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Australia has decided to 'let Covid rip.' Is that a good idea?


NBCFollow
the University of Sydney
PCR
Omicron
Western Australia
the Australian National University
Labor Party
reckless.“The
NBC UNIVERSAL


Scott Morrison
Covid
Martiniuk
Peter Collignon
Anthony Albanese
Nick Baker


Australians
ideal.“[Some

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NewsSYDNEY
Australia
Melbourne
Sydney
the United States

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Positivity     41.00%   
   Negativity   59.00%
The New York Times
SOURCE: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/australia-decided-let-covid-rip-good-idea-rcna11509
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Summary

Every country is dealing with it and it never would have been perfect [in Australia] … But what we could have done is bend the curve — slow the number of people who got it,” Martiniuk says.In the face of omicron, states and territories have reintroduced some limited Covid restrictions, such as  mask mandates and banning singing and dancing in certain venues.The one state to have dodged the omicron surge is Western Australia, which has maintained a hard border with other states and territories. It remains   almost free of Covid, but has faced criticism for not allowing fellow Australians to enter, even for compassionate reasons.The prime minister and other state and territory leaders point to Australia’s vaccination rate as a key reason why the country will weather the omicron storm.Around 77 percent of the overall population has received two doses of the vaccine, compared to around 62 percent in the United States.And the Australian government often trumpets another number — around 92 percent of the over-16 population has received two vaccine doses.Australia has also ramped up its efforts to disseminate the booster shot.Peter Collignon, a professor and infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, said Australia’s high level of vaccination meant it was in a “good place” to deal with omicron.“This is serious, we need to take precautions, but it’s not all doom and gloom,” he said.“In the initial waves of Covid, for every 100 people infected, we had one death,” he said. So that’s good news … Plus, omicron itself does appear to cause less severe disease.”Australia’s initial tough approach  toward Covid, followed by its slow but successful vaccine rollout,  have meant the number of deaths due to the virus has been around 2,500, compared to around 846,000 in the U.S.“And one plus side of this is if we have a large proportion of the population that is vaccinated and has asymptomatic or mild disease, it may put them in a better place come next winter, which will be the next expected uptick in cases,” Collignon said.Amid criticism about the government’s response to the omicron surge, the prime minister maintains Australia is well-placed to get through to the other side.“You’ve got two choices here: you can push through or you can lock down.

As said here by Nick Baker