Years after COVID was detected in Australia, relics of the most painful pandemic years remain

The pandemic is not over by a long shot. Current Covid levels in the US are the second highest they've ever been. They have almost 2000 deaths each week. We don't know nearly enough about the long term impacts of Covid on both individuals and society. There are mounting indications that Covid, especially when contracted repeatedly, really does a number on someone's immune system, the effects of which will manifest only much later in their lives. A lot of people have had long-term or permanent health impacts, some are functionally disabled.

But the pandemic, in people's minds, was over the moment the first politicians declared that we needed to 'return to normal'. We couldn't 'stay locked down forever'. We couldn't 'live in caves', and similar hyperbolic bullshit. Any further efforts at keeping Covid at bay were doomed once NSW famously lost control of their Delta outbreak and shifted rhetoric from 'we can contain this' to 'we have to learn to live with it' literally within hours. They forced other state governments' hands, and now this shit is endemic, happily spreading and mutating, and nobody gives a toss because every effort has been made to keep it out of the public consciousness.

I fear that we will only know in ten or twenty years what the true price is that we as humanity have to pay for treating this pandemic so lackadaisically. And to think this all could have prevented with smart policies, by governments who put people before the economy, and who weren't scared of making difficult decisions.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Some may not even notice the dark circles that seem to have stained the concrete, where a marker once existed reminding people to keep their distance.

Melbourne, where he lives, was subjected to some of the toughest set of restrictions in the country and faced one of the longest lockdowns in the world — 262 days.

It's a stark difference to the hustle and bustle that surrounds him now as he sits on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.

She said the uncertainty of the unfolding situation took its toll and people were often unkind to hospitality workers — memories she has pushed to the back of her mind.

Home schooling for many meant minimal interaction with other children and other adults, which Ella thinks would have impacted students' social and emotional development.

She said it was important to listen to health departments when official messaging comes out and for the community to be respectful of others and how they chose to protect themselves.

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