“The thought of lockdown again is what is giving me a lot of anxiety and a lot of dread … it scares me,” says Melbourne man James Burke. He also feels the loss of the sense of collective action which, for some, underscored the long lockdowns of 20. Martin Radzaj says he has found the start of 2022 to be the most difficult time in the pandemic because of the “utter confusion about what we should be doing”. They just want an indication from governments both state and federal that they will be supported and able to easily access tests and healthcare as the outbreak, and any new variants to come, rolls on. Most people who spoke to Guardian Australia are still recovering from the impact of long lockdowns and do not want a return to restrictions. “Are you willing to justify risking the health of vulnerable people for that privilege?” ‘Utter confusion about what we should be doing’ “What’s the price that we are willing to pay in order for people to be able to go and have brunch? “Almost everyone has a pre-existing condition,” Cooper says. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/EPAĪlso invalidating is the implication, from some public health messaging and public responses to death announcements, that a disease is less devastating if most of its victims are people who have pre-existing conditions. Sign notifying customers that rapid antigen test (RAT) kits are sold out. “We should absolutely acknowledge that was bad and a lot of people suffered, but a lot of people are also alive now because of it,” she says. Many others say they have chosen to go back into something resembling lockdown until their children can be vaccinated or until the outbreak peaks.Ĭooper says she felt significantly safer when Melbourne was in lockdown and finds the argument that people should “get over” their concern about a global pandemic “incredibly invalidating”. Many like Cooper have gone into self-isolation to protect themselves or a vulnerable loved one. Guardian Australia spoke to more than 40 people about how they were feeling at the start of the third year of the pandemic. I would not be fine – I had my booster shot last week and was severely unwell for five days. “It is very strange to watch the rest of the world say ‘we will go out and it will be fine and we will get sick and it will be fine’. She went into self-isolation two weeks ago. Cooper is disabled and immunocompromised.
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