VacuousNess, The Blog: December 2021

Updated: 1st January 2022

It's the last day of 2021 and Australian heads are spinning. Instead of entering the New Year with all the usual expectation of potential and possibilities Australians now find themselves feeling angry and confused. The fear amongst many is palpable.

In 1st wave, the Liberal National Coalition (LNP) Govt chose to sacrifice Australia’s elderly, until under state govts. took the imitative to start closing borders, initiate covid testing and mask wearing. All whilst Morrison told Australia he was 'off to the footy' that weekend.

This time the same govt has chosen to put Australian babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers at risk; these as hospitals overseas are experiencing surges in paediatric hospital admissions.

The Australian Govt and State Govts are acting AGAINST advice of Australian Medical Association (AMA).

Not for the first time the Scott Morrison, Liberal National Coalition Govt has placed industry lobbyists and self-interest ahead of vulnerable Australians.

A growing number of Australians are equally disgusted with state Premiers for signing off on this. This had already been gaining momentum in Tasmania since around the 17th December 2021 when the state govt reopened the borders. Within hours Tasmanian's being notified of close and casual infections surfacing within a community, which had largely been Covid free.

Today (12/31/2021) the Tasmanian Govt announced that it would no longer require mandatory testing for interstate members of the public entering the state. Whilst those attempting to obtain tests are reporting being informed not all testing costs will be covered by Medicare. Tasmania is a state with a healthcare system struggling on a good day and it's already clear, their contact and trace systems have become overwhelmed and no all but abandoned.

Image: Aus Medical Assoc.

Madness, given Tasmanian Govt's own modeling showed:

Modelling scenarios

Borders open with no public health measures in place, but a high level of contact tracing

77,000 cases in 200 days
214 deaths
387 cases a day
636 cases in hospital, and 168 in intensive care during the peak of the outbreak

Borders open with current public health measures in place, and high level of contact tracing

52,000 cases in 200 days
87 deaths
Possible daily peak of 242 cases
242 cases hospitalised, and 68 in intensive care at peak of outbreak

Borders open with increased public health measures, and high level of contact tracing

43,000 cases in 200 days
60 deaths
213 cases a day
179 cases hospitalised, and 56 in intensive care at the peak of outbreak.

Yet within 17 day of opening the state to travelers, the state govt has decided to scale down contact tracing. Today (01/01/2022) 19 days after opening the state borders confirmed cases of Covid19 in Tasmania have sky rocketed from ZERO to 428 in <19days and there doesn't appear to be any modeling available for this scenario. Why not? Where is the modeling? How did Tasmania come to the conclusion it did?

There is every possibility that Tasmanian Hospitals will not cope with a rapidly escalating covid outbreak and if Tasmania follows overseas patterns - it does NOT have a dedicated children's hospital. Most Tasmanian's seem oblivious that the state's sickest children are normally made as stable as possible and flown to Melbourne - often with dedicated Paediatric Emergency Teams FROM Melbourne.

If Scott, (I refuse to call him Prime Minister, as an infected hair follicle on Disraeli’s ball sack would have make a better PM), wants Australians to ‘take responsibility for your own health’, I suggest we do this at next election and consign the Liberal & National Parties to history.

Australia was in a unique position, it had been hard fought for and within less than a month and against scientific and medical advice - it has been all too casually tossed aside, along with the health and lives of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, cancer patients, the immunocompromised.

Incidently, those Rapid Antigen Kits the Australian Govt is promising.... how many of you are aware, Australia LOST the development of these kits to the USA, because the Australian Govt wouldn't provide funding support - and the USA would. So again R&D was lost overseas: just add to the list after: black box flight recorder, solar panels, rapid chargers for EV's, Bluetooth, Ultra sound technology, LAN technology etc. Prime Minister Paul Keating set up CRCs (Critical Research Centres) to get Australian inventions moving toward commercial reality ..... the LNP killed it and under Abbott they also peeled back funding to bodies such as the CSIRO.

Clearly LNP govts don't 'do' science - nor compassion.