Welcome to another episode of the Pollie Bites Podcast.
In this episode we recap the days before and after Christmas as masks came back on in Victoria and New South Wales, there was testing chaos among record cases, we finally got to see the 'science' behind the mandates and the reports that this is a milder strain are getting some traction. We are once again ending the year after a dumpsterfire 12 months in this state with very little certainty or stability for what happens next, but we can take some reassurance in the fact that with citizen tolerance at an all time low and an election on the horizon, they're less likely to lock up the people they want to vote for them.
For further information on some of the stories and documents mentioned, see the links below:
Mask mandate returns in Victoria - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-23/victoria-covid-cases-masks-mandate-indoors/100721334
Victorian's spending Christmas in isolation - https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-home-alone-christmas-30-000-victorians-spend-day-in-isolation-20211221-p59j8z.html
Free rapid tests in Victoria - https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/free-but-not-a-free-for-all-plan-to-get-34-million-rapid-tests-to-victorians-20211229-p59kn0.html
International articles that Omicron is milder - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/22/covid-south-african-study-suggests-omicron-milder-than-deltahttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/omicron-severity-uk/2021/12/22/303d4d26-6337-11ec-9b51-7131fa190c5e_story.html
South Africa's changed Covid protocols - https://www.nicd.ac.za/revision-to-contact-tracing-quarantine-and-isolation-protocols/
The Pandemic Order documents - https://www.health.vic.gov.au/covid-19/pandemic-order-register
The original vaccine mandate announcement - https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/vaccination-required-protect-workers-and-victoria
