.
Tdtd: 74
In out state of NSW, the government quickly saw that complete withdrawal of restrictions was folly after a week and reinstated some.
All too late it seems.
However they will extend current restrictions for another month as the state continues to take a ‘measured response’ (their words) to managing COVID-19 with a focus on a safe return to school and restarting non-elective surgery as soon as possible.
The restrictions rolled over include density limits of two square metres, wearing face masks indoors, no singing and dancing in hospitality.
To say it’s a mess is an understatement.
Experts are predicting a fall in cases next month as omicron runs its course.
We shall see.
Source: Guardian Australia
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