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One of the strictest and longest quarantines in the world has allowed the state of Victoria to curb the spread of the virus in the community, although the number of new cases per day rose to almost 700 in early August. , according to the authorities, a normal summer.
28 days without new cases is “a special achievement both psychologically and practically as it will be possible to jumpstart the economy,” said Sanjaya Senanayake, infectious disease physician and associate professor of medical sciences at the Australian National University in Canberra. But don’t rest on your laurels, he warned. In addition, Australia faces the risk of the virus being reintroduced by travelers returning from abroad, although they must be isolated in a hotel.
“The reality is that no matter how well people protect themselves, there is always the possibility of an accidental outbreak or an outbreak when you can’t even identify the source,” Senanayake said.
More than 30 thousand want to return to their homeland. Australian. Many of them live in Europe and the United States, where the virus is particularly rampant.
Due to poor security work (supposedly even sleeping with guests) in isolation hotels in Victoria, the coronavirus escaped into the community, leading to a three-month quarantine in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, in neighboring South Australia state, authorities are investigating how two security guards, a cleaner and two returning travelers became infected with the coronavirus during isolation from a hotel. After this outbreak, the number of infections in the state rose to at least 31.
Although 28 days without traceable cases of COVID-19 is considered an unofficial deadline to stop the spread of the virus in the community, the Victorian government does not lose vigilance.
“He can’t relax,” Health Director Brett Sutton said in a statement. – Recent research on wastewater has shown that the virus may still be circulating in the community. People from other states are also at risk and new local outbreaks can occur. Our fight against COVID-19 is not over yet. “
Still carefully
From a sixteen-week lockdown that health experts say helped lift the city, and possibly the entire country, out of the coronavirus crisis, they are cautiously pulling out. Melbourne Horse Race The Melbourne Cup, known locally as a “race that stops the country”, was held without spectators, and people continued to wear masks in their daily activities.
At a time when Europe and North America are struggling to quell the second wave of the pandemic, Melbourne is a prime example of how the coronavirus can be controlled even during the peak of winter by following the “stay home” rules and instructions. to wear masks.
In August, the number of new coronavirus cases in the state of Victoria rose to 700 infections per day, prompting outbreaks in nursing homes that forced businesses to shut down and incarcerate residents in their homes.
“Although the medical system has faced an extremely complex and difficult task, it has done its job,” said Terry Slevin, executive director of the Australian Public Health Association. “It is important to recognize the economic, social and social difficulties associated with the loss of freedom, but this is the only way to successfully manage this viral pandemic.”
Due to inadequate security measures at Melbourne hotels accommodating returnees, the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread through Melbourne, which soon became the hottest COVID hotspot in the country. The new virus outbreak has shown “there is no room for relaxation,” said Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister, who is one of the chairs of the commission assessing the early global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. .
“Pay off”
Like Melbourne residents, New Zealanders have faced unprecedented restrictions on freedom of movement in the wake of the pandemic, Clark said in an interview from Auckland on Tuesday. “But it was worth it, and today we live with much more freedom than people in many other countries,” he said.
Soon, Australia, New Zealand and other countries where the COVID threat has subsided could resume international travel under a so-called “travel bubble” scheme that would provide some security before vaccines are licensed, Clark said.
“Once the virus is eradicated and continues to be eradicated where it occurs, you want to be reluctant to avoid importation cases,” he said. “The truth is that countries that ignorantly orchestrate a public health response to a pandemic will have greater economic damage and longer-term impact.”
With every day without coronavirus cases, the state of Victoria approaches a “successful end to local transmission of the virus,” said Catherina Bennett, chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Dykin University in Melbourne.
On October 29, two infections were identified, the last cases registered in the state.
Inspections, monitoring
Every week, the state of Victoria scans thousands of high-risk workers for the virus, including those working in the elderly care and meat-packing industries, regularly monitors wastewater, and has vastly improved their skills in tracking and isolate contact with infected people, said C. Bennett.
“All of this undoubtedly increases confidence that things are getting worse,” he said. “The current health system is likely to be strong enough to avoid a third wave, as we have early warning, epidemiological surveillance surveillance mechanisms, as well as very active and aggressive follow-up measures in case of recurrence.”
Melbourne is currently gradually easing the restrictions, moving towards, according to the national government, COVID Normal, that is, on the side of normal life with COVID-19. Recently, the restriction to travel more than 25 km from home had been lifted here.
If no new COVID-19 cases are detected in Victoria within fourteen days, the crowd restriction will be increased to 50 people outdoors and 20 visitors indoors. If no new cases are detected within 28 days, all restrictions will be lifted and people who have had to work remotely since March will be able to gradually return to their regular jobs.
The strategy works because the Victorian people and the government are listening to the advice of experts, said Slevin of the Australian Public Health Association.
“Expensive”
“There are countries that have the technical expertise and the ability to follow Victoria’s example, but this is not the case,” he said. – In other parts of the world, the political leadership has not listened to the advice of experts. And the truth is that these communities have paid dearly for it, in lives ”.
25 million In Australia, which has a population of 224,500 since the start of the pandemic, 27,645 people have been diagnosed and 907 have died, far fewer than in other countries. And the country doesn’t take such relatively low statistics for granted.
In Sydney, a gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade will be held at the stadium with 23,000 spectators in March next year, and organizers of the Australian Open in Melbourne plan to hold a tennis tournament in January, albeit with fewer crowds. .
The sound of disinfectant spraying periodically silenced the Melbourne trams that rumbled through the sugar cubes of the beach, cafes and clothing stores. Half a dozen masked passengers sat silently several rows away as the cleaner sanitized the surfaces of the tram around them.
The restaurants and bars on the outskirts of St Kilda, usually packed with tourists and vacationers, were empty on Friday afternoons, with builders and families gathered here at tables on the outdoor terraces; the masked waiters diligently recorded the customer’s contact details.
“The image is very different from what it used to be,” said Nicole Laski, who runs Monarch Cakes, a family-owned cafe on Akland Street that has been in operation since 1934. “It seems to me that we have all learned a valuable lesson.”
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