:australia: LATEST: The US president-elect is interested in Australia's COVID-19 response | NSW is the 'gold standard' for COVID-19 management accordi

[Bithynian]

they are not densely packed

This is very true as well. Most of our major cities tend to be fairly sprawling with a relatively small CBD (that is, downtown) region. For example, the area of metropolitan Sydney (12,500 km2) is about 5 times larger than Greater Vancouver.

 

[EssentialBeing]

90% of the population lives in the major state and territorial capital cities, which accounts for 0.2% of the nation’s land area.

Yes this is a big factor Australia has wide open spaces mainly arid desert with an extremely sparsely spread population. The local corner store is 30+ miles away for many

I think that you are saying that this doesn’t matter because >90% live in the large cities & infection rates can still spiral out of control in densely populated areas. You are right it doesn’t however the relative wealth of the nation has provided many of us with 2nd homes such as holiday place, not to mention the grey nomads.

The ability & access to isolate seems to be much easier in places with small populations & wealthy governments. Many people are headed for the hills & not only in Australia.

 

[ATraveller]

Dear Australia,

Please annex Canada. We share a Queen. We share a common language. We might as well share a PM. But we want a competent one. So why not yours?

Australia would benefit in having a presence in the northern hemisphere too.

Sincerely,
Canadians who want real leadership

P.S. We can use our old flag when you take over. We’ll fit in well. If you want, we’ll even take mandatory accent lessons.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[ImQuiet]

But dense or not, the Asian geo countries have done a better job responding to this crisis than Europe and North America.

Kind of crazy when you think about it. The amount of deaths is Hong Kong due to COVID is essentially irrelevant, from a numbers perspective.

 

[ATraveller]

Covid 19 coronavirus: South Australia records no new cases in a week - NZ Herald

Emphases to show how containing this outbreak is done.

SA has only 14 active cases remaining and one of two men in intensive care for some time has recovered enough to be moved to a general hospital ward.

So far, South Australia has had 438 confirmed Covid-19 infections but 96 per cent are now considered recovered.

There have still been no cases recorded among the 699 Australians repatriated from India last week, though they remain in quarantine at two Adelaide hotels.

With the state’s social distancing restrictions not as tough as other states, Premier Steven Marshall attributed the success to two key elements – border control and testing.

South Australia was one of the first states to introduce tough border measures on March 24, and two weeks later its curve began to flatten.

 

[ATraveller]

It’s behind a paywall but the preview is enough to get the idea.

New Zealand imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, aiming to stamp out the new coronavirus. Australia took a different approach, adopting social-distancing restrictions but keeping more of its economy open, in an effort to suppress the pathogen.

Both strategies appear to have delivered similar health outcomes: New infections have dropped markedly—to just a couple a day on average in New Zealand and around 10 a day in Australia. But the economic and social costs look likely to be significantly bigger in New Zealand,…

https://www.wsj.com/articles/both-new-zealand-and-australia-contained-coronavirus-but-one-is-set-to-pay-a-heavier-price-11588158002

On a lighter note:

On the day New Zealand lifted its extreme lockdown laws, the country’s leader received a call from Windsor Castle.

The Queen was keen to know how her dominion down under (the other one) was faring in its battle against coronavirus.

NZ PM Jacinda Ardern and Queen have phone catchup for coronavirus update | 7NEWS

 

[Emeraldlady]

Scomo had to settle for a chat with Prince Charles.

Up here in Queensland we have recorded no new cases again today. Non essential shops are going to open from tomorrow with caution. I have to be very vigilant so that I can safely visit my mother in aged care which will begin again next Monday on a limited basis.

 

[ATraveller]

Coronavirus: Australia eyes early lifting of virus restrictions

Officials were due to review freedoms on 11 May but this will now be brought forward to 8 May. Mr Morrison said Australians had “earned an early mark”.

The Northern Territory became the first to lift major restrictions, re-opening public parks and pools and removing attendance limits for gatherings from midday.

On Friday, the Northern Territory - a remote, sparsely populated region - lifted major social restrictions in a move seen as a test case for the rest of the nation.

 

[OurLadyofSorrows]

Doing the rounds in Australian media, stay tuned for an Australian specific version vs China

Chinese state media releases animated propaganda video mocking US coronavirus response - ABC News

 

[Emeraldlady]

What I want to really know is that if China with it’s huge population and overcrowded conditions managed to keep infection and death extremely low in comparison with places like Italy and the US, how did they do it? Even with total lockdown in Italy, figures continued to multiply for ages. Have China already got a vaccine to halt its spread? Or what particular aspect of their response kept the infection and death figures so low?

Otherwise the only other explanation is that they lied to the world about its true danger.

 

[EssentialBeing]

We need to look at the things China has done differently, rather than blame anyone

(1) Early on China built 2 temporary hospitals in Wuhan with 1,500 beds within 15 days
(2) Overwhelming ownership of production & access to resources
(3) State surveillance capabilities are much greater than western democracies
(4) Regional shutdown much easier for them than the west
(5) Superior media & information modeling techniques

These may be just some of the factors why they have slowed the spread down to a trickle, even if perceived & not actual.

As for lying I think most countries would have also acted very secretively to slow the spread of information. I am not saying that any other country would NOT have told the common people eventually, but most certainly would have come up with a cleverly calculated & timely response

 

[Fill1sHeart]

Simple answer is Australia is not an over populated country.

Unlike many others.

 

[EssentialBeing]

WOW what a view, I don’t know if I agree that the mocking is purely one sided, it seems to be China’s response or view of the situation & how both sides see things very differently.

 

[EssentialBeing]

yes very true but that is not a deliberate strategy to prevent any pandemic. It helps a lot in these situations but was not intended for it.

Australia & New Zealand are doing very well & we should talk more about the lessons we are learning to prevent this from ever happening again. The world must get to the heart of the problem then look within our own borders to recognize what we could have done differently to prevent this.

 

[Fill1sHeart]

Agree. They have done brilliantly unlike some.

 

[Emeraldlady]

As for lying I think most countries would have also acted very secretively to slow the spread of information. I am not saying that any other country would NOT have told the common people eventually, but most certainly would have come up with a cleverly calculated & timely response

That’s just not true. In most countries the qualified experts who are the first to alert, don’t have any agenda to keep such a thing secret and it is through that body that the information is disseminated. When environmental coverups occur, we hold the perpetrators of that routinely to account.

 

[ATraveller]

Doing the rounds in Australian media, stay tuned for an Australian specific version vs China

I wonder why so many around the world are angery with China.
Communist propagandists initially blamed the US military for bringing the virus to China.
When Italy’s outbreak was ballooning, communist media then claimed the virus was actually from Italy.
The behaviour of the regime is absolutely despicable. It’s one thing if they tried their best to contain the virus and failed. That’s understandable. But it’s another when they tried to hide it from the rest of the world until it could no longer be kept secret and then goes around lecturing and mocking others.

 

[Peebo]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/asia/australia-coronavirus-success-intl-hnk/index.html

 

[ATraveller]

:australia: Australia Daily New Cases up to May 3
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(COVID-19 pandemic in Australia - Wikipedia)
For an idea of what easing restrictions might look like:
:denmark: Denmark started easing restrictions April 15 and things are better and stable but not exactly improving.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark - Wikipedia)
:austria: But Austria relaxed their restrictions a day earlier but doing better than Denmark.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(COVID-19 pandemic in Austria - Wikipedia)

 

[EssentialBeing]

To some extent that is the level of transparency we are trying to achieve however the role of elected representatives is always questionable when it is they who are in between. There is enough evidence & history to prove that our politicians are always balancing what is appropriate or not & the voice of expert opinion is not always delivered properly. We only need to look at our own mistakes to recognize that not everything our politicians tell us is TRUE.