OK, I've come to a school where we're going to find
some students and let them know the exciting news
that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency.
Oh, they're gonna be so excited! Alright, let's go find some.
With great hope that I declare COVID-19 over
as a global health emergency.
Just to be clear, COVID-19 is still around
and isn't going anywhere any time soon.
But case numbers have been lower than ever and a lot of countries,
including Australia, have lifted the majority of the restrictions
that were in place throughout the pandemic.
Hi! Hi, everyone. Sorry.
Just wanted to let you all know that COVID-19,
no longer a global health emergency so you can all go back to normal.
Oh.
Oh, I guess you already are back to normal.
Um, I'll just... I'll go.
(QUIETLY) Just shut this.
Yeah, to be fair, it's kind of felt like things have been back to normal
for a while now.
In fact, it's hard to believe
that it's been more than three years since we heard of COVID-19.
I mean, we were still in our old studio.
There's been a lot of talk about the new strain of virus,
which started in China and has now spread to other countries.
OK, COVID.
Do you remember it? Yep.
Most definitely. Most definitely.
It changed a lot of things that were usual to me.
It felt like all of a sudden it just changed overnight.
It was pretty scary because it felt
almost as though it was out to get you.
To try and slow the spread,
we learnt to do things a little differently,
and COVID tests just became a normal part of life.
What things did you...did you start doing to sort of try
and stop it from happening?
We would wear masks.
Sometimes when I'm wearing a mask and when I breathe,
it just fogs up my glasses.
Hm. Yes. I say that like I know because I'm not wearing glasses,
but I've seen that happen.
I feel your pain.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I do!
Also, did you find you could smell your own breath?
Yes.
And only then did I realise how foul it is.
What about sanitizers?
I have a sanitizer with me all the time as I go out a lot, so...
Yeah. Do you...
Are you conscious of, like, keeping your distance from people now?
Not really. I hug my friends a lot.
Yeah. I think the whole elbow thing was a bit...
Yeah, it was...
Was it? Yeah.
Do you want to...?
Yeah, it is weird, isn't it? Yeah.
So if I say social distancing, what's your first reaction?
Movies.
We would sit four, three, four seats apart.
See, I kind of liked that.
Yeah, because then you could spread out.
Were you ever, like, crowded and you'd go,
"Social distance! Social distance"?
Like, to try and make sure people were like...
That's...that's good.
No, not really.
Did either of you have to quarantine?
When spent two weeks here quarantining,
which was the worst two weeks of my life, to be honest.
The food was horrendous.
I had to use an iron to heat up the food.
And then... Don't do that at home.
We came back from a different country,
we had to quarantine for quite a while.
I feel like I got closer to my family.
Me and my brother did fight a lot, but we got closer.
We figured out new games to play.
Did you also have to cook food on an iron?
Um, no.
People were hoarding toilet paper at one point.
(BOTH CHUCKLE) Don't laugh. It was very serious.
It was kind of funny at times that people were rushing
to get toilet paper.
Normally people wouldn't do that so it was a bit...
Unless I really had to go.
How did you find learning from home?
It was pretty fun 'cause we got to skip some classes.
But other than that...
I remember my mum and dad telling me to get back to work
'cause I would often get a bit distracted.
But while we were busy trying to lay low and distract ourselves,
COVID had other plans.
Variants. What are the variants of COVID?
Delta and... Omicron.
Omicron. Were there more?
I do not remember the names of anymore.
To be fair, there were a few of them.
Meanwhile, the whole time scientists were busy working on vaccines
and there have now been more than 13 billion doses
of vaccines administered.
As soon as we got an opportunity to get the vaccine,
my mum and dad made me get it, so...
Is that because they wanted to go out places?
They just wanted me to not get sick, I guess.
That's probably a better reason, isn't it?
Three years on and there have been nearly 800 million reported cases
of COVID and more than six million people have died.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has had a huge impact
on people's mental health, as well as economies around the world.
And it's fair to say that while things might be back to normal,
there are some things from the pandemic
that are probably going to stick.
Coming out of COVID, what are some things that you...
..that have stuck with you?
Um, take advantage of your friends
while you can socialise with them.
But you might still have to wear a mask
in a doctor's clinic or a hospital.
I wash my hands more.
I admit I feel like I know how to wash my hands better, too.
Well, I'm happy we can finally share our food.
That's right, because we couldn't share food.
We couldn't even sit in a room like this.
Does that freak you out?
It seems like it wasn't actually real.