Since we've been out of lockdown, we keep coming across people's stories of life during the pandemic.
Like the story of a tradesman who came to our house. It was his first day back on the job. He hadn't felt confident to work because he'd had his spleen removed. The spleen is crucial for the immune system. So he was worried about getting COVID-19.
He went on to say that spending months at home with his wife strained their relationship. They separated. He's now paying $450 a week to rent a place for himself.
We also came across a friend's post on Facebook around the time NSW had "freedom day".
Not everyone was free, he noted. He had chosen not to be vaccinated. He was in conflict with his family, who labelled him selfish. He felt like he was being segregated.
Then we came across a friend of a friend, who works for Commonwealth Bank. She, too, didn't want to be vaccinated. The bank had just made it mandatory for its employees to be vaccinated.
"In line with our ongoing efforts to protect our people and customers from the health risks associated with COVID-19, CBA will require all employees around Australia to be fully vaccinated," a CBA spokesperson told the ABC.
Then we came across a businessman who hadn't been able to operate through lockdown. He and his staff had suffered from depression. "I wonder what the suicide rate has been like," he said.
Australia has been dubbed the "new Hermit Kingdom" during the pandemic, which seemed to fit our next story.
A friend's mum had already told her kids she'd be mailing Christmas presents to them this year. She didn't plan to see them. She hadn't been going out at all.
Then we spoke to Newcastle-based viral immunologist Nathan Bartlett for a story on when the pandemic might shift to an endemic.
Nathan's scientific mind and deep understanding of the nature of viruses put those other stories in perspective.
"We're still very much trying to understand how this virus will behave in the long term," said Associate Professor Bartlett, of HMRI and the University of Newcastle.
He said it may take several years for immunity to "slowly but surely be established and maintained".
We also chatted to Mark Fitzgibbon, Nib's managing director and CEO, for a news story on the pandemic.
"I heard an eminent health economist say he felt for the people impacted by lockdowns, including small business. But he said the starting point has to be the impact on the workforce at the frontline in the health system. Some of these doctors and nurses are in the wards dealing with really sick people, running the risk themselves of getting the disease and we don't want to make it any harder for them," Mark said.
And then, in a meaningful coincidence, we met a nurse who had been working on the frontline in a Sydney hospital treating COVID patients. She'd been working 60-hour weeks. She described treating COVID patients in ambulances outside the hospital when there weren't enough beds during the peak.
Her PPE [personal protective equipment] had left a mark on her nose that wasn't going away. Having seen many people sick with COVID, she can't comprehend the anti-vaxxers. We asked her what she thought of the unvaccinated being denied freedoms until December 1. She said it was only for seven weeks and an incentive was needed to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
