`This is a very serious situation,` Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan announced on January 31, when deciding to impose a blockade on Perth, Australia’s fourth largest city.
The `serious situation` that McGowan mentioned was when a quarantined hotel guard became the first community infection case in Western Australia state in nearly 10 months.
The hotel with a new nCoV infection was blocked in Perth city, Western Australia state on January 31.
The speed and scale of the response in Perth may have been unimaginable to Americans or Europeans.
The lockdown of Perth and surrounding areas follows similar efforts in Brisbane and Sydney, where just a few cases were enough to prompt local authorities to impose a series of strict restrictions.
`If you ask Australians about this approach, they may just shrug their shoulders. Instead of being lonely, sad or frustrated when freedom is limited, they are accustomed to sacrificing personal interests for the collective.`
The contrast between Australia and the US and Europe in their pandemic response strategies is becoming increasingly clearer.
`We have a way to save lives, open up the economy and avoid all this fear and trouble,` said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland.
Australia is just one of many success stories in fighting the epidemic in Asia-Pacific.
Some people believe that public health works effectively not only thanks to a stable economy and wealth, but also thanks to nationalism and practical expertise.
Australia’s isolated geographical location is a great advantage in the fight against the pandemic.
Australia also maintains a robust contact tracing system, even as many other countries have essentially given up.
Brisbane also took a similar drastic move in early January after discovering that a housekeeper in the quarantine hotel system was infected with a new strain of the virus in the UK.
`Doing three days now can help avoid having to do this 30 days in the future,` she said.
Brisbane is now returning to a new normal state amid the pandemic like all other regions in Australia, except the city of Perth.
Dr Mackay, who has worked closely with Australian government officials, called it a `successful approach`.
`Lockdowns allow contact tracing and public health staff more time to ensure they can reach everyone, gather complete information and prevent them from transmitting the disease to others,`
He added that Europe and the US seem to prefer a `half-hearted type of blockade`, and at the same time put too much faith in vaccines without realizing that their impact on the epidemic is long-term, not immediate.
Most of Europe quickly tired and then failed in the fight against Covid-19 because of their approach, according to Damien Cave, editor of the NYTimes.
`They haven’t tried their best,` said Hervé Lemahieu, who led the study.
People get tested for Covid-19 at Royal Perth Hospital in Perth city on February 1.
Until the afternoon of February 1, Western Australia did not report any new cases of infection.
Allan Thompson, an investment banker in Perth, said he was one of many people who quickly returned home on January 31 following Premier McGowan’s call.
`There are times when we just stand in a little puddle and think we’re going to drown,` Thompson said.