CBDs reinvigorated as fear recedes

Omicron threat recedes

There have been more dramatic 20 to 30 percent declines in hospital, ICU, and ventilator COVID cases this week. 

I've spent a lot of time quietly observing all up and down the east coast over the past month, and it appears to me that mobility has suddenly surged back over the past week. 

A receding fear of the Omicron variant of the virus has almost certainly been a major factor. 

Unlike in previous waves - with over 2.9 million known COVID cases now recorded - almost everybody in Australia has either had the coronavirus, or knows someone who has. 

Thus, the fear of the unknown is no longer, except perhaps in locked-in Western Australia where borders have remained shut, except for sports star exemptions. 

And despite much fearmongering, ICU demand and ventilator cases are now tracking at only a fraction of the modelled estimates for reopening. 

It was from a universally popular move, but in the face of a hostile media Premier Perrotet held his nerve on the removal of restrictions and now people are getting about their business and back to normal. 

The traffic has actually been fairly congested in Sydney for some time, but this was partly a function of folks being reticent to use public transport. 

This weekend, however, it's suddenly becoming obvious that the fear factor is receding, and entertainment venues are now being frequented again. 

We actually got turned away from a full Italian restaurant last might, which is the first time I've been able to say anything like that for a long while, as the pandemic grinds its way tediously into a third year. 

The latest published mobility indexes had already rebounded to well above lockdown levels, but after the loosening of border restrictions in a week's time - and once employers start calling workers back into the office - mobility looks set to return to pre-COVID levels pretty quickly from here. 

Not long now until the CBDs are buzzing again.