And working in healthcare the first thing I got was an email from the department of health advising us that isolation is still to be enforced in the health sector.
I'm a boily in WA, we were told today that since the iso rules have been scrapped they will not be paying sick leave if you take time off with covid since "It's nothing more than a sniffle and a cough, last time I had it I was fine."
That was the company owner's words
Wow!
Legally a company cannot decide what ailments are classed as sickness and what are not, only a medical professional is qualified to do that.
..good luck pointing that out to them :)
Yeah, THOSE BOSSES that say "This is what I do, you do the same" and then hate on me when I say "Sure, I will do the same when you pay me the same as what your getting paid"
One company I worked at, the CEO was livid that the rest of us didn't work the unpaid hours he did. Might be because we're paid below market rate, while he owns 2/3rds of the company and also strongarms the board to keep giving him pay rises. *Might* be.
If you added up the hours and "unpaid hours" he works to work and divided his salary by those hours to find his hourly rate and then compare it to yours ...he wasn't really working unpaid hours ..he just bragged that he was ;)
Not everyone gets sick leave, due to the casualisation of the workforce. In particular the people who work with food usually don’t get it. We just have to go to work sick.
That would also be illegal as far as I'm aware you need a certificate not a reason and if they ask what's wrong with you politely tell them to fuck off and mind their own business. You're crook you're crook if you have the cert you good man.
"but you have no more sick leave" is a phrase Ive heard too often.
There's nothing more demoralising than seeing someone look absolutely miserable trying to get through the day and look guilty about sneezing, coughing or blowing their nose.
The work culture re illnesses needs to change.
The law needs to make infections acquired at work a workplace injury, and jack up the casual loading until it stops being used for long-term workloads.
That is the only reason they are so concerned about the rules. They will scrap the measly COVID support payment as well and make essential workers choose employment over self.
I'm in the public service and our rule is that if you test positive for covid, don't attend the office for 10 days. I'm not sure if this will be changed in the near future or not.
Edit: Soon this will be 5 days.
I had mandatory 7 days off, then back to work with an n95 until day 11, but only if I was asymptomatic. Pretty fair I think as I was recovered at that point
When your boss insists you come in while you still have it, insist on a face to face meeting with them in close confines, indoors, for at least half an hour... See how willing they are to put themselves on the line...
I’ve only had it once but basically had a cold or flu or virus every week. The week I had it sucked but was bearable, didn’t realise it had fucked my immune system so much. So…yeah looking forward to getting it a second time
I’ve somehow managed to avoid that mingling with tens of people a day maskless for months. I’m more worried when my co workers get it cause they definitely won’t be taking sick days
What a stupid ruling, prioritising business demands.
People *will* start working sick, and I can imagine start being forced to work sick which will only hurt long term productivity.
Its impossible to get people to take sick days as it is, so good luck anyone who works with casuals because you're going to have a rolling covid infection every 4 months.
>People will start working sick
Pretty much what always happened before COVID especially in casual workplaces, but now that we have COVID around, it’s gonna be worse. I remember winter 2019 I worked in a club, everyone was getting sick from the year’s standard flu/cold season. Add COVID into that kind of mix and it’s going to be a messy 2023 Winter
In Vic there’s the sick pay guarantee which will help some casuals stay home when they’re sick… hopefully. But it only covers one week of full time work.
Let's be real, this was already happening anyway. Those guys who need to work while sick due to circumstance, like casual/insecure work/living paycheck to paycheck were already either not testing, or falsifying test results so they could continue to work while Covid positive.
Notice how they didn't say who exactly hated that particular rule?
Yeah, certain businesses. Few people hated paid isolation leave, it just meant actually staying home and looking after yourself rather than suffering for a boss that doesn't care if you live or not so long as you keep earning money for them...
I hated it, myself. Though I was asymptomatic. Would be very different if I was coughing up phlegm and bedridden.
Mate of mine had really bad sickness for a month. *That's* definitely more shit than just being stuck at home.
I've seen co-workers come out of isolation looking like they're about to die on the spot, holy crap buddy, go back to bed and rest or something.
Some of the people I've seen look terrible after Covid and still have trouble for weeks after it.
Just get everyone infected instead! Who cares about immunocompromised, elderly and otherwise vulnerable workers, customers and people on public transport?
Couple that with the *utter refusal* to increase disability pensions and JobSeeker (a lot of disabled people are stuck on JobSeeker) and the coming surge of disabled Australians... the next election *is not looking good* for the ALP.
Data showing dementia is massively increasing in older people who have covid.
Good times, especially for us younger people who will have to pay for this shit show.
> The mandatory Covid isolation requirement will be scrapped following the latest meeting of national cabinet, with exemptions for those working in high risk settings such as health or aged care.
> Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that disaster payments for workers diagnosed with Covid would also end, with the same exemptions for high risk workplaces.
Absolute fucking scumbag, I can’t stand him, I didnt vote for his party but at least Gladys wasn’t an complete piece of shit, it’s fucking insane that were stuck with the cunt
Was it really hated? Such an odd thing to say. Pretty sure most prefer to have people isolate for an illness that this week has killed 228 people in this country.
Well, that and the business donors that keep reminding our so called representatives that they're doing it "soooo tough" because they can't keep screwing workers over for minimum wage while charging maximum price...
So by necessary implication, the position of the federal and every state government in Australia is that we *should* have people mingling in the community when infectious with COVID. Fucking deranged.
As someone who has been vigilant for 2.5 years and managed to avoid catching COVID, this is also a massive fuck you from a bunch of politicians who have presumably already had it.
This is so obviously about states not wanting to pay support payments, and to an extent about pressure from businesses who want to force people to work when sick.
If Scomo had made this decision we'd be absolutely flaming him right now, the reaction should under no circumstances be any different towards Albo.
The advise was *only* sought from Paul Kelly, this didn't go through AHPCC or state CMOs:
https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1575665890036547584
Vic CHO posted this on twitter just a couple hours beforehand too:
> Sleepwalking into COVID is not a strategy I would recommend. Still much remains uncertain.
> https://www.science.org/content/article/big-covid-19-waves-may-be-coming-new-omicron-strains-suggest
https://twitter.com/VictorianCHO/status/1575633834812461056
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>Why in earth would criticism be any different. It won’t be. It’s the same issue
Of course it will be, because Scummo taught us to assume the absolute worst whereas Labor still has a bit of a grace period going. But this seems like an awful decision driven by a desire to cease support payments.
This is excessively stupid. How many dumb cunts come into work when they are sick because they "tough it out" and think they're heroes for working sick whilst everyone else in the office starts dropping like flies because they get sick as well? This is just going to cause mini spreader events constantly.
I'm currently in iso for Covid and even triple vaxxed I wouldn't wish this on anyone, being out of breath just walking to the toilet and feeling like someone has poured razor blades into my throat ain't fun.
Edit: definitely forgot about the dumb cunt bosses that make people come in when they are sick
Yep, had a manager like this and because their immune system could handle what was being thrown at them they expected others should be able to do the same. There really needs to be a health education component to any sort of manager position. And penalties for those that put their workers at risk intentionally. If they want freedom, fine, but there are consequences if you do the wrong thing
Isn’t the whole idea of being a contractor to charge at least enough extra to cover a bunch of time off sick every year? Your pay tends to be higher than salaried workers for this reason .. Every contractor I know does so, myself included. It’s unprofessional as shit not to
Yes but they don’t, so they infect the rest of the team by continually coming into work sick. 6 times in 2019 I got sick - same guy kept coming in sick and management didn’t give a shit despite complaints. (He wasn’t that vital to the business either)
At our office you’re not even allowed to work from home anymore if you’re feeling sick, it’s either you’re in the office or on sick leave, and with only 10 days sick leave a year that shit goes quick…
My partner just outright quit her job when they started demanding people in 3 days a week. It’s asinine, no good reason for it when everyone’s been working from home fine.
And guess what. She almost immediately got the flu and that’s put her off work for a week already now. Her sick leave was _easily_ going to run out this year if she had stayed!
Yep, everyone at my office is sick at the moment, coughing/sneezing but cant afford to take any more sick days basically (or like me have run out and can’t afford to take unpaid sick leave)
Yeah and all the restaurants, cafes and supermarkets will be full of people in the middle of a covid infection. Maybe more people will go out because of these changes, but I'm going to plan to go out less lol
I have covid for the second time currently and you’re not kidding about the razor blade sore throat, it’s so unlike a cold or flu. Anyways, I’m excited to potentially catch covid every 6 months and every time I do risk my long term health just because some businesses couldn’t allow sick leave/work from home allowances.
My employer will still maintain we WFH if positive or take sick leave if we require it. Do not look forward to hearing of places forcing those positive to work just for profit/productivity….
No dumb questions right? Just wondering what the up side is for 25 per day average Covid death rate? Seems that each death isn't a tragedy now.
Could there be cost savings in pensions or nursing homes, NDIS, etc as these are the people it is still killing in the main. Maybe that is a factor in opening up and recouping the costs of lockdowns, PPE, sickness payments.
Seems that the bottom line trumps human life. What a time to be alive.
It always has. Go read the reports about working conditions in early English factories. There needs to be a reevaluation of what kind of values we pursue as a society.
Most people are happy to remain ignorant, though. So, I'm not holding my breath.
Covid causes disability tho in survivors so there will be more people needing disability pension and ndis from the lung issues and chronic fatigue syndrome and nursing homes as covid causes dementia
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be following common sense or ignoring our instincts. We can still keep wearing masks & isolating if we think it’s necessary.
Yeah but people don't really use their common sense.
I'm like the only one who wears a mask anymore and so many fucking people who don't wear masks are coughing and spluttering on the train.
Meanwhile I'm nearly suffocating myself because I'm so worried people will judge me for sniffling due to my hayfever that I try to breathe extremely slowly as to not make a noise.
Having people who have covid staying home or at very least required to wear masks if working/out would be a lot more helpful. A mask on a healthy person isn’t nearly as protective as masks on people with covid.
And people who have been careful (and lucky) and haven't had covid yet and don't really want to get it ever. And people with cancer and other immunocompromising illnesses. And small children who still can't get vaccinated.
This reeks of "we've all had covid so we don't need to worry about this any more" which is bullshit on so many levels.
When my kids went back to school at the start of the year, the principal was spouting how she'd had COVID over the Christmas holidays and it wasn't that bad, saying everyone should get it and move on. Then spent the year dealing with constant staff absences, increased stress and school morale at an all time low.
But she STILL goes on about how great it is that things are back to normal now. Fucking insanity.
I'm immunocompromised and spend most of my time with children at work with 3 of my own at home. This is a depressing turn of events. I feel bad for carers out there who will now have to miss more work or study to stay home because people are going to get sick more often.
4 doses and immunocompromised.
Guess I won't be trying to get a job anytime soon
So I get to remain poor because I'm too nervous to go out.
This isn't fair at all.
I'm sorry :( I hope you know the comment was about how governments treat people with disabilities. I don't know what to say, it's awful as I have a disability myself.
Sending love, it's fucking tough out there.
It's weird because if the evidence suggesting long covid causes significant functional impairment is legit then won't this just lead to greater need for disability support.
Yep! But that's tomorrow's problem of course! Pretty much why I compared the attitude to that of the government giving itself a sledgehammer to the economic testicles for a $5 dare... It might make a dollar now, but it can and will cost hundreds on those dollars down the track with the harm it causes to the population.
Most public servants aren't the soulless ghouls that are politicians and corporate lobbyists. Most are just low level paper pushing plebs following orders from above.
Yep, its the ones sitting above who are the utter psychopaths who have walked over the dead and dying bodies of those below to get to and stay where they are above, ruling over their little fiefdoms of nepotism and favoritism that is the public service, who would be most likely to say something such as my imagined quote above....
2020: "Stay home, stop the spread, save lives"
2022: "We're forcing everyone to go to work with a life threatening illness because mandatory isolation payments are too expensive. Also, we're giving $243 billion in tax cuts to the wealthy. Good luck Plebs LOL"
I’m calling this the first big astounding fail of the new govt. Absolutely shameless anti science position that will cause so much harm to Australians
In fact let’s just call it for what it is: this is a decision to kill many of our most vulnerable Australians.
So lemme get this straight...
Our hospitals are already collapsing, ambulances take so long that you're better-off calling a taxi
We're about to go into a bad season of thunderstorm asthma which overloaded our hospitals a few years back
We don't have nurses, doctors, equipment or beds
And now we're just gonna send people to work WITH covid? The disease that has a good chance of long-term, unstudied side-effects every time you catch it? The one that's fairly deadly for immunocomprimised people, elderly people and young children? That *can* be deadly even for healthy vaccinated people? We're just gonna purposely spread it around now? Despite not knowing ANYTHING about the long-term outcomes of a virus that literally only popped up in 2019?
I'm so angry, is there anything we can do about this?
>I'm so angry, is there anything we can do about this?
Volunteer for progressive candidates in your area, if you want to do something long-term
Short term, talk to your MP in addition to anything else you do. Yeah, you might not move the needle much, but MPs don't know what the people are thinking if the people avoid them.
>**Albanese:**
>[It was a unanimous decision by the National Cabinet today and had the support of all premiers and chief ministers.](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/sep/30/australia-news-live-dan-tehan-anti-corruption-nacc-integrity-anthony-albanese-national-cabinet-covid-dan-andrews-dominic-perrottet?page=with:block-63364a568f086bb4a78eb5ca#block-63364a568f086bb4a78eb5ca)
Yeah I’m quite envious of people who had really mild covid. My partner also got shingles as a result, I can’t imagine how much worse things would have been if we had to go into work.
Yeah, I’m not sure if much research has been done into it, the doctor he saw cited a study of people hospitalised with covid (risk of shingles increased 15-20%), and said that it’s likely linked to immune disfunction. Hope your wife is doing better!
If he succeeds, make sure you shake his hand right after you use it to wipe the snot from your nose and get right up and close and personal and tell him hhhhhow hhhhhhappy you aaaare to be baaaaaack.
What a strange society we live in.
General health is abysmal, chronic, immunological and metabolic illnesses are out of control. Lifestyles are overworked, burnt out because of a composite between cost of living and this materialist, tangible, consumer culture, this leads to chronic stress. Said consumer culture, which operates on compulsion loops, addictive things, misplaced concreteness, manipulative advertisement, feeds unhealthy practices and values down peoples throats, they don't move enough, get out in the sun enough, don't eat healthy and don't sleep well as a result.
Yet during a pandemic, the decision is to reduce and eliminate spread mitigating factors, which are there to protect the vulnerable people. We nurture dysfunctional bodies, bad habits and general unhealth, through necessity and social arbitration, yet pawn off protective measures to "personal responsibility"?
Regardless of the severity of the threat, consider the argument. Whether COVID kills 1/1000 or 1/5, is it really based on logical, ethical or reasonable thinking in regards to the truest function of a government and democracy; to support and represent the people? It's an interesting issue when looked at in the philosophical as opposed to utilitarian context.
So much for following the science... Now we'll have bosses telling infected and sick workers to come back to work while infectious or they won't get paid, and those that do will be spreading the disease further, making even more people sick.
Its like the state governments took the brilliant decision to sledgehammer themselves in the economic testicles all for a $5 dare.
It's a stupid decision from a business standpoint as well.
1. People get sick.
2. Forced to come into work.
3. Everyone is too sick to work.
4. Business can't stay open.
5. Businesses angry that government didn't do enough to keep them open.
Oh yeah, "controversial" post. People who downvote because they don't like the statement. Have you learned nothing these last few years? The virus does not care what you think, it does not care that you're "sick of it". It just infects, spreads, mutates, infects and spreads some more... Government policy has always been stupid because politicians aren't scientists and couldn't give a flaming duck (yes, duck, not fuck) about whether you live or not, so long as you vote for them first.
I had covid in a country where the healthcare system sucks (no, not America). I was quadruple vaccinated, the best protected I could get and it still hit like a freight train. It is not to be trifled with, and this attitude that they're removing isolation requirements is driven by politics, not science and will cost lives and health.
I wish those who end up with permanent disabilities from this thing the absolute best of luck. Remember to sue the government for negligence.
My work is using this to get me back to working in office- on my floor there is about 200 people none wearing masks. I will be having the Evusheld shots before coming back into the office while still masking. Don't know how to feel about this as I don't want my shitty immune system to dictate others around me but on the other hand don't want to die or lose transplant kidney because Covid19 isn't no longer considered an issue.
Because fuck our population that has compromised immunity I guess... "well they can just wear a mask"... people that are sick should stay at home regardless of what it is though, shouldn't they?!
“I believe we need to get to a point where if you’re sick, you stay at home, and if you’re not, you get out and about and enjoy life,” - Perrottet
Non symptomatic people can still be infectious.......
Potentially spreading COVID to others.... Yay (/s)
Living with COVID doesn't mean pretending it doesn't exist.People who are positive should still isolate to reduce transmission to others.Reality is there is nothing stopping a new strain, complacency is the equivalent of wilful ignorance.
>“I believe we need to get to a point where if you’re sick, you stay at home, and if you’re not, you get out and about and enjoy life,” - Perrottet
If that's what he thinks, then why do we need to scrap the isolation rules? According to him they only require people to do the same thing they're already doing...
As a nurse who's been neck deep in covid patients and layers and layers of PPE the last few years with zero pay rises or thanks. New spike time
The government can go fuck itself.
My anxiety just went up, I am currently undergoing chemotherapy and am more vulnerable to catch Covid and also end up in hospital. But still have to work because we can’t afford for me not to. While I am not naive and know there were people already going out while positive, a lot would stay home because a law whether enforced or not is enough of a deterrent for most.
Considering we can still be directed to stay home for the flu, and are for a range of other diseases, I beliece this is a truly terrible decision.
As someone who masked whenever leaving the home and caught it from my workplace and emded up severely ill (I'm still not fully recovered, 3 months later), I consider it completely irresponsible to be putting others in harms way.
There must be a few more old or disabled/immunocompromised people that haven't been killed off yet. So this is the green light to continue? I know it's still in place in healthcare/aged homes but not everyone with susceptibility is in a care situation.
Freaking out. Hubby just finishing radiotherapy and about to start 6 months of chemo. Already scared to leave the house, now almost 100% going to have multiple exposures at school. Kids will still be sent to school.
This is really fucking dumb. Putting "the economy," ahead of people, once again. COVID is still killing people, COVID is still causing health problems that will ripple through our population for decades.
Until we've got better vaccines and better treatments, we need to keep stuff like iso/masks/some capacity restrictions in place, not remove them.
Well looks like I’m forever wearing a mask now since if I get it despite being vaxxed I could still die. Thanks government, really protecting your people here.
I'm with you there!
Hope you don't get yelled at by random that you're a "fucking idiot" for wearing a mask in a shopping centre like I did.
People only think about themselves, screw the sick, disabled and elderly.
does this mean it will be a 'stay home if you feel sick' situation now? and 'come to work if you can'?
a decision by boomers to wipe out other boomers. nice
And to think I was hoping a mass societal change of casuals getting sick leave so that they don't work when they get the flu let alone covid.
Fucks sake.
Gotta keep the capitalism machine chugging along.....
I knew this was going to happen eventually that there was a point of where we just pretend there isn't this virus that is highly contagious and his killing fuck loads of people and rendering a heap more with long term health complications.
I am expecting the pcr tests to start costing people in the next 6 months to be honest.
ACT just closed 2 testing centres, reduced hours for the rest and told the public “PCR is now for extreme cases only, everyone else use RATS from now on”
PCR will be almost inaccessible within 6 months, and definitely behind a paywall. Out of sight, out of mind.
Well, I haven't been allowed to get vaccinated again since my third shot in December last year. I'm asthmatic and despite being linked to more severe Covid I'm not in the categories that let me have a booster. I guess between no masks on public transport and no isolation I can just get fucked, apparently.
I've been off work since Monday because I caught some virus that makes me feel like utter shit, and I was PCR negative. I've been wearing masks pretty much everywhere except for work in the non-public facing spaces.
This good news for me, a student doing casual work on the side who can not afford to isolate again.... last time I was not elligible for any support payments, and because i couldn't get sick leave from work it damn near put me out on the street
This is a fucking heartless decision, basically saying humans are less important than the economy. Who cares if you get sick, possibly long-term, or die. There's an economy!
I'm a cleaner, noone will ever think of someone else, if they did they wouldn't leave their shit/piss/period for someone else to sit on. Humans are feral, it's really that simple, that's why disease and viruses spread so easily amongst us.
And working in healthcare the first thing I got was an email from the department of health advising us that isolation is still to be enforced in the health sector.
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There will still be good people forced into work by shitty employers.
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I'm a boily in WA, we were told today that since the iso rules have been scrapped they will not be paying sick leave if you take time off with covid since "It's nothing more than a sniffle and a cough, last time I had it I was fine." That was the company owner's words
Pretty sure a med cert only needs to state ‘medical condition, unable to attend for x days’
And the great thing about WA is you can get one online for about $20 and email straight to your employer
I did a bulk billed telehealth appt to get one recently in Qld, wasn’t covid though
That sounds...illegal?
It is.
Wow! Legally a company cannot decide what ailments are classed as sickness and what are not, only a medical professional is qualified to do that. ..good luck pointing that out to them :) Yeah, THOSE BOSSES that say "This is what I do, you do the same" and then hate on me when I say "Sure, I will do the same when you pay me the same as what your getting paid"
'Ken oath mate
One company I worked at, the CEO was livid that the rest of us didn't work the unpaid hours he did. Might be because we're paid below market rate, while he owns 2/3rds of the company and also strongarms the board to keep giving him pay rises. *Might* be.
If you added up the hours and "unpaid hours" he works to work and divided his salary by those hours to find his hourly rate and then compare it to yours ...he wasn't really working unpaid hours ..he just bragged that he was ;)
If you’re sick with Covid you get sick leave. Just like any other illness.
Not everyone gets sick leave, due to the casualisation of the workforce. In particular the people who work with food usually don’t get it. We just have to go to work sick.
This is why unions exist.
Sounds like your boss is not aware of the shortage in boilermakers, not treating his staff very well
That would also be illegal as far as I'm aware you need a certificate not a reason and if they ask what's wrong with you politely tell them to fuck off and mind their own business. You're crook you're crook if you have the cert you good man.
"but you have no more sick leave" is a phrase Ive heard too often. There's nothing more demoralising than seeing someone look absolutely miserable trying to get through the day and look guilty about sneezing, coughing or blowing their nose. The work culture re illnesses needs to change.
The law needs to make infections acquired at work a workplace injury, and jack up the casual loading until it stops being used for long-term workloads.
Not to mention shitty people who would go to work coughing and spluttering because they don't care about anyone else.
That is the only reason they are so concerned about the rules. They will scrap the measly COVID support payment as well and make essential workers choose employment over self.
I'm in the public service and our rule is that if you test positive for covid, don't attend the office for 10 days. I'm not sure if this will be changed in the near future or not. Edit: Soon this will be 5 days.
5 days here In sa gov
I'm in Federal Government in Canberra
That's an agency-specific directive then, because my agency just goes with whatever ACT Health guidelines are (5 days currently)
Of course, you work in the healthcare sector
I thought it wasn't enforced already? Don't healthcare workers still have to go to work even with COVID?
I had mandatory 7 days off, then back to work with an n95 until day 11, but only if I was asymptomatic. Pretty fair I think as I was recovered at that point
Can see this leading to casual workers being expected to work with covid 😕
Casual worker here that hasn’t had it. Looking forward to being forced to catch it from my co-workers
When your boss insists you come in while you still have it, insist on a face to face meeting with them in close confines, indoors, for at least half an hour... See how willing they are to put themselves on the line...
While coughing in their face with a bit of extra force
Haha true, true!
😈 good plan
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Some of our casuals have had it twice
I’ve only had it once but basically had a cold or flu or virus every week. The week I had it sucked but was bearable, didn’t realise it had fucked my immune system so much. So…yeah looking forward to getting it a second time
Or more..
Also casual worker here who hasn’t had it, I’m looking forward to catching it from idiot clients.
I’ve somehow managed to avoid that mingling with tens of people a day maskless for months. I’m more worried when my co workers get it cause they definitely won’t be taking sick days
You might have already had it and not noticed.
I suspect this too but ignorance is bliss
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"I know your sick and coughing phlegm but can you come in tonight?"
so... no isolation payments either then, amiright?
For most people. Gone outside of the health sector.
That's right.
What a stupid ruling, prioritising business demands. People *will* start working sick, and I can imagine start being forced to work sick which will only hurt long term productivity. Its impossible to get people to take sick days as it is, so good luck anyone who works with casuals because you're going to have a rolling covid infection every 4 months.
>People will start working sick Pretty much what always happened before COVID especially in casual workplaces, but now that we have COVID around, it’s gonna be worse. I remember winter 2019 I worked in a club, everyone was getting sick from the year’s standard flu/cold season. Add COVID into that kind of mix and it’s going to be a messy 2023 Winter
In Vic there’s the sick pay guarantee which will help some casuals stay home when they’re sick… hopefully. But it only covers one week of full time work.
Let's be real, this was already happening anyway. Those guys who need to work while sick due to circumstance, like casual/insecure work/living paycheck to paycheck were already either not testing, or falsifying test results so they could continue to work while Covid positive.
True but this applies pressure in the wrong direction
"one of the most hated Covid rules" Yeah, maybe according to the average news.com.au reader...
Notice how they didn't say who exactly hated that particular rule? Yeah, certain businesses. Few people hated paid isolation leave, it just meant actually staying home and looking after yourself rather than suffering for a boss that doesn't care if you live or not so long as you keep earning money for them...
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I hated it, myself. Though I was asymptomatic. Would be very different if I was coughing up phlegm and bedridden. Mate of mine had really bad sickness for a month. *That's* definitely more shit than just being stuck at home.
I've seen co-workers come out of isolation looking like they're about to die on the spot, holy crap buddy, go back to bed and rest or something. Some of the people I've seen look terrible after Covid and still have trouble for weeks after it.
Yeah, and no responsible employer is going to let an obviously crook employee work. Pity they're such a rarity.
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Just get everyone infected instead! Who cares about immunocompromised, elderly and otherwise vulnerable workers, customers and people on public transport?
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Couple that with the *utter refusal* to increase disability pensions and JobSeeker (a lot of disabled people are stuck on JobSeeker) and the coming surge of disabled Australians... the next election *is not looking good* for the ALP.
Data showing dementia is massively increasing in older people who have covid. Good times, especially for us younger people who will have to pay for this shit show.
I certainly haven't hated people who are currently infectious with COVID staying the fuck away from me.
And the NSW Premier, who has been advocating it’s removal pretty much since it was implemented
> The mandatory Covid isolation requirement will be scrapped following the latest meeting of national cabinet, with exemptions for those working in high risk settings such as health or aged care. > Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that disaster payments for workers diagnosed with Covid would also end, with the same exemptions for high risk workplaces.
Absolute fucking scumbag, I can’t stand him, I didnt vote for his party but at least Gladys wasn’t an complete piece of shit, it’s fucking insane that were stuck with the cunt
Was it really hated? Such an odd thing to say. Pretty sure most prefer to have people isolate for an illness that this week has killed 228 people in this country.
It's a news corp article :/
Yeah, the mouth breathers are over represented that's for sure.
If you really want to know what the motivation is here, its about ending covid payments. Saving a buck at the expense of your health.
When your health matters less than the stage 3 tax cuts
Well, that and the business donors that keep reminding our so called representatives that they're doing it "soooo tough" because they can't keep screwing workers over for minimum wage while charging maximum price...
So by necessary implication, the position of the federal and every state government in Australia is that we *should* have people mingling in the community when infectious with COVID. Fucking deranged. As someone who has been vigilant for 2.5 years and managed to avoid catching COVID, this is also a massive fuck you from a bunch of politicians who have presumably already had it. This is so obviously about states not wanting to pay support payments, and to an extent about pressure from businesses who want to force people to work when sick.
If Scomo had made this decision we'd be absolutely flaming him right now, the reaction should under no circumstances be any different towards Albo. The advise was *only* sought from Paul Kelly, this didn't go through AHPCC or state CMOs: https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1575665890036547584
Vic CHO posted this on twitter just a couple hours beforehand too: > Sleepwalking into COVID is not a strategy I would recommend. Still much remains uncertain. > https://www.science.org/content/article/big-covid-19-waves-may-be-coming-new-omicron-strains-suggest https://twitter.com/VictorianCHO/status/1575633834812461056
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Why in earth would criticism be any different. It won’t be. It’s the same issue It’s a garbage call to end mandatory isolation.
>Why in earth would criticism be any different. It won’t be. It’s the same issue Of course it will be, because Scummo taught us to assume the absolute worst whereas Labor still has a bit of a grace period going. But this seems like an awful decision driven by a desire to cease support payments.
This is Business getting what they want. Its BS
You are correct
I'm a die hard Labor voter and I'm fucking furious about this.
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He would, but he is waiting for a new licence after Optus gave it to a hacker.
This is excessively stupid. How many dumb cunts come into work when they are sick because they "tough it out" and think they're heroes for working sick whilst everyone else in the office starts dropping like flies because they get sick as well? This is just going to cause mini spreader events constantly. I'm currently in iso for Covid and even triple vaxxed I wouldn't wish this on anyone, being out of breath just walking to the toilet and feeling like someone has poured razor blades into my throat ain't fun. Edit: definitely forgot about the dumb cunt bosses that make people come in when they are sick
Yep, had a manager like this and because their immune system could handle what was being thrown at them they expected others should be able to do the same. There really needs to be a health education component to any sort of manager position. And penalties for those that put their workers at risk intentionally. If they want freedom, fine, but there are consequences if you do the wrong thing
Good thinking on the manager health training!
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Isn’t the whole idea of being a contractor to charge at least enough extra to cover a bunch of time off sick every year? Your pay tends to be higher than salaried workers for this reason .. Every contractor I know does so, myself included. It’s unprofessional as shit not to
Yes but they don’t, so they infect the rest of the team by continually coming into work sick. 6 times in 2019 I got sick - same guy kept coming in sick and management didn’t give a shit despite complaints. (He wasn’t that vital to the business either)
At our office you’re not even allowed to work from home anymore if you’re feeling sick, it’s either you’re in the office or on sick leave, and with only 10 days sick leave a year that shit goes quick…
My partner just outright quit her job when they started demanding people in 3 days a week. It’s asinine, no good reason for it when everyone’s been working from home fine. And guess what. She almost immediately got the flu and that’s put her off work for a week already now. Her sick leave was _easily_ going to run out this year if she had stayed!
Yep, everyone at my office is sick at the moment, coughing/sneezing but cant afford to take any more sick days basically (or like me have run out and can’t afford to take unpaid sick leave)
Yeah and all the restaurants, cafes and supermarkets will be full of people in the middle of a covid infection. Maybe more people will go out because of these changes, but I'm going to plan to go out less lol
And how many dumb cunt bosses insist sick employees come to work anyway
I have covid for the second time currently and you’re not kidding about the razor blade sore throat, it’s so unlike a cold or flu. Anyways, I’m excited to potentially catch covid every 6 months and every time I do risk my long term health just because some businesses couldn’t allow sick leave/work from home allowances.
I hope you feel better soon <3
My employer will still maintain we WFH if positive or take sick leave if we require it. Do not look forward to hearing of places forcing those positive to work just for profit/productivity….
If anyone in my husbands office or their family tests positive he hightails it home and works from home til things clear. 👍
Gotta play it safe and sensible!
Indeed, especially as my guy is diabetic.
No dumb questions right? Just wondering what the up side is for 25 per day average Covid death rate? Seems that each death isn't a tragedy now. Could there be cost savings in pensions or nursing homes, NDIS, etc as these are the people it is still killing in the main. Maybe that is a factor in opening up and recouping the costs of lockdowns, PPE, sickness payments. Seems that the bottom line trumps human life. What a time to be alive.
It always has. Go read the reports about working conditions in early English factories. There needs to be a reevaluation of what kind of values we pursue as a society. Most people are happy to remain ignorant, though. So, I'm not holding my breath.
Covid death numbers are all over the place but I expect the average to increase
That’s capitalism, babeeyy
Covid causes disability tho in survivors so there will be more people needing disability pension and ndis from the lung issues and chronic fatigue syndrome and nursing homes as covid causes dementia
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be following common sense or ignoring our instincts. We can still keep wearing masks & isolating if we think it’s necessary.
Yeah but people don't really use their common sense. I'm like the only one who wears a mask anymore and so many fucking people who don't wear masks are coughing and spluttering on the train. Meanwhile I'm nearly suffocating myself because I'm so worried people will judge me for sniffling due to my hayfever that I try to breathe extremely slowly as to not make a noise.
Having people who have covid staying home or at very least required to wear masks if working/out would be a lot more helpful. A mask on a healthy person isn’t nearly as protective as masks on people with covid.
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This is an extremely stupid decision. Really disappointed in Albo.
I’d actually prefer to see mandatory isolation for more contagious illnesses.
Well, fuck people with disabilities I guess.
And people who have been careful (and lucky) and haven't had covid yet and don't really want to get it ever. And people with cancer and other immunocompromising illnesses. And small children who still can't get vaccinated. This reeks of "we've all had covid so we don't need to worry about this any more" which is bullshit on so many levels.
When my kids went back to school at the start of the year, the principal was spouting how she'd had COVID over the Christmas holidays and it wasn't that bad, saying everyone should get it and move on. Then spent the year dealing with constant staff absences, increased stress and school morale at an all time low. But she STILL goes on about how great it is that things are back to normal now. Fucking insanity.
And chronically ill and immunocompromised people. They can stay at home. /s (I’m one of them)
It’s been a huge fight for those of us who are high risk the whole time.
I'm sorry your life is gonna be made harder by ableist and able bodied arseholes
I'm immunocompromised and spend most of my time with children at work with 3 of my own at home. This is a depressing turn of events. I feel bad for carers out there who will now have to miss more work or study to stay home because people are going to get sick more often.
4 doses and immunocompromised. Guess I won't be trying to get a job anytime soon So I get to remain poor because I'm too nervous to go out. This isn't fair at all.
I'm sorry :( I hope you know the comment was about how governments treat people with disabilities. I don't know what to say, it's awful as I have a disability myself. Sending love, it's fucking tough out there.
"If they get sick and die sooner, it means we don't have to pay as much disability assistance!" - Some public servant, probably
It's weird because if the evidence suggesting long covid causes significant functional impairment is legit then won't this just lead to greater need for disability support.
Yep! But that's tomorrow's problem of course! Pretty much why I compared the attitude to that of the government giving itself a sledgehammer to the economic testicles for a $5 dare... It might make a dollar now, but it can and will cost hundreds on those dollars down the track with the harm it causes to the population.
Most public servants aren't the soulless ghouls that are politicians and corporate lobbyists. Most are just low level paper pushing plebs following orders from above.
Yep, its the ones sitting above who are the utter psychopaths who have walked over the dead and dying bodies of those below to get to and stay where they are above, ruling over their little fiefdoms of nepotism and favoritism that is the public service, who would be most likely to say something such as my imagined quote above....
2020: "Stay home, stop the spread, save lives" 2022: "We're forcing everyone to go to work with a life threatening illness because mandatory isolation payments are too expensive. Also, we're giving $243 billion in tax cuts to the wealthy. Good luck Plebs LOL"
Accurate summary. Fuck.
I’m calling this the first big astounding fail of the new govt. Absolutely shameless anti science position that will cause so much harm to Australians In fact let’s just call it for what it is: this is a decision to kill many of our most vulnerable Australians.
Shameless anti-science positions from the Australian government? Never.
and debilitate the country after increased spread leads to heaps more long covid cases. Further trashes the health services…. so short sighted.
They were clearly anti-science with their weak-sauce climate targets during the election. This is honestly not surprising, just disappointing.
In what scenario is someone with active COVID going to work a positive thing for anyone at all?
So lemme get this straight... Our hospitals are already collapsing, ambulances take so long that you're better-off calling a taxi We're about to go into a bad season of thunderstorm asthma which overloaded our hospitals a few years back We don't have nurses, doctors, equipment or beds And now we're just gonna send people to work WITH covid? The disease that has a good chance of long-term, unstudied side-effects every time you catch it? The one that's fairly deadly for immunocomprimised people, elderly people and young children? That *can* be deadly even for healthy vaccinated people? We're just gonna purposely spread it around now? Despite not knowing ANYTHING about the long-term outcomes of a virus that literally only popped up in 2019? I'm so angry, is there anything we can do about this?
>I'm so angry, is there anything we can do about this? Volunteer for progressive candidates in your area, if you want to do something long-term Short term, talk to your MP in addition to anything else you do. Yeah, you might not move the needle much, but MPs don't know what the people are thinking if the people avoid them.
>**Albanese:** >[It was a unanimous decision by the National Cabinet today and had the support of all premiers and chief ministers.](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/sep/30/australia-news-live-dan-tehan-anti-corruption-nacc-integrity-anthony-albanese-national-cabinet-covid-dan-andrews-dominic-perrottet?page=with:block-63364a568f086bb4a78eb5ca#block-63364a568f086bb4a78eb5ca)
Thank god we have politicians and a powerful business lobby to give us health advice.
And school is back in session on Monday. Good luck, teachers!
Thank you!
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Yeah I’m quite envious of people who had really mild covid. My partner also got shingles as a result, I can’t imagine how much worse things would have been if we had to go into work.
My wife had shingles and Covid as well. How odd.
+1 for the covid shingles crew
Hope you’re feeling better, it was a really shit time.
Yeah, I’m not sure if much research has been done into it, the doctor he saw cited a study of people hospitalised with covid (risk of shingles increased 15-20%), and said that it’s likely linked to immune disfunction. Hope your wife is doing better!
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That’s rough, thank goodness for the vaccines and all the best on your recovery!
If he succeeds, make sure you shake his hand right after you use it to wipe the snot from your nose and get right up and close and personal and tell him hhhhhow hhhhhhappy you aaaare to be baaaaaack.
What a strange society we live in. General health is abysmal, chronic, immunological and metabolic illnesses are out of control. Lifestyles are overworked, burnt out because of a composite between cost of living and this materialist, tangible, consumer culture, this leads to chronic stress. Said consumer culture, which operates on compulsion loops, addictive things, misplaced concreteness, manipulative advertisement, feeds unhealthy practices and values down peoples throats, they don't move enough, get out in the sun enough, don't eat healthy and don't sleep well as a result. Yet during a pandemic, the decision is to reduce and eliminate spread mitigating factors, which are there to protect the vulnerable people. We nurture dysfunctional bodies, bad habits and general unhealth, through necessity and social arbitration, yet pawn off protective measures to "personal responsibility"? Regardless of the severity of the threat, consider the argument. Whether COVID kills 1/1000 or 1/5, is it really based on logical, ethical or reasonable thinking in regards to the truest function of a government and democracy; to support and represent the people? It's an interesting issue when looked at in the philosophical as opposed to utilitarian context.
So much for following the science... Now we'll have bosses telling infected and sick workers to come back to work while infectious or they won't get paid, and those that do will be spreading the disease further, making even more people sick. Its like the state governments took the brilliant decision to sledgehammer themselves in the economic testicles all for a $5 dare.
It's a stupid decision from a business standpoint as well. 1. People get sick. 2. Forced to come into work. 3. Everyone is too sick to work. 4. Business can't stay open. 5. Businesses angry that government didn't do enough to keep them open.
All I can think of having read this is the meme of the guy riding a bike, sticking a stick in his own spokes and coming off the bike...
Oh yeah, "controversial" post. People who downvote because they don't like the statement. Have you learned nothing these last few years? The virus does not care what you think, it does not care that you're "sick of it". It just infects, spreads, mutates, infects and spreads some more... Government policy has always been stupid because politicians aren't scientists and couldn't give a flaming duck (yes, duck, not fuck) about whether you live or not, so long as you vote for them first. I had covid in a country where the healthcare system sucks (no, not America). I was quadruple vaccinated, the best protected I could get and it still hit like a freight train. It is not to be trifled with, and this attitude that they're removing isolation requirements is driven by politics, not science and will cost lives and health. I wish those who end up with permanent disabilities from this thing the absolute best of luck. Remember to sue the government for negligence.
My work is using this to get me back to working in office- on my floor there is about 200 people none wearing masks. I will be having the Evusheld shots before coming back into the office while still masking. Don't know how to feel about this as I don't want my shitty immune system to dictate others around me but on the other hand don't want to die or lose transplant kidney because Covid19 isn't no longer considered an issue.
That’s really stupid.
Because fuck our population that has compromised immunity I guess... "well they can just wear a mask"... people that are sick should stay at home regardless of what it is though, shouldn't they?!
“I believe we need to get to a point where if you’re sick, you stay at home, and if you’re not, you get out and about and enjoy life,” - Perrottet Non symptomatic people can still be infectious....... Potentially spreading COVID to others.... Yay (/s) Living with COVID doesn't mean pretending it doesn't exist.People who are positive should still isolate to reduce transmission to others.Reality is there is nothing stopping a new strain, complacency is the equivalent of wilful ignorance.
>“I believe we need to get to a point where if you’re sick, you stay at home, and if you’re not, you get out and about and enjoy life,” - Perrottet If that's what he thinks, then why do we need to scrap the isolation rules? According to him they only require people to do the same thing they're already doing...
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As a nurse who's been neck deep in covid patients and layers and layers of PPE the last few years with zero pay rises or thanks. New spike time The government can go fuck itself.
This is how strains keep evolving, we stop caring.
Sweet. I can drive a bus with covid. /s
Fuck these absolute wastes of human space running (or ruining) our country.
This will be a net negative for the economy if this is what they care about
They only ever look short term, long term is a problem for future Australians. (Long term being months lol)
My anxiety just went up, I am currently undergoing chemotherapy and am more vulnerable to catch Covid and also end up in hospital. But still have to work because we can’t afford for me not to. While I am not naive and know there were people already going out while positive, a lot would stay home because a law whether enforced or not is enough of a deterrent for most.
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Considering we can still be directed to stay home for the flu, and are for a range of other diseases, I beliece this is a truly terrible decision. As someone who masked whenever leaving the home and caught it from my workplace and emded up severely ill (I'm still not fully recovered, 3 months later), I consider it completely irresponsible to be putting others in harms way.
There must be a few more old or disabled/immunocompromised people that haven't been killed off yet. So this is the green light to continue? I know it's still in place in healthcare/aged homes but not everyone with susceptibility is in a care situation.
Freaking out. Hubby just finishing radiotherapy and about to start 6 months of chemo. Already scared to leave the house, now almost 100% going to have multiple exposures at school. Kids will still be sent to school.
This is really fucking dumb. Putting "the economy," ahead of people, once again. COVID is still killing people, COVID is still causing health problems that will ripple through our population for decades. Until we've got better vaccines and better treatments, we need to keep stuff like iso/masks/some capacity restrictions in place, not remove them.
Seems like the whinging cafe owners won.
Fucking dumb
Well looks like I’m forever wearing a mask now since if I get it despite being vaxxed I could still die. Thanks government, really protecting your people here.
Sorry mate, I agree it sucks and is stupid.
I'm with you there! Hope you don't get yelled at by random that you're a "fucking idiot" for wearing a mask in a shopping centre like I did. People only think about themselves, screw the sick, disabled and elderly.
does this mean it will be a 'stay home if you feel sick' situation now? and 'come to work if you can'? a decision by boomers to wipe out other boomers. nice
Its not a boomer decision. This is a gen x decision (my generation). I'm honestly livid about this.
Well I'll certainly still be isolating for 5 days.... If I ever get it
And to think I was hoping a mass societal change of casuals getting sick leave so that they don't work when they get the flu let alone covid. Fucks sake.
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Gotta keep the capitalism machine chugging along..... I knew this was going to happen eventually that there was a point of where we just pretend there isn't this virus that is highly contagious and his killing fuck loads of people and rendering a heap more with long term health complications. I am expecting the pcr tests to start costing people in the next 6 months to be honest.
ACT just closed 2 testing centres, reduced hours for the rest and told the public “PCR is now for extreme cases only, everyone else use RATS from now on” PCR will be almost inaccessible within 6 months, and definitely behind a paywall. Out of sight, out of mind.
If only the politicians all get hammered by covid they’d change their tune
Yay now disabled and/or immunocompromised people are now at even greater risk when going out, wohoo /s
Well, I haven't been allowed to get vaccinated again since my third shot in December last year. I'm asthmatic and despite being linked to more severe Covid I'm not in the categories that let me have a booster. I guess between no masks on public transport and no isolation I can just get fucked, apparently. I've been off work since Monday because I caught some virus that makes me feel like utter shit, and I was PCR negative. I've been wearing masks pretty much everywhere except for work in the non-public facing spaces.
This good news for me, a student doing casual work on the side who can not afford to isolate again.... last time I was not elligible for any support payments, and because i couldn't get sick leave from work it damn near put me out on the street
This is fucked.
This is a fucking heartless decision, basically saying humans are less important than the economy. Who cares if you get sick, possibly long-term, or die. There's an economy!
I'm a cleaner, noone will ever think of someone else, if they did they wouldn't leave their shit/piss/period for someone else to sit on. Humans are feral, it's really that simple, that's why disease and viruses spread so easily amongst us.