Last week, most restrictions in NSW were lifted in what was celebrated as “Freedom Day.” Premier Dominic Perrottet scrapped useless QR codes and mask mandates and allowed unvaccinated people back out into society. He said it was time for the people of NSW to take personal responsibility, as it should have been from the start. But, as predicted by those of us who have seen this all before, it was far too early to be celebrating.

For an entire week, the mainstream media pelted the Premier with questions about lifting restrictions right before Christmas just after the Omicron variant had begun to spread and cases were increasing. They put pressure on him to reinstate restrictions, including QR codes and mask mandates but Perrottet stood firm, refusing to do so and reiterating the notion of personal responsibility, saying that the government were now treating people like adults (which goes to show they have had a mentality for the past two years where they have considered themselves the parents of everyone living in the state, treating us all like children). In some sense, it seemed promising.

But on Thursday morning, two days prior to Christmas, Perrottet capitulated to the demands of the fearmongers, reinstating QR code check-ins in all retail and hospitality venues across the state. People acted as if this was not a big deal, taking issue with those who were concerned about it. But they had every right to be dismayed by this backflip. It was not simply the restoration of QR codes that was the problem, but the principle of the matter. The fact that Perrottet had backtracked on QR codes was cause for concern that he would do the same on mask mandates and other restrictions, quite possibly including vaccine passports, most likely post-Christmas and New Year. It did not take long at all for the Premier to prove us right.

Mere hours after announcing the return of QR codes disappointing Dom caved even further, reimposing mask mandates and density measures. That freedom he promised lasted little more than a week. So much for personal responsibility; so much for treating us like adults.

The whole concept of personal responsibility lies in people being able to quite literally take responsibility for themselves. They assess their own risk and live accordingly. If they consider the virus to pose a greater risk to them, they might choose to limit their movement. Others who are not so concerned may live more normally, unperturbed by the virus. It is a fantastic way of living because it actually allows people to live.

The only people that appear to have a problem with personal responsibility are those who just want the government to run their lives for them. They are the same people who beg for restrictions to be reimposed as soon as they are scrapped. For some strange and utterly insane reason, they actually enjoy life under the thumb of authoritarianism. It could easily be argued that living that way is not living at all. It is actually more dangerous than living with COVID-19.

Authoritarian rule has, historically, led to great atrocities being committed against the people by their governing powers. It ends in destruction and death. Yet people have now become so dumbed down by the never-ending cycle of fearmongering and panic that they have succumbed to a psychosis which renders them ignorant to reality. They actively want to be ruled, they want to be told what to do. They lack independent thought. They have completely bought into the fear at the expense of their own freedom and rationality.

A rational mind, on the other hand, would consider the fact that case numbers were increasing before QR codes and masks were removed last week and ask what exactly reimposing them now is going to achieve. They would consider that Omicron is a mild form of the virus, which is nowhere near as deadly as previous strains. Rather, it is more infectious, but this is not unexpected. Viruses mutate to survive longer in their host population. If a virus mutates to become extremely fatal, it will kill off its hosts before it can spread, thus killing itself off in the process. This has happened in the past with several highly fatal viruses, including filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg. In these cases, once the infection is contained, it is merely a waiting game to see if the patient/s survive the virus.

In the case of Omicron, COVID-19 has mutated to become more infectious but less deadly. This is so that it can infect more people and survive longer in the human population rather than eradicating itself. As has been seen around the world, the vast majority of cases of this variant have nothing more than a mild illness which they recover from fairly quickly.

It should therefore be expected that case numbers will continue to increase, but this should not be cause for panic. In fact, many in the medical industry have said that Omicron could increase natural immunity in the population, which would result in greater resilience to COVID-19 and a subsequent decrease in infections. Even the Chief Health Officer of Queensland, Dr John Gerrard, said that:

“Not only is the spread of this virus inevitable, it is necessary.

We all have to have immunity, you will all have to develop immunity, and there’s two ways you can do that: by being vaccinated or getting infected.”

As to measures of protection, most are futile. The vaccine will not protect you from Omicron, let alone COVID-19, given it does not prevent transmission nor infection. You are not morally superior nor heroic for getting the vaccine. You can still contract and spread the virus. Masks have clearly not been curbing infections, given they have continued to increase despite mask mandates previously. And, contrary to popular opinion, QR codes are not going to help ease the burden on the healthcare system, because with the high infection rate of Omicron, every man and their dog is a close contact. Even the Prime Minister admits this to be true, saying that QR codes are pointless because, as the UK has taught us, everyone ends up as a close contact.

There is no doubt in my mind that the tremendous backflip Dominic Perrottet has just performed came at the behest of the mainstream media and Health Minister Brad Hazzard. Their dirty little paws are all over it. But Perrottet should not have capitulated to people who thrive on fear and division. If anything, he has once again demonstrated that he is just another politician lacking a backbone.

Dominic Perrottet is just Gladys in a suit.