Eighteen months on and Australia still finds itself in the grip of the 'pandemic', where around half the population is in some form of lockdown, and the entire country still being impacted by restrictions. It is as though we were forced on to a merry-go-round that will not stop to allow us to get off.
In stark contrast to Sweden and Taiwan, where lockdowns were recommended and not mandated, Australia has stayed its tyrannical course, enforcing lockdowns and other restrictions; however most of us, if not all, are a little perplexed by exactly what that course is, and with countless contradictions, it's completely understandable why confusion reigns supreme.
I guess the real question is: Do our Chief Health Officers, Premiers and Prime Minister actually know themselves? Perhaps we're being too hard on them, as there have been a couple of things that have stuck: the agenda for lockdowns, and mass vaccinations.
We the people have learnt a few things as a result, and that is that lockdowns don't work, otherwise we would have eliminated the virus long ago.
But I suppose that is the first contradiction: Is the plan to suppress the virus, or eliminate it? We have been told it is a strategy of suppression, with the contradiction being that we are still in lockdown, which is an elimination strategy.
So while our States continue to battle outbreaks using lockdown measures, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg states: “Ultimately, we can’t eliminate the virus...we have to learn to live with the virus.”
Let's take a closer look at some of the more eyebrow-raising contradictions so far.
Testing an asymptomatic person is not recommended, because of the 97% chance of the result being a false positive. Yet, we have been encouraged, and sometimes forced, to get tested, based on where we have been, not based on any clinical assessment of symptoms.
We were told that the vaccines will give us immunity and allow us to return to normal, yet these vaccines cannot and do not stop transmission or infection, and those fully vaccinated are still subject to the same restrictions.
The government follows the advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), yet Prime Minister Scott Morrison has gone against their recommendation not to make vaccination mandatory.
The vaccines are safe, yet as of this week, 335 Australians are dead and over 33,000 injured, and now Greg Hunt has plans to establish a COVID-19 Vaccine Claim Scheme, to cover both health professionals and patients involved in the vaccination roll-out, giving them access to compensation where significant adverse reactions causing injury and economic loss. A clear admission they are not safe.
Some restrictions make little epidemiological sense when other things are allowed. We can walk along the aisles of Coles, with little hope of managing social distancing, yet the aisles of our places of worship are closed to us. It seems that what we worship can infect us differently!
Apparently Covid doesn't pose a threat at weddings with up to 50 people!
Children have little to no risk of catching and transmitting the virus, but we must close all schools.
If you have signs or symptoms, you should go to a testing centre, not a doctor.
A single CASE of covid-19 (not DEATH or an ICU-hospitalised CASE) is cause to lock down an entire state, but any of the 335 dead after receiving vaccination, is somehow acceptable.
During Victoria's last lockdown, its citizens were instructed that travel was only possible where it is essential, however, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has the freedom to fly to Canberra and attend a (non-essential) awards night.
Clinical studies had shown that Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin were effective as early treatments and preventatives against covid-19. These drugs already had TGA approval because of their safety profiles, but our government decided to make them illegal and then authorised its citizens to be brought into the largest medical experiment in history, with completely new, untested products.
Health orders have not taken into account the enormous socio-economic stress of lockdowns, and continue to ignore the collateral damage to health; especially with cancellations of surgeries and medical appointments and procedures, enabling non-covid-related illness and deaths to occur.
Masks are made mandatory, in spite of the clinical peer-reviewed studies that show they can cause upper respiratory infections....or covid-like illness.
Detaining people in hotels for 14 days without fresh air, quality nutrition, and in close proximity to those who might be infected with covid-19, when they have no signs or symptoms and have tested negative, is putting those people at an avoidable risk.
Now the government is involving the military, who are trained in the ways of warfare, by engaging them in "healthcare" through the vaccine roll-out.
The heathcare workers regulator, AHPRA, has a policy that prevents its healthcare professionals from voicing concerns over vaccination, effectively muzzling those who should be actively involved in reporting injuries, whose primary job description is in fact to care for their patients' health and well-being, and who are qualified to determine the vaccinations' true safety and efficacy. This in turn causes significant under-reporting to the TGA.
Only 3 weeks ago the AHPPC did not recommend making vaccines mandatory for aged care workers, now they do. In the same breath they highlight the dangers, with "unintended consequences, including on the (ongoing) availability of the (aged care) workforce, which in turn, could impact the quality and safety of resident care."
This same public notice also claims that in an outbreak, vaccinated individuals are less likely to be significant drivers of spread, and transmission will be dominated by unvaccinated people. However, we have already been told that getting vaccinated does not stop the virus from being spread, only potentially reduces the effects from the virus. And in most recent studies, vaccinated people are shown to be far more likely to test "positive" for covid-19, despite the vaccination that purports to make them immune and less likely to be infected.
Perhaps the most shocking contradiction is Prime Minister Scott Morrison's push to mandate vaccines and bring in a form of vaccine passport, after Health Minister Greg Hunt called for a review of, and halt to, Australia's gain-of-function research. This came after recent disturbing reports that the Wuhan Laboratory, known for first detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has been involved in the creation of biological weapons. CSIRO and Australian Universities did at least 10 joint projects on gain-of-function research with the Wuhan Institute of virology and there are now valid questions around the vaccines being a potential bioweapon.
Our governments and their advisors want us to put our faith in them, but in doing so we must force ourselves to think illogically, because logic says that something cannot be true and false at the same time. Sadly, today we risk our reputations, careers and personal relationships if we do choose to use logic over blind faith, and ask the most sensible of questions.
Looking at the circus of contradictions, one can only conclude that Australia's real pandemic is bureaucratic-induced madness. And if our governments were truly invested in the best interests of its citizens, instead of vaccine companies' bottom lines, there is every chance this merry-go-round will stop, and we can finally get off.