Strict measures turned Australia into a virtually COVID-19-free utopia at the start of the pandemic. But as omicron sweeps across the nation, they have garnered fresh scrutiny as the government has battled to deport unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic.
“Tell your population, ‘Stay in your houses, you can’t go past your letterbox after 8 p.m. for days and months on end.’ And then you’re told, ‘OK, we’ve put in the hard yards,’” says Thomas, whose company, Anthem Entertainment, is now facing its 23rd consecutive month of financial loss as bookings once again dry up. “But then here we go again. Again. Again!”
“We haven’t got enough vaccines for youngsters,” says Esterman, who previously worked for the World Health Organization. “We know how to keep schools safe: First, get kids and teachers vaccinated, make sure ventilation is very good and you get the kids to wear masks. Do we do that in Australia? No.” “Omicron has changed everything,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week. “My government is for keeping Australia open and pushing through.”
Swan is frustrated by what he views as the government’s jumbled messaging, and is stunned by the skyrocketing case numbers.