When we heard about the Omicron variant in late Nov 2021, I think we were not prepared how it’d hit the country and how fast it would spread. At the time, flights were stopped from South Africa. At the time, people were just ready to have their holiday break as Christmas and New year was coming up, but as Omicron was ramping up in Australia (at first NSW, then Vic, spreading to Qld, SA & Tasmania as borders opened), restrictions were lifting, and the spread just got worse in Jan. Our family luckily was able to get away for a few days near the beach, and coming back from the holiday, Omicron variant was truly everywhere.
It’s about 1 in 12 NSW, 1 in 20 Victorians, probably even higher stats now with 30,000+ new cases every day. Although the variant is meant to be a milder version of the Delta and previous versions, the sheer contagious nature of it mean more people are getting sick, in isolation and not able to work. At the moment, although we’re not in lockdown, there’s been disruptions in healthcare, supply chains for essential food at the shops, and childcare has been short of staff. Children exposed to the variant in the rooms have to be tested with Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), and as this is the preferred method for testing at home as the lines for PCR testing has blown out of proportion, taking up to 7 days for a result (which sometimes isn’t valid or accurate), the RATs are not available anywhere (as promised they would be and free to the public). Luckily I got my hands on a few prior to all the Omicron madness at the chemist, but now they’re all sold out and I’m trying to locate the next batch.
Luckily, children 5-11 years old are able to be vaccinated – I have booked my son for one coming Monday, and ourselves with a booster (3rd shot) of Pfizer. Hopefully, the Omicron infections peak soon and it can be a bit more stabilized when kids are due to return back to school in Feb. It’s definitely a crazy start to 2022, a rollercoaster of decisions and new information nearly every day!
Surviving Corona Virus 2020 