So its January 19th, 2022...
Remember last year at around(ish) this time? You know, when I had finally completed a 60 day circuit of Covid induced, DOC instructed, quarantine madness?
Yeah, its begun AGAIN.
Five days ago AHCC performed an institution wide round of Covid testing in response to an outbreak of the Omicron variant in one of the six units here at the main facility. Can you guess what DOC did immediately after performing these tests?
The answer is: Nothing.
No lockdowns ensued, no programming was suspended, no work was postponed, no closures or anti-outbreak protocols of any kind were enacted. Everyone from the five units not already on lockdown went about as if nothing was amiss.
What's the big deal, you ask?
Well, if you suspected you had a potential outbreak of a highly contagious and dangerous virus, would YOU still allow everyone to mingle and interact from multiple housing units BEFORE any test results came back?
I didn't think so. You're a smart cookie. DOC on the other hand is a really dumb (sorry Australia) Vegemite sandwich.
The test results started flowing in two days ago and since then, a Unit or more, has popped positive for Omicron every day since. As of 15:00 PST, mine is the last unit NOT on lockdown, despite having two positive tests results. Those guys are already in quarantine. Poor bastards.
I'm fully vaxed and boosted. I wear my mask religiously, even when I'd rather not. I wash my hands, I social distance, I do everything I'm supposed to do. I'm not overly worried about my physical health, but there's only one way this virus gets into our little petri dish of an existence: Outside introduction.
DOC claims to give a damn, and I believe a lot of its employees do, however it only takes one to screw everything up. And if you think there's any accountability, you're like that nice grandma everyone loves: Sweet but naive.
More than anything else, I despise how much stress these pointless exercises generate for me and my loved ones. My tablet is a one-way brick with no inbox and phone access during quarantine is anything but regular.
I am a prisoner of the system and all its inherent limitations, but DOC's pandemic response (or lack thereof) extends those problems to the people I love and for that, I loathe them.
If I drop off the radar, just know I haven't discovered the secrets of stealth tech, I've fallen victim to DOC ineptitude.