Almost two years into the pandemic, the Australian response remains a mish-mash of different policies and practices largely determined by local jurisdictions. | OPINION covid19 auspol
And the party in power in whichever state or territory is not a good predictor of the approach taken.
The pace of transmission in NSW is truly breathtaking. As of Wednesday, the seven-day average of new daily cases of 2617 was four times higher than the average one week earlier. The effective reproductive rate is sitting on 2, which is equivalent to a case doubling time of 4.3 days. In the same week, hospitalisations increased 80 percent and ICU admissions 60 per cent.
One lesson that should have been learned over the past two years is that we need to be ahead of the virus and implement proven measures that reduce transmission and prevent hospitalisations. This is the longstanding precautionary principle of public health and routinely applied to outbreaks of all infectious diseases. Passively waiting for a surge in hospital and ICU admissions turns this principle on its head.
We are at a critical point in this pandemic and we need to get in front of the virus, preferably as a unified nation. And we must look beyond our borders. The rich world is nowhere near co-ordinated or committed enough to mount the effective global response that is needed; one that has fairness and equity at its core.