Coronavirus Australia: Weekend of Covid-19 discontent

It was a grim weekend for Covid, especially in Sydney, but it should be seen in perspective. On August 5 last year, Victoria recorded 725 cases and 15 deaths, including a man in his 30s. On Sunday, NSW recorded 141 new local cases and two deaths overnight, including a Sydney woman in her 30s with no pre-existing medical conditions. The other death was a woman in her 70s from the city’s southwest. The daily infection number was a slight drop from 163 cases on Saturday. The most disappointing aspect of the weekend was the selfish, dangerous tantrums thrown by protesters in various cities, especially Sydney. More than 510 penalty infringement notices were issued in 24 hours in NSW, mostly to protesters. As NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said, their behaviour was “violent, filthy and risky’’. Those who were arrested or who are facing court deserve to wear the consequences. So will the community if the protest turns out to be a “superspreader’’. While participants’ conduct was unconscionable, the claims of some about being left without income or resources and falling through the cracks of assistance programs should be addressed by the Morrison and Berejiklian governments.

However bleak, the state’s predicament — more than 2000 cases since the start of the current outbreak — must be managed systematically and efficiently. Under Scott Morrison’s strategy for opening up, lockdowns are supposed to be a last resort. But, the Prime Minister said on Sunday, while vaccines can provide some assistance, they are “not a substitute for a lockdown’’. The Berejiklian government is under pressure to impose harsher lockdown measures in southwestern Sydney.

The Morrison government is also facing a crucial, costly decision. It is considering extended financial support for larger businesses impacted as it responds to the threat of a bigger hit to the economy and jobs from more frequent pandemic-induced shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. Treasury is working on extending support to companies currently above the threshold for financial assistance and specific industries impacted by lockdowns but which are located outside declared hotspots.

The weekend has also brought some important lessons on the importance of vaccination. Deputy NSW chief health officer Jeremy McAnulty said on Sunday 141 people remained in hospital, with 43 in intensive care — 18 who needed ventilation. Of those in intensive care, 42 had not been vaccinated, and one has had a first dose. Of the 141 in hospital, 60 were under age 55 and 28 under 35. After an abysmally slow start, the vaccine rollout is making up ground, with a million jabs administered in the past six days. Almost one in six Australians has now been vaccinated while 38 per cent of the population have had at least one dose. The Australian Technical Advisory Group has updated its advice, urging all adults in Greater Sydney to “strongly consider” any available vaccine. But Mr Morrison’s advice to young people to switch doctors if they are blocked from taking the AstraZeneca jab is controversial. “Doctor shopping’’ is not always in the best interests of patients, as Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price said.

Australia is far from alone in struggling with Covid and its fallout. Even Israel, where two-thirds of the population has had a least one jab, is considering a new lockdown against the Delta variant. In the US, public schools have suffered their biggest fall in enrolments on record as parents, frustrated by extended closures, turn to private schools and homeschooling. The latter will amaze Australian families who have been forced to homeschool and found it hard going.

As more countries battle Delta, the shamelessness of China has been writ large with its arrogant dismissal of an overdue WHO plea for a new investigation into Covid’s origins. In a change that reflects the depth of concern, director-general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, who has often been a Chinese pawn, implored Beijing to be “transparent, open and co-operative”. He got short shrift from Chinese Health Minister Zeng Yixin, who said he was “shocked” by the request and told the WHO to butt out. Wuhan Institute of Virology director Yuan Zhiming did the same, insisting that, despite evidence piling up, the Institute “never designed, made or leaked the virus”. Dr Tedros and the WHO must be relentless in rejecting Beijing’s stonewalling. With 4.1 million deaths, and estimates the real number is at least double, establishing the source of Covid and how it spread is as vital as ever. As Joe Biden says, Beijing’s response is “irresponsible and dangerous”.