Nation draws together as virus fight intensifies

Australians, quiet and strong, can handle the truth about COVID-19 and its effects, as we said on Saturday. The nation now enters the next phase of restrictions necessitated by the global medical emergency. The national cabinet, comprising Scott Morrison, premiers and chief ministers, who have put politics aside to co-operate well, have agreed that all incoming international travellers — returning citizens and visitors — must self-quarantine for 14 days. Flights will continue to operate to allow Australians to return home; but the restriction will reduce international visitor numbers to a trickle. Cruise ships from foreign ports have been banned. Handshakes are out; people need to keep their distance from each other. And, as foreshadowed last week, non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people are no longer permitted. Further steps, such as restricting visits to nursing homes, are set to be announced this week. Remote communities will receive special attention and Anzac Day will not be the same this year. As Chief Health Officer Professor Brendan Murphy and Health Minister Greg Hunt have made clear, no options are off the table, including a nationwide lockdown such as those in place in Italy and France, or a partial lockdown.

The tone and content of the Prime Minister’s press conference on Sunday were sensible and measured, as he took the nation into his confidence. Doing so, The Australian argued last week, was vital. Using two clear graphs to explain why the new restrictions were necessary — to “flatten the curve’’ by slowing the rate of infection — he increased the likelihood of bringing the nation with him to confront the pandemic and its fallout. Several schools at which staff or students have been diagnosed with COVID-19 are closed. But at this stage, most schools will remain open. Closing them could be more harmful than helpful, allowing large numbers of young people into the community, where they could carry the virus to grandparents and others. Closing schools would also add to the pressures of medical staff with children, at a time when every available hand is needed to deal with the unprecedented health emergency.

Cases are multiplying. On Sunday, 298 cases had been confirmed in Australia. A week earlier, the total was 80 cases, and 140 by Thursday last week. Flattening the curve is vital to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed and forced to make agonising decisions about who to save and who to let go. With the number of infections doubling every few days, the number of cases would pass 10,000 in less than six weeks unless the spread is slowed. On Friday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant warned that 1.5 million people in the state were ­likely to ­become infected, yet the nation has only 2000 intensive care beds. Other wards will need to be equipped for that purpose. But finding additional medical, nursing and support staff will be far harder. Hospitals are already dependent on large numbers of overseas medical staff. Many people, for good reason, are concerned about the preparedness of the public hospital system to cope. The Newspoll published on Monday shows 51 per cent of Australians are worried, 47 per cent confident and 2 per cent uncommitted. A strong majority of 69 per cent, however, are confident about the amount of information provided to citizens on how to protect themselves. Those messages are being reinforced by new government advertising focusing on basic but vital facts such as hygiene and when to see a doctor (and the need to call ahead first). After his support plummeted during the bushfire emergency, Mr Morrison can take comfort that the poll shows he has again overtaken Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister. The shift suggests he is cutting through on COVID-19. Doing so is essential, given the danger and complexity of the unfolding pandemic.

As Mr Morrison points out, the illness is more severe than influenza but for about eight out of 10 of those diagnosed it will be relatively mild. On the other hand, it is far more serious for the elderly and for others whose health is vulnerable. As The Times has reported from London, intensive care specialists warn that some who survive severe cases of the illness will suffer damage to their lungs, heart and other organs. They will need up to 15 years to recover fully. The Australian scientists who know COVID-19 best warn it is “10 times worse” than flu and spreading faster in Western countries than it did in China, Jamie Walker reports. Those scientists, led by molecular virologist Paul Young, are zeroing in on a vaccine at the University of Queensland.

Knowing that a vaccine will not be available until at least December, households are now dealing with anxiety, scarcity and varying degrees of isolation. Relatives, friends and neighbours can do much to help the housebound, especially the elderly. As Mr Morrison says, make a casserole and leave it at their doors. The coming months will be most Australians’ first experience of the “spirit of the Blitz’’.