Covid in Australia – Mixed news from the virus hysteria front

The retreat from Covid hysteria in Australia has been painfully slow and uneven.

In one despatch from the virus over-reaction front, the news is good, if long overdue.  The South Australian health department (SA Health) has, after more than three years of alarmism and public health abuse, abandoned its last foxhole and announced that its Covid vaccination mandate for “medical staff with patient-facing roles” is no more.

The 245 medical practitioners, ambos, dentists, allied health practitioners, disability workers and social workers who were sacked for exercising their basic human right to control what goes into their own body, will now be able to get their old jobs back.  Sort of - for the returning employees will have the charge of ‘misconduct’ recorded against them in their personnel record.  SA Health bosses just couldn’t resist a swift, and potentially disabling, kick to the shins of its ‘disobedient’, thinking, unintimidated employees.

In its partial retreat, SA Health still admits no error or misjudgement concerning the old policy of mandatory employee vaccination, citing increased Covid immunity in the population.  The department is, of course, still ‘recommending’ that all staff be vaccinated but, at long last, health officials have recognised the reality that pretty near everyone has had or will get Covid, and thus its naturally-acquired immunity, but they refuse to let go of the myth that the vaccines have something to do with ‘increased Covid immunity in the population’ because that would mean publicly acknowledging that the Covid ‘vaccines’ have been a monumental failure.  SA Health’s belated and begrudging retreat from its last Covid stronghold is an example of bureaucratic foot-dragging and bottom-covering at its worst.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Covid hysteria still has its grip on Australian Olympic officials.  Australia appears to be the only country still bothering with the Covid policy detritus deeply embedded in the old ‘Covid protocols’ including testing, isolation and that fashion accessory of the Covid-deranged, the facemask.

In all the hoopla about the unveiling of the Australian Olympic uniform, no one thought to mention that the useless, dehumanising mask would be part of the green-and-gold outfit but the 41-member Australian swimming team arrived in Paris fully kitted out with masks.  The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would fully approve because it still “strongly encourages” Australians travelling abroad to mask up whilst the French health authorities also continue to recommend masks be worn “in enclosed and small spaces, and at large gatherings” (which pretty much covers all bases where humans gather).  The Australian Olympic Committee medical director was clearly listening and has also advised all its athletes to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces, including on transportation and during meetings.

The current sports carnival promised to be a ‘return to normal’ after the soulless outing in Japan in 2021 which played to empty stadia and diminished TV viewership (down 27% compared to Rio in 2016) but Australia, apparently, is not quite ready to return to normal just yet.

In spite of the lingering Covid charade being acted out by the Australian Olympic contingent, five of the thirteen-member women’s water polo team have ‘tested positive’ to Covid (whatever that means - none of the positive plague rats are "particularly unwell", according to Australia’s chef de Mission,) whilst two members of the athletics squad were also “isolating but have tested negative”.  The infectious athletes are still permitted to train but with, you guessed it, “protocols in place”.  The public health Covid theatre downunder is running longer than Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

Yet, still, there are some who say that Australia escaped the worst of the ‘pandemic’ because of our ‘tough’ policy response but the Aussies’ Covid encore in Paris is a reminder that, in very many ways, Australia experienced the worst of ‘Covid’ precisely because of the futile, useless and damaging mitigation claptrap of the political and official health elite in the Not-So-Great Southern Land.

First published in the Spectator Australia at:

https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/07/australia-slowly-retreats-from-vaccine-mandates/