Coronavirus 5 - Last Blood

[stui magpie]

Interesting call by England to stop free testing. Combined with saying people who have Covid no longer need to isolate they really are letting it rip and treating it like Flu.

Ah well, back to the Office Monday it seems.

[What'sinaname]

Two years of shorts and activewear are coming to a close.

Now we'll really see the creativity of people as they manufacture excuses to avoid going in to the office.

I've already heard the one about the stress levels of pets.

[stui magpie]

Any employer that just tries to direct everyone back to the office full time will be looking for an absolute shit fight. Most smart organisations have recognised that and will be doing some form of hybrid arrangements.

Sally Capp can carry on all she wants about wanting all the office workers back in the CBD but most people won't do it, at least not full time, and there's no justification for it.

[David]

Yep – and this is always true, but particularly important to remember now: employees have leverage. Particularly given current staff shortages, a lot of employers will find themselves becoming very flexible if their workers stand their ground on this.

[What'sinaname]

[stui magpie]

You'll always get some employers and employees having a sook but Hybrid arrangements can be mutually beneficial.

Employees get better work life balance with no reduction in productivity.

Employers can downsize office spaces, paying less in rent, utilities, office equipment and consumables.

There's lots of collaborative benefits to getting people back in the office at least 2 days per week. At the Christmas party last year, I'd been at the organisation 11 months and 80% of the people there I'd never met in 3D before.

[Dark Beanie]

Friends husband cannot wait to get his employees back in the office. Has a small company whose projects rely on people working collaboratively.

Some of his team have worked really well at home but there are a couple that have not pulled their weight and their productivity has dropped, plus he suspects they are not even working all the hours they are claiming.

Once they get back in the office there will be more oversight and the slackers may find their contracts are not renewed.

[#26]

My job has KPIs. So I'll continue to do the bare minimum to avoid getting fired, regardless of whether I'm working from the office or from home.

[Dave The Man]

[What'sinaname]

[stui magpie]

I expect the mass testing centres here to close soon. PCR tests would still be available via a GP referral to a pathologist but why would you bother?

If you have no symptoms, no worries, if you feel sick go to a Dr.

People stockpiling Rapid Tests will face the same dilemma as people stockpiling toilet paper or hand sanitiser, lots of stock with no market.

[Dave The Man]

While in Hong Kong the have Compulsory Covid Testing

[Pies4shaw]

Remember when we were told that Omicron was mild and therefore less of a threat than prior versions of COVID?

At the time Omicron was first identified by genomic testing (NSW, 26 November 2021), there had been 1,985 deaths from COVID recorded, Australia-wide (mostly in Victoria).

Australia just passed 5,000 COVID deaths (presently, 5,025 are reported). There have been more than 3,000 deaths reported since 2 December 2021. In the last week, 293 deaths have been reported.

Queensland has recorded almost 500 of its 505 deaths since 6 January 2022.

South Australia has recorded 161 of its 169 deaths since 7 January 2022.

NSW has recorded nearly 2/3 of all deaths in that State (just 663 deaths had been recorded there by 31 December 2021) in 2022. Almost 1,200 of the NSW total of 1,859 deaths have been recorded since 1 January 2022.

Victoria has recorded 884 deaths in 2022, of a total of 2,409 deaths in that State.

[What'sinaname]

^ remember the good old days.

- curfew 9pm to 5am
- Stay at home orders
- 5km travel restrictions
- No private visitors
- Public gathering limited to 2 people
- ELC, School and Education closed
- no weddings
- funerals limited to 10
- sports facilities CLOSED
- Retail - CLOSED
- Hairdressing and personal care - CLOSED

[Dave The Man]