Coronavirus: Looking out for the most vulnerable in community

Australia in isolation — our borders closed, returned travellers and new arrivals in 14-day self-quarantine — is a daunting work in progress. Social distancing has entered the lexicon, with gatherings of more than 500 people scrubbed. Anzac Day services and agricultural shows have been halted. Scott Morrison says the comparator to the coronavirus pandemic is the Spanish flu of 100 years ago. This time, however, the states and territories are better co-ordinated and resourced in the national response. Anyone aged under 75 will be tempted to think this is what life during wartime must be like. Still, the Prime Minister emphasised in back-to-back morning TV and radio interviews on Monday that life goes on. “The shops remain open, the trains still run, the phones still work, the lights still switch on,” he said. “This is not a physical disaster where you’ve had a cyclone or something like that.”

People, however, are a little bewildered at the shutdown, feeling swamped by the dislocations and the accumulation of dilemmas about what to do to limit the risks of being infected, beyond the commonsense precautions of handwashing, sneezing properly, not shaking hands and the like. These are early days but the restrictions could last for six months, perhaps a little more or a little less, according to Mr Morrison. The strategy, driven by medical advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, is to slow the rate of infection — “flatten the curve” — which allows the health system to better respond; that reduces the risk to the elderly and saves lives. The main goal is to stop medical facilities being overwhelmed, given the number of COVID-19 infections is now doubling every few days.

For many parents and some medical experts, the decision not to close schools is perplexing. Independent schools are moving ahead of state authorities with closures, putting online learning environments to the test. Even if assemblies and sports are cancelled, parents wonder how can it be prudent to have hundreds of students massed in corridors at the change of lessons? It’s counterintuitive, but officials say closing schools could create more problems than solutions. Mr Morrison on Monday said the impact on younger people is actually much less than for the rest of the population. But if school students were forced home, they would need to be cared for, perhaps by older Australians, their grandparents, he said. “That is not a particularly good idea at the moment. And it would also take, potentially, nurses and others out of the workforce when we need them right now,” the Prime Minister said.

Right now, the highest priority must be protecting the health of the most vulnerable in our community and easing the effects of the disruption to food supplies and other essential services to them. To this end, the major supermarkets have announced they will introduce special shopping hours for the elderly and disabled. Retailers have been swamped by home delivery requests, as well as having their shelves stripped of items; they’re putting on a reserve army of casuals to cope. The run on supermarkets, however, is an opportunity for neighbours to step up and help socially isolated people. It may have sounded trite a few weeks ago when Mr Morrison suggested to take around a curry to rural folks who don’t have access to Uber Eats. But his advice on Sunday to drop off a casserole to those in need, as an act of kindness, suits the times. As well as exercising restraint in the grocery shopping stakes.

More delicate to design will be the imminent restrictions on aged-care facilities, which the national cabinet will consider on Tuesday evening. Britain is planning a dramatic four-month mass quarantine of everyone over 70 in the most drastic measure yet unveiled in the fight against COVID-19. UK nursing homes and other aged-care centres face being locked down for the same period. Mr Morrison has flagged there will be a “fairly significant restriction on visitation to people in nursing homes”. He said measures would be sensitively implemented, given families would possibly be seeing elderly relatives for the last time. But he explained the prime goal was “to lessen the broader risk for people in these facilities”. Undoubtedly, amid distress, it will be a difficult balance to strike.

The health of indigenous people, especially those living in remote areas and suffering high rates of chronic disease, is another priority. Northern Territory authorities have banned non-essential travel into bush communities and advised residents not to leave. The draconian-sounding measures are aimed at limiting the spread of the virus and stopping doctors in the already strained system from making life-and-death decisions. Indigenous leaders are rightly demanding more medicines, masks, equipment and clinicians be allocated to these communities.

Protecting our most vulnerable people invariably requires harsher restrictions on movement and services, as well as more dedicated resources. But it will also call for displays of Australian spirit, acts of kindness to strangers, self-control and patience. The way we interact with Nanna and Pop, for instance, may change for the next several months: less face time and more FaceTime. Try to look out for the elderly in your street or apartment building. As the Prime Minister has said, our job in the coming days, weeks and months is to work together to slow the spread of the virus. For those of us who are more healthy, we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable. As a US president once said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country, your local community, your fellow Australian.