Thread by @nomadic_sanjee

🇦🇺 Australia was doing so well...
What happened?
🌹The only example Australia is providing to the world now is a warning about what not to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. 1/
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

🌹With the new New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, in charge, the chief health officer Kerry Chant was sidelined as the new policy to “let it rip” was rolled out. 2/

🌹15 December 2021 was a pivotal moment in the pandemic.
🌹The population was softened up with a false narrative that “Omicron causes mild disease”, “this could be the gift we have been waiting for”, and “this could end the pandemic.” 3/

🌹Perhaps the most insidious piece of messaging was the pronouncement that “everyone in Australia is going to get it”. In other words, why bother trying to prevent transmission? 4/

🌹In one previously unimaginable act, the premier, in a double act with Scott Morrison, announced a lifting of all restrictions including mandatory mask wearing and QR code check-ins. 5/

🌹Despite the warnings that the health system was under pressure and that party season was about to kick off, the message to the community was: “Go out there and spend, head to the pub and get back to normal.” 6/

🌹Meanwhile Covid infected NSW residents were expected to do their own testing, contact tracing and home Covid care.
🌹"Personal responsability" they said. 7/

🌹We were all told to go and get rapid antigen tests (RATs). The government resisted providing the tests for free as the UK had done, with Morrison saying he “did not want to undercut businesses”. 8/

🌹He also said "We are at the stage of the pandemic, where you just cannot make everything free." 9/

🌹The minimalist approach to pandemic control has hurt businesses more than it has helped, with many cancellations at restaurants and hospitality venues. Supermarkets are now struggling with supplies because employees at every stage of the supply chain are becoming ill. 10/

🌹“Letting it rip” will not end the pandemic, nor will it help business or the economy. “Letting it rip” will not turn this into an endemic disease with herd immunity. There will be another wave of another variant. 11/

🌹In the absence of leadership from the government, people will need to increasingly look to credible medical leadership, as political leaders tell Australians to take matters into their own hands.
🌹Preventing transmission is our only way out of this. 12/

🌹Is there a lesson for 🇧🇪Belgium and most of 🇪🇺 here? Will you avoid this happening here? @vonderleyen @SKyriakidesEU @ECDC_EU @EP_President @WHO_Europe @EU_Commission @Europarl_EN @alexanderdecroo