COVID-19 / Australia / 22nd September Update

Australian figures are somewhat under control. The main contributor to the second wave, Victoria, now seems to have the situation in hand due to extremely strict lockdown rules in the capital and immediate surroundings. The regional areas of that state do not have a problem.

Three of our local businesses, a club and two restaurants had to close because a tourist from Sydney who tested positive on his return had visited those establishments.

This will be an ongoing problem for our area which sees throngs of tourists, with little regard for social distancing or mask use, turning up every weekend. Next week is the beginning of two weeks of school holidays which will exacerbate the situation even more.

Borders are still closed but rezoning the NSW/Qld and NSW/Vic borders on a regional basis is under discussion.

 

 

 

Meanwhile just a dozen countries have recorded no cases of COVID-19. Most of them are Pacific island nations, directly to Australia's east.

Each country's government quickly closed borders to international travel at the start of the pandemic.
The first to seal its frontier was the Marshall Islands. Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Palau, Micronesia, Tuvalu, Nauru, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands, followed. Six months on, when most of the world is ravaged by the corona virus, these island nations remain virus free
Eighty per cent of islanders live rurally, many with no connection to the global economy or the tourism industry.
The resumption of international tourism would present an enormous health threat but add little to their material living standards.

In desperation to restart revenue streams, French Polynesia opened its borders to French and American tourists in July. 

It's a decision that has ended in disaster. 

The first wave recorded between 62-69 cases of COVID-19. So far the second wave has recorded 1130 cases and the French territory's first two deaths.
Many indigenous Tahitians opposed the reopening, but were overruled by their French administrators. 

It highlights an uncomfortable truth ie. the most infected Pacific communities have been in territories ruled by metropolitan powers, such as the US territory of Guam, French Polynesia and Indonesian-ruled West Papua.