The SA government’s Covid-Ready Plan follows federal government advice that state borders should open once vaccination rates hit 80 per cent. As of Sunday, 77.2 per cent of those aged over 16 had received two doses. Fully vaccinated people will be able to travel from anywhere in Australia once their digital application is approved. International arrivals still will be required to quarantine for seven days. Once the state reaches 90 per cent vaccination for people over 12, most restrictions will be removed. The government expects the milestone to be reached before Christmas.
The prospect of SA opening the borders is welcome news to those who like their cities younger and more international. However, the state has the second highest proportion of people over 65 in the country, which raises fears the health system could be overwhelmed if Covid takes hold.
Covid has staged repeated comebacks in countries where more than 50 per cent of the population is vaccinated. Australia has set a higher vaccination threshold and South Australians have been largely compliant with public health guidance by wearing face masks, social distancing and using digital check-ins to assist contact tracing in the case of an outbreak. However, Covid door police are retreating from shops and check-ins are used less frequently. Adelaideans still wear masks but routinely lower or remove them. Social distancing has gone the way of the dodo in many areas. All that makes for a merrier atmosphere, which airborne viruses find more congenial too.
As South Australians prepare to come out of their Covid caves, Europeans are receding into the shadowlands of lockdown. Austria will mandate Covid vaccination for all citizens following a surge in cases that has overwhelmed the health system and reportedly resulted in corpses lining hospital corridors. About 64 per cent of Austrians had been fully vaccinated by last week. It is a low rate that is attributed to anti-vaccination campaigns.
In Germany, daily case numbers have risen to more than 50,000, prompting the government to introduce new regulations. Employees will have to be vaccinated, recovered or present a recent negative test result to enter shared workplaces.
In SA, some business owners are fearing the worst, namely that if transmission is traced back to their premises the health department could list them as an exposure site and force staff to quarantine. State government compensation will not be available for lost income when small businesses have to close. Yet they do not have a legislated power to prevent positive cases or unvaccinated people entering. There is no digital pass. I do not support mandatory vaccination except where people work in contact with highly vulnerable groups. However, you cannot give bureaucrats the power to close businesses on the basis of viral transmission without giving business owners the means to minimise the risk.
I know a woman who has just opened her own business in Adelaide. She is smart, hardworking and ambitious. She plans to expand her fledgling enterprise with female friends in their 20s. If a client enters their premises, they have no way of knowing whether that person is vaccinated or carrying Covid. There is no mandated digital pass. Yet health bureaucrats could close their doors by forcing the few staff into quarantine if they are exposed to a Covid-positive case.
Preliminary research cited by Scientific American suggests vaccination not only confers individual protection against severe Covid symptoms but also may result in lower community transmission as researchers have observed viral load reducing more quickly in vaccinated cohorts.
Such research is used to justify vaccine mandates as a public good, but the debate about balancing public health interventions with the right to privacy and individual freedom is far from settled.
For big business and state-funded enterprises at a remove from customers, it is easier to demand proof of vaccination. For smaller businesses with more intimate client relationships, the challenges are greater. The government should defang the health department or give clearer guidance on vetting customers and provide all businesses with a digital tool for it. At a minimum, professional bodies should clarify their position and prepare a brief statement that business owners or practice managers can use to guide clients and patients.
To my knowledge, there is no city that has avoided a surge in Covid-positive cases after restrictions were eased and borders reopened. South Australia might be the exception, but it would be remarkable. However, with nearly 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, it is time to quit the Covid cave and evolve with the virus among us.
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Two years after a novel coronavirus was detected in China, Australia is one state closer to resuming life as normal. On Tuesday, South Australia opens its borders to people who are doubly vaccinated. While the news is welcome, there are lingering concerns about the plan to prevent outbreaks and the onus on businesses to manage the risks involved.