With COVID part of our new normal – it is time for sensible conversations about how to live with and move forward with the virus as part of everyday life. Constantly changing rules and requirements need to become a thing of the past.
The numbers are better than expected and as the peak subsides hospitalisations are dropping. Return to school will bring another spike, but no one is expecting school closures or further lock downs.
Changes have been made to enable businesses to function including expanding the list of "critically essential" industries where close contacts can return to work if they are symptom free and test negative. These changes need to be applied to all industries immediately.
The Check in app has been dropped (except where required for proof of vaccination) as a concession to the new reality and further reassessments of rules need to be made.
Falling through the cracks are small business owner operators who are required to isolate if they return a positive test which in some cases means shutting down the business for a period of time. Whilst some business support payments are available, this is a huge disincentive to test – and the reality needs to be faced that many will either not test or simply ignore the result and attend work as they simply cannot afford to shut down.
Is it time to discuss how asymptomatic workers and business owners who test positive, can still go to work? I, for one am far more comfortable with a positive person at work taking sensible precautions than someone refusing to test for fear of consequence. Again, the reality is that 9 in 10 positive cases are actually unaware they have COVID.
Rapid Antigen tests are now available free of charge to Government Concession Card Holders with limits in place. These test should also be subsidised for workers and businesses. We need to encourage testing as much as possible in order to modify behaviour, not discourage it due to expense and consequence.
The Chambers first networking event has been moved to Thursday 17th February at Mirage Restaurant – see our website for further details.
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