Every parent should watch this interview with Consultant Cardiologist Dr Rae Duncan summarising the latest research on #LongCOVID and potential long-term impacts on kids from repeat COVID infections.

@Sunny_Rae1 @BBCOne @mmgeissler Based on what is now known about COVID, I expect that in ten years' time our kids will be asking us whether we did everything in our power to protect them from getting infected and re-infected.

Public health in Queensland is broken.

CHO Gerrard has said many times that getting infected with COVID is "inevitable and necessary".

He has advised hand-washing and other droplet precautions to protect against COVID, an airborne virus.

At the height of the JN.1 wave he announced that masks were not a proportionate response in healthcare, despite hospital-acquired COVID killing one Queenslander a day.

He's told parents that COVID is mild in kids and "just another respiratory virus".

He has gaslit Long COVID sufferers, suggesting LC is rare and mostly in people's minds.

He seems to be constantly surprised by the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and the emergence of new immune-evasive variants.

We urgently need a new CHO @StevenJMiles.

Great work @JSinnerton @BoultonMaria and others, keep applying pressure.

https://x.com/ColinKinner/status/1658265128071229440?s=20

https://x.com/ColinKinner/status/1658265128071229440?s=20

Join me in a pandemic thought experiment. . .

We’re going time travelling!

🧵 . . . Imagine it’s October 2021 in Australia. So far there have been only 1,500 deaths from CØVlD. Most people are being vigilant about masks, social distancing, avoiding crowded gatherings.

The @abc730 interview last night with @CrabbBrendan @nadahamad @RDNS_TAI was probably the single most important piece of media coverage about COVID in Australia so far.

Some thoughts about what it means for public discourse on COVID going forward. . .
🧵

abc.net.au/news/2023-01-2… Kudos to @latingle @abc730 for bringing this previously untouchable topic into the light and curating a panel of informed and unbiased commentators.

Fantastic @abc730 interview last night with @CrabbBrendan @nadahamad @RDNS_TAI talking about Australia’s COVID response.

Here are the key points:
🧵. . .
abc.net.au/news/2023-01-2… 1. Australia is experiencing the worst public health disaster since the second world war.

2. Federal & state govts have adopted a bizarre policy of allowing almost completely unfettered spread of the virus, despite evidence that COVID causes substantial long-term harm.

Let me see if I've got this right. . .

Today @qldhealth downgraded the COVID traffic light advice from amber to green, meaning there are now practically *no COVID mitigations* in place in Queensland.

qld.gov.au/health/conditi…

🧵. . . From today there’s not even a recommendation to wear a mask in healthcare settings.

https://twitter.com/dom_ma/status/1615512806035709959

It’s now beyond question:
Federal & state govt public health policies are *designed* to infect & re-infect Australians with SARS-CoV-2 *despite* overwhelming evidence that this will kill and disable many, and *without* any prospect of achieving meaningful hybrid immunity.
🧵. . . This abandonment of basic public health can no longer be hidden. It is in plain sight, and politicians who continue to push this approach will ultimately be held to account for the deaths and disability they have caused and continue to cause.
@Mon4Kooyong

https://twitter.com/Mon4Kooyong/status/1605694135041634304?s=20&t=rFV8-vxluiXkLhOjk0RMWw

I’m glad we’re seeing more mainstream media reporting on Long COVID and talking about the devastating consequences of a condition that's affecting (so far) half a million Australians. The only way to avoid Long COVID is to avoid getting infected or re-infected. I hope the media focuses next on what people and governments can do to reduce spread of COVID.

Ten things the federal govt must do NOW to reduce COVID transmission in Australia - a summary of my submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Long COVID.

🧵. . . 1. Education campaign
Most Australians have no idea about the long-term risks of COVID, or about how it spreads.
Informing people about risks, airborne transmission and importance of ventilation and masks will empower them to make better choices.

The federal govt is holding a Parliamentary Inquiry into Long Covid and Repeated Infection.

It's an opportunity to tell the government that it needs to do more to protect Australians from repeated COVID infection and risk of Long COVID.

Anyone can make a submission. . .
🧵 You don't need to have had COVID to respond. We are all at ⬆️ risk of risk of cardiovascular, neurological, immunological and other conditions from COVID.

COVID is now the leading cause of death in Australia, and an estimated half a million Australians have Long COVID.

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Fascinating #covid press conference with @BradHazzard and Kerry Chant @NSWHealth just now.

Some observations about helpful vs unhelpful messages delivered. . . .

🧵 . . .

https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/1544139579376402432

@BradHazzard @NSWHealth Helpful messages delivered:
👍 Pandemic is not over
👍 Need to reduce transmission
👍 Need 3 or 4 doses to be fully vaccinated
👍 Reinfection can occur
👍 Antivirals are available, but eligibility needs to be widened
👍 Wearing a mask is a good idea
👍 RATs can give false -ve

Australia's COVID situation is out of control.

A mega-thread looking at where we are, how we got here, and what we need to do to get out of this shitshow.

🧵 . . . First, where are we right now? Some facts. . .

Around 50% of all Australians have had COVID, there have been 9,700 deaths from COVID and about half a million people are suffering from Long COVID.

theage.com.au/national/victo…

2/

We won’t be sending our son back to school on Monday.

A thread for any QLD parents who are still undecided. . .

@DrShaneRRR @drkerrynphelps @PMGPSC @NjbBari3 @DrCatherineBall @CrabbBrendan @DrZoeHyde @MackayIM @drgregkelly @1CeliaGreen @YouAreLobbyLud @normanswan #covidschools 2/ Son is due to start year six on Monday at a state primary school in Brisbane. We've had a close look at the QLD govt’s Back to School plan and talked to the principal about how it will be implemented.

qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/back-t…