Covid Australia 2022: NSW, Queensland and Victoria health chiefs want to bring back restrictions

A sudden surge in Covid cases has sparked calls to bring back lockdown-style restrictions, but the demands have sparked a furious response.

Infections in Queensland and Victoria rose 60 per cent last week as the use of masks was again recommended, while a 40 per cent increase in NSW prompted a dire warning from medical director Dr. Kerry Chant.

Health leaders now fear the new wave of Covid could once again wreck Christmas plans for millions unless precautions are taken now, and the Australian Medical Association has called for people to work from home again.

“We really hope it calms down before Christmas,” said Dr Chant. “Now is the time to take protective measures.”

But the move to bring back the restriction has sparked outrage among fed up Australians who want to put the nightmare of the pre-vaccine pandemic behind them.

“Australia has moved on,” stormed 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday. ‘We know the risks. We protect the most vulnerable.

“But we’re not willing to roll up into a ball and suck our thumbs every time this happens.”

Official Covid case numbers are now only released weekly rather than daily, and the latest NSW figures shot up 7,350 Friday from 12,450 to 19,800, sparking the ominous warnings from Dr. Chant.

She now recommends masks in crowded indoor environments and organizing gatherings outdoors or with doors and windows open.

dr. Queensland chief physician John Gerrard said the current wave could peak in the week before Christmas and warned the cycle of Covid waves could continue for ‘years’.

The Australian Medication Association has gone even further, with NSW AMA president Dr. Michael Bonning who wants to work from home again.

“I can confirm that we are entering the fourth wave of Covid,” said Dr Chant.

“The wave starts at a certain trajectory, it’s going to be a pretty steep wave and hopefully the drop will be just as steep.

“That is why it is important that the community takes these protective measures now and I cannot emphasize the urgency – if you want to get vaccinated, do it immediately.

“There is a feeling that the wave is peaking before Christmas and that we are waning.

“But the message is clear: This is a period of increased risk for COVID, so now is the time to take that protective behavior.”

ABC medical expert Dr. Norman Swan says the magnitude of the current outbreak could be even greater.

He said the current numbers were underreported due to people not testing, rapid antigen testing failing to diagnose the latest Omicron variant, and people contracting the disease without showing symptoms.

“The data is not reliable because it is voluntary – and the rapid antigen tests with the current variants are slowly turning positive,” he told Radio National on Monday.

‘You can count on many more hospital admissions – and the number of hospital admissions is on the rise. The concern is that we will see another rise in deaths.’

But doomsday predictions have enraged many who fear once again the devastating loss of their livelihoods in yet another lockdown.

“We seem to be in a bit of a cycle of self-sabotage,” raved Ben Fordham on his Monday morning 2GB show.

“There are people who are determined to hide us under the bed.

‘The Australian Medical Association wants us to work from home again. Seriously, some people have been out of work for three years.

“We’re just starting to see a few back in the office and the AMA wants to send them back home.

“This attitude has had a devastating impact on small businesses that rely on foot traffic and the AMA wants this to happen all over again.”

He praised infectious disease expert Prof. Dr. Peter Collignon for ‘keeping a cool head’ and thwarting work-from-home mandates.

The professor told the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘It basically flattens the curve, which isn’t a bad idea, but you also have to weigh this against the social and economic effects.

“Are we going to live like hermits for the next five to ten years?”

Fordham added: ‘Thank God for Professor Peter Collignon – this is what we want to hear. We need a dose of common sense mixed with all the doom and gloom.

“We know the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere. We have learned to live with the virus and we must continue to do so.

“Now is not the time to run and hide when more than 95 percent have been vaccinated. More than 70 percent have had three doses. Five million have had a fourth dose.

“The public will not be able to handle a return to restrictions in the run-up to Christmas.”

Meanwhile, former deputy medical chief Dr Nick Coatsworth has refused to talk about the latest wave as it is time to ‘move on’ from the pandemic

The number of Covid cases in Victoria has risen from 10,226 to 16,350 in just seven days, ushering in the latest wave and raising fears of yet another lockdown in Melbourne after it has already endured the longest Covid curfew in the world.

Testing has shown that two new Omicron sub-variants BQ.1 and XBB are fueling the latest spread of the virus.

But Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton admitted the latest wave may be milder than previous waves, despite 41 Covid-related deaths in his state in the past week.

“There is currently no evidence to suggest that these subvariants cause more serious disease,” he said.

“However, hospital admissions are likely to increase due to declining immunity from previous vaccinations and the ability of these new subvariants to escape immunity from previous infections.

“As we are in an established wave, increasing community and public health action will reduce transmission and impact on disease, deaths and the health system.”

He outlined a six-point plan for locals in the latest outbreak, including wearing a mask, being indoors in well-ventilated areas, getting vaccine boosters, getting tested, and staying home if you test positive.

He added: “Protecting yourself is the best way to protect your family and community. If you don’t get Covid, you can’t spread Covid either.’

However, Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews insisted he had no plans to bring back the crippling restrictions that had locked his state for the past two years, saying it was time to “move on”.

“As Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly has made very clear, this era of COVID exceptionalism must end, and it has,” he said last week.

“Victorians know what to do with this — they’ve done it and they’ve done so well for the past three years.

‘There will be fluctuations in case numbers. Every government in the country has taken into account that COVID will be with us in one form or another for quite some time.

“But we’re dealing with it in a different way now, because you have to go beyond this.”