In a previous article I gave a summary of Australia’s responses to COVID-19 in 2020. Australia's infection control measures are still strict, and thanks to that, there have been no increases in the number of infected people on the Gold Coast, so at the moment, that number remains at zero.
In Queensland state, where the Gold Coast is located, there were a few COVID-19 cases a little while ago.
When the authorities discover an infected person, it is immediately reported in the news, for example, "A couple from Victoria aged XX and XX, who visited family members on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, have been found to be infected with COVID-19.” They even tell you on the news where the infected person went and when. For example, "On the X [day] of X [month], the infected person went to a 7-Eleven store at X:XX a.m., X café at X:XX, a gym in X at X:XX, and then the Target store in X shopping center at X:XX.” That is the sort of fine detail about times and places that the authorities find out from the people concerned, which is then reported on the news to alert people who were at those same places around the same time. They also contact those shops and facilities and take any necessary action, like disinfection. The day this woman was infected, I was working at home, just listening to the radio. They reported the news about this case on the radio again and again. It was even reported as breaking news on TV, and news programs led with this story, a story about just one infected person. The reports made it sound as though there was a zombie in town!
Last year, when the number of infected people in Melbourne, Victoria went up, the Queensland government mandated that anyone coming back to Queensland from Melbourne must stay in hotel quarantine for two weeks. Plus, the cost of the two-week stay in the hotel was at the person’s own expense. Around that time, two young women who had been to Melbourne on holiday flew by plane first to Sydney (Sydney is in New South Wales) so that they would be returning to Queensland from Sydney and therefore avoid the two weeks of hotel quarantine when they got back to Queensland from Victoria, but the authorities found out that the two women were infected with COVID-19 and had actually been to Melbourne, which was also big news. This time, photographs of the two women appeared in the media, perhaps because they broke the rules, and they received some harsh criticism from the public. For these girls of about 20-years of age, the criticism from the public seems to have been stronger than what they expected, and they ended up being so frightened about going out that it ended up being quite damaging to their mental health. I’m not sure it's OK to criticize them so harshly, but I thought it was amazing that Australians considered it so important to observe the rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
If I were to get infected, I think I might end up feeling like a criminal, plus I might be scared to walk the streets of my neighborhood because it would immediately start rumors. What a horrible thought. To avoid such a frightening scenario, I am keeping up my guard, I am always careful, and I always wash my hands, even if the Gold Coast has zero infections.
If the number of infected people increases even a little, the authorities close the state borders at short notice without concern for the consequences, mandate two-weeks in hotel quarantine, and cancel major events if the number of infected people increases before the event, again without concern, which is a huge inconvenience for people traveling to other states or on business as well as the people attending the events, but I think these forceful measures have also helped prevent the infection from spreading.
It looks as though these strict policies are likely to continue. It seems to me Australians might all follow the rules because they are the rules, and they think forceful measures are OK because to some extent they are needed to stop the spread. What do you think?