How are Australians feeling after more than two years of Covid? Exhausted, mostly

The pandemic is still happening, but it is no longer front page news. It has been pushed off by devastating floods, the war in Ukraine, increasingly dire warnings about a global climate breakdown, one celebrity hitting another celebrity, and the pending federal election.

In the past week alone, 518 people with Covid died in Australia. More than 80,000 people returned or registered a positive test, but the real number of positive cases is much higher. Rapid antigen tests miss at least 30% of cases, and PCR tests can also return a false negative for a person with a low viral load.

Getting on top of all those missed appointments, and preparing for the winter Covidvaccine booster rollout and what experts have warned could be the worst flu season in three years, is taking its toll.

Price is particularly concerned about the mental health of young adults whose university experience has been interrupted and social networks fragmented by two years of online classes. In Melbourne, where Price is based, those social networks have been slow to recover.

There is a disconnect between the public health messaging, where the pandemic remains front of mind, and the broader public consciousness, which has shoved the pandemic to one side.

Schools, already a significant source of coronavirus transmission, have reported an increase in cases at the start of autumn.

In South Australia this week there were 508 teachers and 351 support staff isolating because of Covid, affecting 346 schools, and 4.2% of students were absent due to Covid-related reasons.

The Victorian education department recorded 3,669 positive cases in students and 375 in teachers in government schools on Monday and Tuesday alone. The absence rate for students in Victorian government schools in term one has averaged 11%.

The absence rate for teachers has also been high and there are not enough casual teachers to fill demand, the Victorian branch president of the Australian Education Union, Meredith Peace, says.

The increase in cases at the end of term one has teachers concerned that cases will continue to rise in terms two and three.

Despite the rise in case numbers, life has, in many areas, started to return to normal.

Workplace attendance in Australia has returned to the level seen in December 2021, just before Omicron hit, according to Google mobility data. Public transport use has also climbed to levels not seen since before the Delta wave hit in June 2021. Both remain below the baseline levels from January 2020, but it is a steady recovery after successive lockdowns.

The outcomes for people in hospital have also been improved due to access to better drug therapies. But the strain on the system remains.