Australia is heading to catastrophe with BA4 and BA.5 now in Australia and the removal of the one mandate that was strongly supported by science, namely masks.
BA.4 and BA.5 are growing fast in South Africa with respect to BA.2. See graph. South Africa is almost certainly heading into fifth wave. See graph.
BA.4 and BA.5 and some other BA.2.* variants have not taken hold yet but that will be dominant in 6-8 weeks. Australia will also be heading into its 6th wave. You can hardly see the wave in March 2020 and August 2020 (in Victoria) now. This next wave will be enormous with most restriction in Australia (like, mask mandates, dining inside, large gathering removed, etc.), the rapid waning of vaccines (going negative after 3 months), and the complete madness to get back to normal. With the Flu and Covid19 working in tandem this Australian winter we will have a nightmarish experience to remember. And all of this is fuelled by the ridiculous federal election. The premiers are trying to pretend everything is under control for the federal election but Australia is currently already tracking terrible> It will be a catastrophic event. I am expected about 200 plus deaths a day, unless that bring masks and common sense back. Covid is also much more present in the winter months. See my post about sunshine and NIR.
