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I’ve often commented on how Australian governments, both federal and state, managed to constrain the spread of the COVID pandemic, especially compared to other countries like the Americans, European and Brasil etc.  They have done this by several measures, amongst others contact tracing, a good rate of people undergoing tests when feeling the relative symptoms and, perhaps the harshest one, huge restrictions on international travel.

 

Recently, however, the Australian federal government took a decision which I’ve rarely seen being reversed so quickly.

 

There is an explosion of cases in India, which have reached 400,000 a day, superseding the United States at its worst.  Part of this increase was attributed to the B1617 virus variant which is more invective than others that have been discovered to date.  The Indian situation is so serious that hospitals are full, oxygen supplies are low or non existent, many people are dying at home while running out of time to be allocated a hospital bed or a private oxygen supply.

 

In response to this situation, the Australian government completely closed flights from this country until mid May and also threatened huge fines and jail time to those Australians who might have been toying with the idea of coming back from India to their country while traversing a third.  It justified this decision b noting that positive COVID-19 cases in quarantine had increased, and wanted to give a chance for state quarantine facilities to recover.1

 

The federal government declared that this decision was taken to protect Australia and Australians, but it seems that Austrlians that were in India weren’t so considered.  One could quickly conclude that the Australian government washed its hands of them for a period of time, leaving them to their own devices, when literally the risk to their lives was the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic in December 2019.

 

To me, this indicates that our quarantine facilities in Australia are not equipped and dimensioned adequately, even after so many months with the virus around.  It should be remembered that right at the start of the pandemic, it was decided that quarantine would be the function of state governments, and not that of the federal government as provided for in the constitution, and therefore each state implements its own quarantine system.2  Therefore, national quarantine facilities are not the primary ones being used.  I would add that state facilities cannot be expected to cater for national crises, as is this one.

 

The reaction against this Australian decision was very negative practically from all quarters, including several elements from within the governing coalition and commentators usually sympathetic to the right.  Opposition was so strong and widespread, that the government immediately started looking into how to roll it back, firstly that the indended criminal sanctions of fines and jail would not be applied to those caught breaking the restrictions, and some time later that repatriation flights would be restarted by 15th May, before the date had been reached.

 

There was also a court case alleging the the government decision was even illegal.  So far, the court has denied this interpretation.  I cannot comment on the legal aspect, I can only agree with the many who felt that this decision was immoral.

Probably also as a reaction to this situation, the Australian government said that the federal quarantine facility at Howard Springs and some others would soon be able to house 850 person every fortnight.

 

Today, repatriation flights of Autralians from India have restarted, thank God, and formally all Australians are deemed worthy of protection, whether in their country or not.

 

Today, also, the serious matter of smothering any escapes from quarantine of the virulent Indian variant is in full swing.

 

1https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/australia-india-flights-travel-ban-covid-outbreak/100099906, retrieved 12/5/2021

2https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-19/who-is-responsible-for-quarantine-in-australia/13070108, retrieved 12/5/2021