Expert says Omicron reaction ‘not proportionate’

A leading epidemiologist has declared governments “pulled the trigger way too quickly” in response to the feared Omicron variant.

A leading epidemiologist has declared the reaction to Omicron has not been proportionate, as almost 900 Victorians remain in isolation over a super-spreading scare from two nightspots.

Infectious diseases expert Pet­er Collignon, a professor at the Australian National University Medical School, said it was crucial the state government collated all the data before implementing “really major implications” on the community.

“We’ve pulled the trigger way too quickly,” he told the Herald Sun. “I’m not really sure that we need to treat it any differently to Delta.”

Professor Collignon said virus spread was inevitable, but the major consequences of infection – death and hospitalisation – were “markedly reduced compared to a year ago”.

“We need to be proportionate to the risk, but I don’t think governments have been,” he said.

“Unless we can show that Omicron is causing much higher death rates and hospitalisations, we’ve got to show more measure.

“We’ve got to be careful that when a variant comes – and there’ll be more – that we have real-world data, not just test-tube data, which doesn’t always paint the full picture.

“They’ve done that here with Omicron but we can’t do it in future.”

It comes as health experts scramble to extinguish a potential super-spreading event, after a reveller infected with the Omicron strain visited two popular Melbourne nightclubs.

The partygoer, who is understood to have acquired it interstate before travelling to Victoria, attended Sircuit Bar in Fitzroy and The Peel Hotel in Collingwood on Friday night.

More than 850 people were at the nightspots between 9pm and 3am on Saturday morning.

Peel hotel owner Tom McFeely was forced to close his venue after it was attended by a patron infected with Omicron. Picture: David Caird

On Thursday, Acting Premier James Merlino moved to reassure Victorians who feared they could be forced into quarantine for Christmas, reiterating that isolation rules remained the same for the Omicron variant.

Hundreds of people who attended The Peel and Sircuit were forced into isolation for seven days after attending at the same time as the positive case.

This decision goes against current advice for exposure to Covid cases, which would have required attendees just to wait for a negative test result.

Tom McFeely, who owns The Peel, said the decision was “overkill” and said there was mixed messages about isolation rules.

When asked about the situation on Thursday, Mr Merlino maintained there were no changes to the current rules.

“The issue with these two sites, nightclub and pub, highly sensitive sites (and) a brand new variant,” he said.

“Public health took the prudent, sensible, common sense approach in terms of isolation requirements for those patrons.

“This is exactly the same approach as in New South Wales.”

But more broadly, in terms of our isolation requirements there’s been no change to those settings.

“Bunnings, a supermarket. It’s very different from a nightclub setting.”

Mr Merlino said Victorians with tickets to major events could also have confidence rules would be enforced as originally announced, with vaccination levels to improve further.

“People looking forward to the Boxing Day Test, the Australian Open, all of those things will happen,” he said.

“Beyond 92 per cent (vaccination), pushing 95 per cent.

“We’re going to have the vaccine rollout for five to 11 year olds next year.

“In terms of the easings that we’ve made, people can rely on that with confidence.”

Victoria's Covid rule changes

VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS

Patrons will no longer need to show vaccination status at the following venues:

• Non-essential retail, except for hair and beauty
• Real estate inspections and auctions
• Places of worship
• Wedding and funerals unless the venue where the wedding or funeral is held still has a vaccination mandate, eg. hospitality venues

Workers at these venues still must be vaccinated.

All other vaccination mandates for workers and patrons remain.

Vaccination mandate will now apply to those 18 years and over, not from 12 years and over.

MASKS

Masks remain in indoor retail and the other high-risk settings like hospitals and aged care.

Masks are currently not required for hairdressing, beauty and personal care.

CLEANING

There will no longer be cleaning requirements in workplaces. 

Masks will remain mandatory in retail during the Christmas rush. Picture: Paul Jeffers

The Peel Hotel’s owner, Tom McFeely, said the “harsh” quarantine requirements associated with Omicron had huge implications for his pub, which only reopened two weeks ago.

He said it was unfair his business – where every patron was double-vaccinated and served by fully jabbed, mask-wearing staff – was treated as a “higher risk” than Coles or Woolworths, where “there is no enforced check-in” or vaccine mandates.

“The consequences to Coles is nothing but to small business it’s devastating,” Mr McFeely said.

“To me, this policy on the run is as shady as water torture.

“I thought we’d been punished enough. I thought the fear was going and we’d moved to positivity. If this is living with the virus, just shoot me now.”

Deakin University’s chair of epidemiology, Catherine Bennett, said isolating the cases helped to prevent what could be an “incredibly big” outbreak.

“We’re not going to stop Omicron. I think we have to move away from anxiety, stress and fear,” she said. “We’re living with a virus, and that’s what we’re committed to.

Four new cases of Omicron were detected in Victoria on Wednesday, bringing the total to 10.