IT is a sign of the times that 2021 would end with a near doubling of already record COVID case numbers, with another 1983 cases in the Hunter and 21,151 statewide, as well as six deaths.
The good news lies in far lower levels of serious illness and death than in previous waves.
If the Australian outbreak follows a similar trajectory to that of South Africa's, the rapid rise to wherever omicron leaves its high-water mark may be followed by an equally dramatic drop-off in cases.
There are major differences in epidemiological terms between Australia and South Africa but as long as the virus does not mutate to combine omicron's speed with Delta's deadliness, we may be looking at the first rays of light to peek from a long-awaited post-COVID dawn.
After two years of life subsumed by the coronavirus and the concerns it has generated, it is natural enough that we would want, as a people, to hope for something different in 2022.
COVID will dominate the short-term agenda, however, as Australians come to grips both with the dramatic rise in cases, and a new approach to pandemic response that shifts much of the responsibility for public health back onto the individual.
This shift to a less onerous quarantine and isolation regime, together with the addition of home-use Rapid Antigen or RAT tests alongside the official PCR or polymerase chain reaction swabs, is justified by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet as a responsible course of action.
At the same time, the official committee of chief medical officers says this "pragmatic approach" will "likely limit" existing efforts to "suppress transmission" of COVID.
This body, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, also notes cuts to genome testing used to identify and track the individual variants of COVID.
National Cabinet's new approach is based on recognising Omicron as the "dominant variant", but Victorian chief medical officer Martin Foley said yesterday that just one-third of his state's cases were of this type, although the percentage was climbing.
Even if the bulk of omicron cases are mild, prevention in this situation is certainly better than cure.
Despite official reassurances, the health system is strained.
So must be those who work to keep it running.
To them, and to all in the Hunter, we wish you a happy, safe and COVID-free New Year.
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