here in the Land of Oz it's mid winter & we have medical authorities saying wear masks indoors & politicians saying no way, it's business as usual!!

‘Not just another wave’: Australia’s Covid hospitalisations reach record levels in several states Hospitals across the country are “bursting at the seams” as the number of people being admitted with Covid-19 reaches record levels in several states ...

Epidemiologist Adrian Esterman said the differing hospitalisation rates across the nation make for a “quite strange” picture – but one with a unifying theme.
“My understanding, from speaking to people around the country, is that every major hospital is at full capacity and bursting at the seams,” the University of South Australia professor said.
And there is worse to come, with most states and territories likely several weeks away from their peak hospitalisation rates of this wave, he said.
“That will be when the pressure is really on, and we’ll just have to see how they manage.”
The current wave, driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, has coincided with a “horrendous” hospitalisation rate from influenza ...

“If we use boosters and antivirals and get people wearing masks and staying at home, we have the ability to control it, to some degree,” the academic and director of infectious diseases at Mater Health Services said ...