WA Covid: Work together to get through

Western Australia remains one of the last areas on Earth with a relatively COVID-free lifestyle. The hardline border stance and stringent public health measures have so far prevented population-wide exposure.The pandemic is a highly dynamic and complex situation. But moving goalposts and shifting policy agendas have added to the instability.

West Australians have been demanding certainty and it’s now time. We’ve had two years to prepare for living with this virus. Ample fiscal reserves and record economic surpluses mean that WA is theoretically in a strong position. However, with February’s reopening looming, it feels like we’re about to enter the belly of the beast.

Reassurances have been made that our health system can cope. Health workers have stated otherwise. The diabolical ambulance ramping situation and staffing shortages must be managed to avoid the all-out catastrophe we’re witnessing over east. We have to move through this phase with caution, to avoid system-wide disruption. There is no easy path, however, and it’s a matter of reducing the risks and improving the outcomes for all, as best as possible.

A pathogen won’t bring us to our knees, for the human spirit is strong. But poor public planning, policy and resourcing, and woeful dissemination of helpful public health advice, just might. We’re seeing the rest of Australia buckling under the weight of some of the most negligent national and State policy decisions in recent history — it’s an utter failure. The competence and responsibility of leaders to deliver measured and balanced policies that provide optimal conditions and improved outcomes for the entire community, while managing for fluidity and complexity, is imperative.

Favouring absurd and outdated ideologies about the nature of market economics — ones that neglect actual human capital and health — is a move that will now likely send the national and NSW governments to electoral defeat. It’s abundantly clear, at this stage of the pandemic, and learning from the Eastern States, that we need to move beyond the knee-jerk reactions that have characterised management thus far, and into strategic and grounded forward planning.

We need greater assurance in WA, including increased public health education, and really clear guidance about what living with COVID looks like, now. Because WA simply can’t remain cut off from the rest of the world anymore, and a transition to living with COVID must invariably happen.

The top-down health directives we’ve relied on over the past two years must now be met with greater self-efficacy and personal responsibility. People can only manage their health more effectively if they’re given the tools and resources to do so. Sadly, banning rapid antigen tests in WA until this week was short-sighted, and lifting them came far too late.

However, it’s time to stop outsourcing our reliance on policymakers and government officials. They’ve done a really hard and valuable job of keeping life moving in the west. We must let our iron curtain fall, and rejoin the world. We can take control of our own health. We can take measures to protect ourselves and boost our immune systems, by following the best advice available to each of us and using common sense. Establishing a plan for yourself and your family, one that considers multiple scenarios relevant to your health and circumstances, is also recommended.

We need to do all we can to support those around us as we open up, especially people at higher risk and those who hold more responsibility to steer this ship as we move through the next few months. Be thoughtful and kind, the only way out is through — together.

This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 15 January 2022.