It’s time for a national online pandemic course

Professor Peter White from University of New South Wales. Photo: Melanie Russell

It’s time for Australia to get its citizens to do a national pandemic online course on dealing with coronavirus. Going online as a nation could help inform and reunify us in the fight against this highly infectious virus.

Despite the messages of caution broadcast every day by the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders, and numerous news reports and ads, the notion that coronavirus remains a deadly enemy and probably will for a couple of years doesn’t resonate with some sections of the public.

The message isn’t getting through. It’s not just protest groups. Take the large crowds dancing and drinking in bars around Bondi in Sydney this past weekend, who will likely do the same next weekend.

The Ruby Princess and Victorian hotel quarantine scandals are bad enough, but complacency is a huge problem going forward. WA is delaying easing restrictions to phase 5 due to complacency. It is likely to be the cause of other breaches in future.

Part of the problem is the inconsistent rules and mixed messaging about what to do. The public is told to socially distance, wash hands and be cautious, but, with pressure to open the economy, people are also told to get out, patronise restaurants and pubs, use local services and help stimulate employment.

Until recently, young Australians were viewing overseas media reports of Americans partying, swimming at the beaches in Los Angeles and Florida, with US officials saying they had beaten the virus.

In NSW, when the initial lockdown ended, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said: “We‘ve opened up the regions and now it’s our happy hour, time to wine and dine.” It was the decent thing to say to encourage business activity but some misinterpret these statements as an invitation to party.

Australian virologist Professor Peter White, recognised internationally for his work on norovirus, says the message is confusing.

“After the lockdowns we were encouraged to go back to the pubs and back to the restaurants, but that was perhaps not the correct message.

“The younger people do feel that they‘ve had enough, we’ve done our bit for the lockdown, now we want to go back to our lives. However, the reality is that the virus can still spread very quickly.”

Professor White says coronavirus is like a bushfire. You have to counter it early before it gets out of control on a lethal path of destruction.

The challenge is to get both the health and economic message across without them appearing as contradictory and confusing.

He believes we could be living with this virus for two or more years, so we can’t afford to be thrown into an undulating cycle of lockdown followed by partial recovery then by lockdown once more.

“We’re definitely going to need a longer term strategy,” says Professor White. “When the numbers got very low, we all got complacent in New South Wales and in Victoria.

“We heard the ‘open up the economy’ phrase a lot from the local New South Wales government and the federal government. Obviously that‘s probably not quite the message we need to convey.

“We need to say open up the economy but be very careful.”

While 90 per cent or more of the population do the right thing, we need to get the message through to the rest that while it’s a time to get out and about, it’s not time to relax.

It seems the current strategy of public warnings by the premiers and the Prime Minister are not enough. Some of the public, especially young people, don‘t seem to understand that they still need to be on their guard.

What I think is appropriate – and it certainly would cost less than the millions that lockdowns cost – is a national online pandemic course, maybe a course of a few online videos that everyone does and gains an accreditation for.

The videos, translated into various languages, would not only explain social distancing, hand washing and the situations where you can contract the virus, but could show you practically how to avoid the spread of the virus at home, in pubs and restaurants, while shopping, and at work, with videos taken at those venues.

The videos could demonstrate on how to approach and deal with a whole range of situations that we might find hard to cope with publicly.

They could explain the different types of masks available, how to make a mask, how to wear them, and when they need to be washed or disposed of.

They could stress the urgency of people needing to take measures to help each other, and the consequences if they don’t.

One video could be a cautionary tale featuring young sufferers of COVID-19 discussing the impact of the virus on them, their ongoing health problems and what can be a long recovery time.

At the end of the course, you could print out a certificate that you could take to restaurants, pubs and clubs to aid your entry there – especially at large venues. The certificate could be digitised as an app that you carry on your phone.

Many of us undertake online courses at work, typically in privacy, discrimination, legal obligations, and other workplace practices, so we know the kinds of videos and visual aids that can be built.

Implementing such a course might sound a fair bit of work, but it might get the message through, and it’s going to be cheaper than the alternative of more lockdowns, more people‘s lives at risk, more health workers at risk, and the deaths that result.

Alternative arrangements could be made for those who don‘t have computer facilities.

Finally, this isn’t about a quick fix in light of the Victorian lockdown. It’s about Australia being a clever country in keeping the virus at low levels for possibly two or more years, while having the breathing space it needs to open up the economy and get people back to work.

Professor White also sees a role for a course. “I really like that idea,” he says, adding there needs also to be more government advertising to get the message across.

“I’m pretty sure that the government is probably going to go down this road – more education. Clearly there‘s some weak links around some populations. The message isn’t quite getting through how infectious this virus is.”

At the moment, a huge policing effort is keeping the wayward members of the public in line, but informative education translated into a multitude of languages that includes self-reliance, civic responsibility and common sense, and delivers a host of information could be a big help.

Australia partaking in a national pandemic course would be a world first, but it wouldn’t be surprising if other countries take this step in the future. It’s something we could all do together.