Negative Rat
Chris Downes
In 2022 Tasmania handled its students’ return to school slightly differently from the mainland states, which required students to take rapid antigen tests (RAT) twice a week. Students in the state received up to two RATs a week, but only if they had COVID-19 symptoms. Famous for using the marsupial Tasmanian devil as an icon in his cartoons, Chris Downes introduced a new (mammalian) metaphor: the ‘negative rat’.
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