Re:Vaccines should end the pandemic, despite the variants, s...
by Cogito on Sunday March 14, 2021 @07:34AM
(#26454480)
The state which has the most international arrivals (NSW) just had its first locally transmitted (ie not in hotel quarantine) case in 55 days.
The positive case is a security guard that works at quarantine hotels. Immediate and immense efforts have been put into place to contact trace as many contacts as possible, and to sequence the genome to understand the direct link between existing cases.
We expect these occaisonal breaches in quarantine, and as long as they remain occaisonal they are relatively cheap and easy to contain. Meanwhile restrictions continue to ease and life is almost as normal as you could want - and will certainly be even better once the vaccination program is in full swing.
Re:Vaccines should end the pandemic, despite the variants, s...
by DiogenesKynikos on Sunday March 14, 2021 @11:55AM
(#26456359)
It worked in China as well, so geographical size and population are not barriers to implementing this strategy.
One of those countries has been able to trace all cases in the last few months and makes extensive use of genomic sequencing. The leaks have all come out of hotel quarantine breaches. I believe that some Australian states that do not receive overseas travelers have not had a single case in months.
It may (or may not) not be feasible for bigger and non-island countries, although I suspect that the border closures will happen far more swiftly if there's another pandemic in our lifetimes.