Australia is the democracy that prevents citizens from traveling, is it time to lift the ban?
The new European strategy for a pandemic is to “learn to live with” the virus. But this technique is already having troubling consequences. (Photo via Vincenzo PINTO / AFP) Source: AFP
It would possibly be hard to think that six months ago Italy was the country most affected by coronavirus in the world.
The country had a dizzying mortality rate, cases expanded throughout the day, and the country was in crisis and suffering to deal with a mysterious new disease.
At its peak, Italy recorded 6,000 cases in March, with more than 250,000 infections in total.
These are photographs taken from some of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations earlier this year, in the midst of an era of severe stagnation.
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Venice absolutely devoid of tourists in March. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
A worker dressed in a protective apparatus sprays a disinfectant in Milan’s Piazza Duomo, which is also absolutely deserted. (Photo via Piero Cruciatti / AFP) Source: AFP
By way of comparison, here is Italy the summer months:
Tourists walk near the Trevi Fountain in the centre of Rome on 19 August 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo via Vincenzo PINTO / AFP) Source: AFP
People cross Piazza Riva degli Schiavoni with the church of San Giorgio Maggiore in the background on 12 June 2020 in Venice while the country facilitates its closure. (Photo via ANDREA PATTARO / AFP) Source: AFP
Naples photographed in June. (Photo via Carlo Hermann / AFP) Source: AFP
REOPENING EUROPE COMES AT A COST
The European strategy against the pandemic has been changed to ‘live with the coronavirus’.
But for some countries, it comes at a cost. Italy has just recorded a total of 845 new cases, a point observed since mid-May.
Last Saturday, Italy registered 629 new instances in 24 hours, at 500 in the last two days.
The Italian government has ordered the closure of nightclubs and made the mask mandatory in some spaces at night.
On 1 August, the European Union opened its external borders, decided on countries that added Australia if they wanted to visit.
They have also opened their borders internally, so Italians can now spend the summer holidays in other parts of Europe.
The influx of cases was largely triggered by other people returning on holiday in other parts of Europe, such as Greece, Spain, Croatia and Malta. Since then, the government had made it mandatory for travellers from those express countries to test for the virus on their return.
But it’s not just Italy. France has just recorded a new accumulation of cases, with 4711 new infections in the last 24 hours, a new record that has not been observed since the peak of the pandemic.
France photographed at the height of the pandemic in March. (Photo via Ludovic Marin / AFP) Source: AFP
Germany has shown 1,707 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest death toll since April.
Fernando Simón, director of emergencies at the Ministry of Health, warned that “things are going well there.”
“No one has any doubts, things are not going well … We can’t let the stage slip away again,” he said at a press conference.
The country has recorded 3,715 cases in the last 24 hours, with an increase in testing.
Meanwhile, in Australia, New South Wales and Victoria appear to be controlling the recent “second wave” outbreaks.
NSW had several days of single-digit cases, recording only one case on Friday, however, Victoria’s figures are falling as fast as expected, leaving experts worried that the existing six-week blockade will be extended.
“In the average five-day chart, we peaked on July 30, then stabilized a week to 10 days after the arrival of the masks,” Said Tony Blakely, an epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne, to news.com.au.
“The cases fell quite temporarily the week after August 4, faster than I expected, but last week, which is seven days after the level four block, slowed down and that’s what I find strange.
“It’s still low, which is good, yet at this pace of progress, we’re going to be lucky if we’re at less than 50 instances per day at the end of the six-week block.”
The slower-than-expected decline may leave the government with a resolution that is difficult to take at the end of the lockout on 13 September.
Nurses help others place protective appliances in the intensive care unit of Shefqet Ndroqi Sanatorium Hospital. Photo: Gent SHKULLAKU / AFP Source: AFP
I expected Victoria to reduce the number of coronavirus cases by double digits or even to a digit.
The Australian Medical Association’s Victorian president, Associate Professor Julian Rait, said the double-digit low numbers would be “very manageable” for touch tracers and that Victoria could be “most likely waiting for a stay of measures at this stage.”
“I think a lot of my colleagues would like to see 0 numbers, but I think more realistically than if I went down in declining digits or even in undeniable numbers, it would be very manageable,” he said.
“The concept would be that at this point you could have a very competitive tactile search and be able to locate every touch imaginable, verify them and isolate them if necessary.
“So I think once the numbers have dropped to a very low level, it’s a much more manageable scenario than it is now.”
However, if Melbourne finishes his Stage lock with Victoria still registering 50 instances per day, it would still be a challenge for touch trackers.
The slow improvement in Victoria’s instances also opens up the option that the state lockdown may need to be extended, this eventually returns to its goal.
Professor Blakely believes that the removal of transmission from the network is still imaginable in Victoria, but admits that the government is now unlikely to decide on this option due to the economic and social effects of proceeding with a Phase Four blockade.
“If we need elimination, 50 instances a day, that’s not low enough,” he said.
“It turns out that Victoria is heading for land clearing. Achieving expulsion from here would be a great effort, political and social leadership is needed, and it is too much to ask the public.”
– with Charis Chang