AIBU to ask if I live in one of the most restricted nations on earth - Covid related *title edited by MNHQ*

[FreedomforWA]

NC as this is outing. AIBU to think that I live in the most restricted nation in the world (well, maybe after North Korea)?

So, I’m a Brit living in Perth, Western Australia (WA). I think it is widely known that Australia basically closed to everyone at the start of the pandemic leaving tens of thousands of citizens and residents overseas. Towards the end of 2021, the individual states all started to open allowing quarantine free travel to approved vaccinated travellers. Except WA. We have continued to live with closed borders – both internal to other states and international (we can leave but due to stringent caps and hotel quarantine, it is almost impossible to return). Our state Premier announced prior to Christmas that the state would open on Feb 5th. Thousands made plans to reunite with family, return home etc. Last night he performed a u-turn and our border is staying shut due to the threat of Omicron. He has not set a future date so we are all essentially in limbo. The rest of Australia is now learning to live with covid and can travel freely. WA has only had around 1400 cases of Covid since the pandemic began with 9 deaths. We have had a few short lockdowns. Whilst I appreciate that this is excellent, striving for zero covid is not a strategy the Premier can keep up with forever. He is delaying the inevitable.

We have an 89% fully vaxxed rate in the over 12s (96% single vaxxed) but this is apparently not good enough, despite being one of the highest rates in the world. We have a mask mandate that covers any indoor premise that isn’t a private residence.

75% of our work force has been mandated to get the vaccine. This is everyone from health care workers and police to supermarket workers and builders – the list is pretty much endless. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of discontent regarding this.

The rules state that as of 31st Jan, we have to show a vaccine certificate to attend – off licenses, restaurants, bars, zoo, theatres museums, hospitals (as a visitor), sporting stadiums, arenas, casino, play centres, gyms, night clubs, music venues and cinemas. I’m pretty sure it won’t stop there. The unvaxxed soon won’t have anywhere to go. Despite being pro-vax and being triple vaxxed myself, I believe that this has gone too far.

This is a state with a significant number of expats. Many of us haven’t seen family for 2-3 years now. I know people will just say that we should leave but it isn’t easy to just leave when we have jobs, lives, homes and mortgages here.

I would love to hear outsider (or fellow WA residents) thoughts on the restrictions we are living with.

YANBU. I have been horrified at the scenes coming out of Australia and the totalitarianism and cruelty that has been enforced. I am sorry you are going through this. It has made me not want to visit, ever.

9 deaths- tragic for those concerned. But I'm in UK and with 6 figures of dead, countless disabled, and yet with the majority of the conditions you describe and a low value rate, it sounds pretty good to me.

One of my parents lives on WA too. It sounds like, because of these measures, you have actually had lots more freedom than we have at times. My parent was able to be out shopping and to restaurants etc while we were locked down for months.

It is rubbish though - my parent hasn't been able to meet my 2 year old yet and goodness knows when that will happen so I do understand your frustrations too.

Summerhillsquare

I think you'll find the populations of the two places vary everso slightly . Not to mention that Perth is the most isolated city on the planet.

OP I think the WA situation sounds appalling, I too would absolutely hate to live there, I'd feel utterly trapped.

@Summerhillsquare

9 deaths- tragic for those concerned. But I'm in UK and with 6 figures of dead, countless disabled, and yet with the majority of the conditions you describe and a low value rate, it sounds pretty good to me.

But how long can it be sustained for? We can't live like this indefinitely. We have to be able to leave and return to the state without excessive restrictions. I appreciate that Covid has been horrendous overseas but a huge number of the deaths pre-date vaccines or are in the unvaxxed (obviously not all) and we have one of the highest vax rates in the world. We can't stay shut now.

I'm also a Brit in Perth, and am now torn. Have been totally supportive up till now, but think the delay to opening up was a mistake, and he's caved to the nursing unions. Pretty sure it's here and spreading now anyway, and summer seems a good time to get it. At the same time, I have been dreading it, I work in resources and it is going to be painful and expensive once it starts spreading from an HSE perspective. The impact to jobs and livelihoods if we'd opened before now would have been way worse, but now feels like we're just delaying the inevitable.

I find it hard to complain too much, when compared to rest of world we've had it pretty easy. Will be interesting when 31st comes around how the new app will work, and how much if a hindrance that will become.

@Lacaola

YANBU. I have been horrified at the scenes coming out of Australia and the totalitarianism and cruelty that has been enforced. I am sorry you are going through this. It has made me not want to visit, ever.

You don't know what totalitarianism is, do you?

Do WA a favour and stay away.

Well, you live in one of the most restricted states. Those of us in the rest of the country are just getting on with living with Covid. I’d be appalled at this decision if I lived in WA - what’s the point of it? He has to open the borders at some point (one presumes anyway) and Covid will come whenever that is.

@Ginandplatonic

Well, you live in one of the most restricted states. Those of us in the rest of the country are just getting on with living with Covid. I’d be appalled at this decision if I lived in WA - what’s the point of it? He has to open the borders at some point (one presumes anyway) and Covid will come whenever that is.

Yes, sorry, should have said state not nation...I realise that most of the other Premiers are behaving with a lot more reason. Covid will come - it would be much better to start it now in the summer than wait until winter when hospitals are under more pressure. I'm now emotionally numb. If we don't have an opening date in March, I will be leaving and taking my frontline healthcare skills with me.

@Lacaola that’s just the teensiest bit hyperbolic perhaps. Thanks for your sympathy but let me assure you that looking at the number of deaths in the UK, no one in Aus is wishing we’d handled it more like they did

Hong Kong and China are pretty horrendous for travel (DH has just done 21 days mandatory hotel quarantine).
But yes, you are in one of the harder places to travel to, but with correspondingly free life within the bubble there.

@FreedomforWA - I agree - it must be like being in prison and it makes me feel claustrophobic thinking about it. 💐 to you and anyone else out in WA who's struggling. If it were me I'd be on the first flight home.

@FreedomforWA what’s the feeling generally in Perth? Are people mostly happy or fed up? I’m in Tassie and there are a lot of people here who would prefer we’d stayed closed. I actually think that although our govt fucked up lots of aspects of opening up, they got the timing pretty right.

You’re not wrong. NZ is in the same boat if not worse. Our border has been closed for almost two years (apart from the very brief time that the Aus-NZ bubble was open). We were meant to open to the world in stages starting from January but that then got pushed back to the end of Feb and again talk is that it will be pushed again due to omicron.

We have vaccine passes that you need to show at hairdressers, cinemas, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, libraries, community centres etc etc. I’m triple vaccinated as well but I know people who for health reasons can’t have the main vaccine we have on offer here and I feel for them.

We are getting sick of it. I’ve had tickets booked to go to Melbourne since April 2020 that I keep moving in hopes I’ll finally get to meet my best friends baby. I’m not optimistic that it will happen before winter.

Great you’re happy Ginandtonic!

Echt- I know exactly what totalitarianism is, and it looks exactly like what has been happening in Australia over the past two years. Out of control police, people locked in their homes, unvaxxed people treated like lepers.... Horrific.

As I said in my previous post, I absolutely will be staying away! Nothing would induce me to visit Australia now. So we can all rest easy.

Sounds bloody awful but I've always been fairly against restrictions anyway so probably not the best person to comment.

Are Australians very worried about catching Covid? Living in England where the messaging has been pretty much "live with it" since April 2021, I accepted that I'd get it at some point and haven't been taking any personal precautions. I did catch it in August.

It's interesting to gauge the mood in other countries.

@Lacaola 😂 I don’t know what you’ve been watching/reading but you’re perhaps confusing Australia with China or North Korea? Geography not a strong point?

I know the UK handled it appallingly to start with but tbh I think we've done pretty well with our decision making since then. Complete freedom now or very soon, pretty much everyone either vaccinated or has some natural immunity and the fear has all but gone.

@Waxonwaxoff0 Are Australians very worried about catching Covid?

Some are, most aren’t like anywhere I guess. I mean you say people in the UK don’t care about catching it, but that’s definitely not the impression I get from reading MN for example. I guess you really can’t judge from a potentially skewed snapshot whether it’s a social media chat site or mainstream media.

It does sound awful, though I was talking to a friend who is from HK and she was telling me that even close contacts are being forcibly taken to those awful little quarantine poss for 7 days before being sent to a quarantine hotel for 14 days. This is everyone, ex pats included.

So I'd say it's slightly better than HK or China

[quote Ginandplatonic]@Waxonwaxoff0 Are Australians very worried about catching Covid?

Some are, most aren’t like anywhere I guess. I mean you say people in the UK don’t care about catching it, but that’s definitely not the impression I get from reading MN for example. I guess you really can’t judge from a potentially skewed snapshot whether it’s a social media chat site or mainstream media.[/quote]
Yes, people seem more worried on MN than what I've experienced in real life. I have a relative who is heavily pregnant and concerned which is understandable but most people I know aren't bothered now. It's probably all relative to personal circumstances.

@FreedomforWA

NC as this is outing. AIBU to think that I live in the most restricted nation in the world (well, maybe after North Korea)?

So, I’m a Brit living in Perth, Western Australia (WA). I think it is widely known that Australia basically closed to everyone at the start of the pandemic leaving tens of thousands of citizens and residents overseas. Towards the end of 2021, the individual states all started to open allowing quarantine free travel to approved vaccinated travellers. Except WA. We have continued to live with closed borders – both internal to other states and international (we can leave but due to stringent caps and hotel quarantine, it is almost impossible to return). Our state Premier announced prior to Christmas that the state would open on Feb 5th. Thousands made plans to reunite with family, return home etc. Last night he performed a u-turn and our border is staying shut due to the threat of Omicron. He has not set a future date so we are all essentially in limbo. The rest of Australia is now learning to live with covid and can travel freely. WA has only had around 1400 cases of Covid since the pandemic began with 9 deaths. We have had a few short lockdowns. Whilst I appreciate that this is excellent, striving for zero covid is not a strategy the Premier can keep up with forever. He is delaying the inevitable.

We have an 89% fully vaxxed rate in the over 12s (96% single vaxxed) but this is apparently not good enough, despite being one of the highest rates in the world. We have a mask mandate that covers any indoor premise that isn’t a private residence.

75% of our work force has been mandated to get the vaccine. This is everyone from health care workers and police to supermarket workers and builders – the list is pretty much endless. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of discontent regarding this.

The rules state that as of 31st Jan, we have to show a vaccine certificate to attend – off licenses, restaurants, bars, zoo, theatres museums, hospitals (as a visitor), sporting stadiums, arenas, casino, play centres, gyms, night clubs, music venues and cinemas. I’m pretty sure it won’t stop there. The unvaxxed soon won’t have anywhere to go. Despite being pro-vax and being triple vaxxed myself, I believe that this has gone too far.

This is a state with a significant number of expats. Many of us haven’t seen family for 2-3 years now. I know people will just say that we should leave but it isn’t easy to just leave when we have jobs, lives, homes and mortgages here.

I would love to hear outsider (or fellow WA residents) thoughts on the restrictions we are living with.

WA is not a nation.

Amongst friends and acquaintances there is a feeling of despair. We have all done what was asked of us - we are all vaxxed, mask wearing etc. The deal was we open at 90% over 12's double vaxxed. We are due to reach that next week.

McGowan did have a lot of support but he lost a significant amount due to the vaccine mandates. Lots of people have left their careers over this. However, I realise that I have a lot of expat friends so our thoughts are similar. Looking at McGowan's facebook page, he still has a lot of support from others in the state. He was talking last night about getting to 80-90% booster doses - he won't get that. At this rate, he will be opening up in winter which will be a disaster.