Re:The Virus Changed. Now We Must ‘Get to Zero’ or Face Cata...
by baxtr on Sunday January 31, 2021 @11:00AM
(#25979714)
I wasn’t aware of that. I think it was the right call. Still, compare the population density of WA to Central Europe. It’s probably 2 orders higher.
Re:The Virus Changed. Now We Must ‘Get to Zero’ or Face Cata...
by flukus on Monday February 01, 2021 @12:18AM
(#25985786)
Then compare the Queensland-NSW border or the Victoria-NSW border, probably comparable with most European borders or at least within 1 order of magnitude. Both borders were closed (with exceptions) at various times to contain outbreaks to one state. If we loosen up the definition of country then these are Western countries that aren't island nations with zero covid.
It shouldn't also be noted that the borders don't have to be hermetically sealed. As long as cross border contamination is minimized other tools (contact tracing) can deal with it.
This is exactly what Western Australia did. The Australian response was not nationally coordinated and each state has been doing their own thing. They have land borders between each other and yet the Victorian outbreak didn't spread to either NSW or SA because they implemented border checks by lining the roads with police and fining people who attempted to circumvent them, while WA implemented a hard border even earlier as soon as there was a non-zero number of cases.
The Australian states are geographically larger than many European countries, so I don't think it's that it's an island. The only effect nationally was hotel quarantine for arriving flights which is possible for landlocked countries as well.