COLIN TYRUS:
Coming up to six minutes past 10 here at Southern FM, and that's time to welcome our very special guest this morning, Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd. Good morning.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Good morning, Colin.
COLIN TYRUS:
Thank you very much for your time. Well, you know, a tragic day. The record number of deaths in New South Wales today, 18 new deaths from COVID-19, the deadliest day of the pandemic in New South Wales. Another 34,808 reported cases in the past 24 hours here in Victoria. It seems pretty gloomy the outlook, Michael.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. Look, obviously it's very serious still and we are still seeing significant numbers of people who are losing their lives to COVID-19, but the good side of things is the level of vaccination and the protection that we know that vaccination against COVID-19 provides to many people, preventing people from becoming seriously unwell and losing their lives to COVID-19. So we are seeing, of course, record numbers of people reported as being infected with COVID-19. I imagine some of your listeners.
COLIN TYRUS:
I was speaking to one of our presenters earlier, a young bloke called- also called Michael, by the way, and he was saying that he's never felt so crook in his life. He came down with it about New Year's Day. He had his PCR test. It took five days to get the results, but during those five days, he was self-isolating, and he said he could hardly move. He had aches and pains, he had dizzy spells, and he's a young fit bloke in his 20s.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Well, hopefully also he'd been vaccinated and…
COLIN TYRUS:
Yeah, twice.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yeah. So obviously anybody who has not yet been vaccinated, we're encouraging to get those first two doses of the vaccine, and the booster doses are available as well at the moment. If it's four months since you had your second dose, it's time to get a booster, so make an appointment for that. And today, we're starting the rollout of the vaccines for the five to 11-year-olds across Australia. So there's lots of littlies lining up at general practices across the country to get their first shots as well.
COLIN TYRUS:
And is there any problem with those vaccinations for- when I say problems, supplies are sufficient?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. So the people have been working all through the holiday break to get the supplies of the vaccines, both the adult vaccines and also the special preparation for the five to 11-year-olds out to general practices, pharmacies, state hubs, the Commonwealth vaccination centres, and there's more and more vaccines being distributed this week and next week. People may have difficulty booking an appointment because many of the clinics, they don't release their appointments until they get their delivery.
COLIN TYRUS:
Right.
MICHAEL KIDD:
So if you're having trouble getting an appointment, just keep going back to the health.gov.au website and appointments become available every hour as clinics put their appointments up.
COLIN TYRUS:
Now, I saw some interviews with some young kids who are actually excited and looking forward to getting their jabs. The wisdom of the young people and the knowledge that they are reflecting, compared with some of the lack of knowledge and sheer ignorance that we're hearing from some conspiracy theorists, it's quite refreshing to see the young folks spreading the good word about vaccination.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Absolutely. And good on them. And for so many of- young people in Australia and especially in Victoria, their schooling has been terribly disrupted over the last two years. Their interaction with their friends, much of it has been online rather than face to face. A lot of children have missed out on their sports and other activities, which they love. So, they're really keen to get back to as normal a life as possible and these vaccines are going to assist with that and assist kids to get back to school and hopefully get a degree of normality into their lives.
COLIN TYRUS:
Now, a listener has sent in a question via text, and that is that: we were told that the vaccines, first of all, the two of them and then the third dose that is now recommended for everyone, was going to be some sort of a panacea or that's how it was portrayed by some parts of the media, but people are still getting the coronavirus in record numbers. And this new strain is so infective, isn't it, and transmissible?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes, it is. So the Omicron variant is much more transmissible than the previous variants. We thought the Delta variant was bad, but the Omicron variant is even more transmissible. So we're seeing people in households, one person gets it and often, everyone in the household ends up testing positive. But because of the vaccines, what we're seeing is that many people who test positive have no symptoms or have mild symptoms, which can be managed at home. And the number- the percentage of people who are becoming seriously unwell is dramatically different to what we've seen over the previous two years.
COLIN TYRUS:
Oh, that's interesting. I was wondering how it compared because I'm seeing raw figures about hospitalisations, but I can't remember the old days, so to speak, when the pandemic was really rife with the Delta strain and the original strain. So you're saying it's well below the rate of that?
MICHAEL KIDD:
That’s right. And especially when we look at people being admitted to intensive care units for treatment of severe COVID-19. We’re also seeing a very dramatic difference in the outbreaks in residential age care facilities. People in Victoria will remember how terrible this was back in 2020 in the second wave before we had vaccines.
COLIN TRYUS:
Yeah.
MICHAEL KIDD:
While we are seeing many residential age care facilities in Victoria with outbreaks, the impact on the residents is [inaudible] different to what we were seeing 18 months ago.
COLIN TYRUS:
Yeah, that’s really good to hear. Now you mentioned before that if you do have symptoms and then you go and have a test, or you administer a RAT to yourself – that sounds funny, doesn’t it – but a rapid antigen test. Once you’re positive, what’s the protocol, Michael?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yeah, so if you have a positive rapid antigen test or have a PCR test and are told that that's positive, then you need to be isolating at home for the for the next week, and so do your close contacts, the people who share your home are with. And…
COLIN TRYUS:
[Interrupts] Importantly, too, it's right, isn't it, Professor Michael Kidd, that you need to isolate at home for at least seven days from the day you had your test, not the result?
MICHAEL KIDD:
That's right. That's right. So seven days from. And of course, when you have a test, you should be isolating until you get the result of that test. But of course, with a rapid antigen test, you get the results usually within 15 minutes if you're administering that yourself at home. So it's important, I think, for everybody to be prepared, especially with the very high numbers of cases that we're seeing. It could be tomorrow that you end up having a test or get some symptoms, and you're in isolation.
COLIN TYRUS:
[Interrupts] Sorry to interrupt, but even while we've been talking, I've had another SMS from another Southern FM presenter. Again, a young fellow, 21-years-old, who says that he's just returned a positive test for COVID-19 and he'll be isolating for seven days. And I know he will be, because his dad is a pharmacist, so he'll be under strict orders there. But, sorry to interrupt.
MICHAEL KIDD:
No, that's really important. But the important issue is that once you get the positive result, you cannot leave your home. So you can't go to the pharmacy to pick up paracetamol or ibuprofen, or electrolyte solution. You can't go to the supermarket to get a week of supplies. You're at home and so people need to be prepared. And as I was saying yesterday, people need to have some paracetamol or ibuprofen on the shelf, in their bathroom, at home, just in case all of a sudden you find yourself in isolation.
COLIN TYRUS:
Yeah, it was only minutes after you made that and I was then out walking back to the newshound and I was passing by a chemist and I thought, I shall do what, Professor Michael Kidd, Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, has just advised. And I picked up a pack of paracetamol.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Very, very wise. The other issues when you're at home, you- even if you're self-managing, if you have no symptoms or mild symptoms, it's important to look after your physical…
COLIN TYRUS:
[Interrupts] You just dropped out there for a second. Just important to look after?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Your physical health, but also to look after your mental health. And we know that people have been in isolation a lot over the last two years, so making sure that you're reaching out to your loved ones, using your phone or your video calls to reach out to your friends and your family. And if you're having- if you're struggling and having difficulties, calling Beyond Blue or the other resources which are available to support people.
COLIN TYRUS:
It's so important, and I really thank you and congratulate you and the entire team of health professionals and the frontline workers. You know they're really under pressure, aren't they, with the numbers of people. Even though there's not so many in proportion to the number as they used to be, there's still a lot of people in hospital in the hundreds, in the big states.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Oh, there are. And we have so many heroes in Australia, the people working in our hospitals, our general practices, our pharmacies, and other health centres looking after the health and wellbeing of the people of our nation during this very challenging time.
COLIN TYRUS:
And if people are unsure of the COVID test and isolation protocols, where can they get more information?
MICHAEL KIDD:
So you can ring the National Coronavirus Helpline on 1800-020-080. You can go on to the health.gov.au website and also the Victorian Government Department of Health website. There's information on all of those sites. There are people- you're not on your own. If you get diagnosed with COVID, you're not on your own. There are people available to talk to you about what's happening. If you do have symptoms and you ring the National Coronavirus Helpline, they can put you through to a nurse who can talk to you about how to manage your symptoms. And of course, if you do become seriously unwell with difficulty breathing, chest pain, feeling faint, you need urgent assistance, please call triple zero and call for an ambulance.
COLIN TRYUS:
Thank you so much, Michael. Professor Michael Kidd, Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Thank you, Colin.
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