Fri, 28. January 2022
Omicron
Snapshots: New South Wales covid figures since Jan 2020
|
January 2020. |
17th Jun. 2021. Start of Delta wave. 17 months |
28th Nov. 2021. Start of Omicron wave 22 months |
28th Jan 2022. |
Total covid infections (PCR) |
0 | 5,440 | 81,166 | 797,566 |
% pop. infected |
0.00% | 0.067% | 1.002% | 9.85% |
Infection rate |
0 | 1 per 1,500 | 1 per 101 | 1 per 10.2 |
Total covid fatalities | 0 | 56 | 627 | 1,234 |
7 day average number of deaths | 0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 30.0 |
Death rate |
0 | 1 per 144,643 | 1 per 12,919 | 1 per 6,564 |
The Australian & NSW Governments are relying on vaccination to control the disease - because they want the economy to boom. The pandemic is raging here in NSW and in all other jurisdictions (except Western Australia) but there are minimal personal restrictions now. Sadly, the disease is not being controlled and an average of thirty people a day are dying - for the sake of the economy!
The politicians here ended lock-downs and insisted on unrestricted opening up. Then along came omicron and they had no thought of reconsidering their grand "wisdom" of letting it rip, despite being told that the protection provided by the vaccines does not last as long as originally hoped for and they are not even matched to the current variant. The only Aussie state with any common sense is Western Australia, where they they have had very few cases so far because their borders remain closed to all the other states.
It is true is that the unvaccinated are over-represented amongst the deaths. However, one of the things I've gleaned from following the daily reports issued by NSW Health Dept is that the people who are actually dying here from covid consist almost exclusively of not one but three grossly over-represented cohorts: the unvaccinated; the elderly; and those with underlying health conditions. The unvaccinated make their own destiny but the elderly and the vulnerable should be protected and cared for more than they are.
The data is also clear that the cohort which initially catches covid is mostly those in their twenties and thirties. They mostly recover - but not before they've passed a potential death sentence to their parents and grandparents.
The vaccine is reducing hospitalisations and deaths but permitting vastly more infections. It is obvious that the vaccines which were developed for the initial covid virus have turned out to be far less effective with delta and omicron. Despite the NSW adult vaccination rate of 95%, omicron has swept through the State and increased the total infections (since Jan 2020) by almost 1,000%,
80,000 --> 800,000 in just the last two months.
1000%!!! 😨
A 95% vaccination rate was always considered a desirable point where herd immunity would be achieved but that will only be possible
when the current vaccination efficacy is higher and matched to the current
covid variant. We have a high vaccination rate but the virus is still rampaging through society. We cannot eliminate covid and all we are doing is keeping a lid on it.
Not being required to wear a mask doesn't mean we can't wear one and being permitted to go to places doesn't mean we have to go. We can go for a drive whenever we want but we avoid other people and I know we are not the only ones preferring a stricter form of self-isolation than that imposed by the authorities.