WITH a growing disenchantment at the way our elected leaders are managing this Christmas holiday omicron outbreak, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called another snap National Cabinet meeting for today, with the named agenda items an overhaul of our COVID testing system and a previously promised uniform definition of positive case "contacts".
While there is nothing wrong with changing policy according to circumstances, the explosion of omicron has clearly overwhelmed a test regime that until now had done a good job in helping Australia shape its coronavirus response.
NSW had 1360 new cases on December 15 when state Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned of University of NSW modelling predicting as many as 25,000 cases a day by the end of January.
That number no longer looks so outlandish in the light of yesterday's statewide total of 11,201 new cases.
The Hunter case total was 775.
Even if some of yesterday's cases were "carry overs" reported late because of delays in processing the tests, the consensus view is a strong likelihood of further increases, and for some time to come.
This would indicate a need for more testing, and arguably stricter isolation rules, but with the system stretched to the limit already, today's National Cabinet meeting will likely tackle the overload by attempting to reduce the demand.
In a few short months, we have gone from Gladys Berejiklian's daily pleas for "everyone" to get tested, to Dominic Perrottet insisting yesterday that people "should not be lining up" unless they had symptoms or had been advised by NSW Health.
Mr Perrottet says the state is ordering 30 million of the quick rapid antigen or RAT tests - a good thing seeing they are retailing for $10 each or more in the Hunter.
But in a parallel with the earlier vaccine "strollout" this should have been done long ago, as the Australian Medical Association points out.
It's likely that for most people who catch it, Omicron will pass like a cold. Some will not know they have caught it.
But for others, this will not be the case, and for the time being at least, any sort of massed social activity carries a growing risk of contracting the virus.
Care will be needed to ensure New Year's Eve remains a celebration and not a super-spreading event.
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