In one universe, Premier Dominic Perrottet and Health Minister Brad Hazzard stood at a COVID press conference and justified the opened gates by saying "we've always said case numbers would rise as we opened up".

Beside them, but on a planet recognisable as Earth, chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant pleaded with everyone to keep their masks on even if not legally required, making it clear that her public health advice and the government's "mandates" were two different things.

IN THE NEWS:

The corker for me was Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisting: "We've decided as a country to live with this virus and Australians have worked so hard for that.

"Australia can now open up. This Christmas we're about to have is a gift Australians have given to themselves by the way they've worked together with the settings that we've put in place."

We've decided? Well, there's been plenty from the business community about a need to open up in time for the biggest retail trading period of the year, which pretty well defines modern Christmas, even with a Catholic premier and a Pentecostal PM.

And yes, thousands flocked to The Foreshore last Sunday for a COVID march.

I doubt Dom and Scotty have joined the protesters, so how can activity that's been outlawed and heavily policed for almost two years suddenly be alright?

What? Oh. Because we are vaccinated now, is it? Perrottet again: "Simply receiving a vaccination does not mean you will not get COVID."

Dr Chant: "The current virus (Omicron) does seem to evade your immune system both when you've had previous strains of the virus and also the vaccinations does seem to evade the immune system."

It's alright though, because even though Dr Chant says it will take at least another fortnight to have something meaningful to say about Omicron's "clinical severity", there are early indications it is less dangerous than previous strains.

That's good, but it transmits so easily that NSW case numbers rose by a daily case record of 2213 yesterday, including 674 in the Hunter.

And it's still Russian roulette. Milder or not, people have died of Omicron and 24 of the 215 patients in NSW hospitals yesterday were in intensive care, eight of them on ventilators.

Twelve of the ICU patients and three of those ventilated are in the Hunter.

I'll admit that almost two years of writing the Herald's daily editorial opinion has turned me into a COVID wimp, if I wasn't one to start with.

A few years past a life-changing bout with cancer means I'm in the dreaded "co-morbidities" camp.

Wanting to live a few more years yet, and happy to stay home, the lockdowns have barely affected me.

So I'm the last person to gauge the real impacts of a shuttered society.

But I am paid to notice inconsistencies in politics, and Wednesday's COVID press conference was a case study par excellence.

I accept that if Omicron turns out to be something like the common cold, then maybe it's not so bad.

But I can remember a Mr Trump and a bloke called Boris (until he got it) saying much the same thing early on.

If nothing else, Perrottet's stance is a defence against accusations of Big Brother overkill. Brad Hazzard on Wednesday: "Prior to COVID we all took individual responsibilities for ourselves, and for our health, and now is the time for each of us to realise that is what we must do if we want normality."

I take that, translated, to mean: "That's it for us, it's up to you now."

I noticed Perrottet and Hazzard both stressed their confidence in the health system and the dedicated folk who work in it.

It's the health workers who must deal with the consequences of a National Cabinet reopening timetable set before Omicron was a gleam in South Africa's eye.

And they'll know that such expressions of confidence are usually a sign the rug is about to be pulled from under the object of praise.

To end, I do have some good news, a way our leaders can truly test the public mood before telling us what we have "decided" as a people to do.

If digital technology is secure enough to run the global banking system then parliaments can put these questions to a vote via everyone's mobile phones.

COVID CONCERNS:

And the first question will be: Do you want us to pull away the COVID safeguards that kept you safe while Big Pharma developed the vaccines that now don't seem to work so well against Omicron?

If a majority says "yes", then by all means, then Australia has decided to live with the virus.

If the answer is "no", and I suspect that it might be, then our governments should continue the job they began with the first lockdowns and keep the country safe.

Last time I looked, taking off your flak jacket just as the shells were raining in was not a sensible course of action.

Even if we can line up for a third injection before many in the Third World have had their first.

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