‘We’re all tired’: the everyday exhaustion of Australia’s third Covid winter

After enduring more than two years of pandemic, we're facing yet another fresh wave. How can we push through the malaise?

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When Angie attended a funeral last week, she wore a mask. I was very much a minority," she says. As a close family member of the deceased, the musician from Victoria wrestled with feeling disrespectful for wearing it, so she didn't put the mask on at the gravesite or the wake. Now she's waiting to see if she, or anyone else at the funeral, has Covid. It's just the latest of a long line of incidents that have left her feeling bone-tired.

She's tired of the days after a gig where I am in a state of hyper-vigilance, wondering if I caught Covid doing my job ... tired of trying to keep my mum safe and therefore missing the golden moments of her old age ... tired of reading about how the numbers are going up," she says. I cannot hold this much anxiety for this long.."