Australia vs UK

[JC17fj74]

Ok so I follow some celebrities and influencers on Insta who live in Australia, I've just watched their stories of them out yes that's right OUT in bars and clubs dancing, drinking and partying all close together having FUN 😫 Do you remember what it was like to go out and have Fun? 😂🤦🏻‍♀️
I understand Australia is the other side of the world but they had bad cases not so long ago didn't they?!
HOW are they at that stage where they even have bars and clubs open, let along be able to party with no masks inside in close proximity?!!!
I can't see us doing any of that anytime soon 😭
What are we doing wrong? Why are we in lockdown with no date or plan to get out of this hell when other countries are getting back to normal? Dubai is another one I've seen people enjoying life there too. But surely the Rona is still around in these countries?

It depends which part of Australia you're talking about. Things are almost 'normal' in Western Australia. It's a big country.

Don’t even look at life in Miami and Dubai, they are living life over there 😅

We are almost covid free at the moment (Aus). We have restrictions, we had a last minute lock down over Christmas. Our state borders open and close at a moments notice. But it's worth it!
Our numbers leveled off around 700 ish per day in the big Vic lockdown. We now have the luxury of tracking down every single case that pops up, tracing all contacts and isolating them. Everyone is encouraged to test for the slightest symptom.
Zero local cases this week and 14 from international arrivals (who get quarantined for 14 days).

When my friend's school reopened In Oz they sent home everyone with a "symptom". However, unlike here where kids were encouraged to stay in school as its "just a cold" or " a cough following a cold", my friend's school sent home everyone with a sore throat or a sniffle. Their definition of symptoms was far broader than our 3 main ones.

I honestly think that's made a huge difference. Our numbers soared after schools went back.

THat and closing their boarders.

Depends where you are. I'm in sydney and things are sort of back to normal, but night clubs are one of the things that aren't open. Events like weddings are allowed (up to 100 people) but they must be seated and no dancing is allowed. Masks don't have to be worn in eating and drinking venues but do have to be worn in shops and indoor entertainment venues like movies.

Have you noticed a slight difference in size of country abs population density op? Or the fact it's a destination not a transport hub. It's like trying to compare apples and pears.

The Rona?

Lucky them
I’m hopeful that’ll be us in the summer although my nightclubs days are long gone
A meal out with friends would be fab

I'm in Australia. We have a proper contact tracing system. Tests are available (for free) at many locations. I've been tested three times in the past year, each time I've gone to a drive-through place and waited no more than ten minutes. Workplaces, schools etc are very big on staying home and getting tested for the slightest symptom.

When I read on here about people 'must' have a fever, or asking whether to lie and say they have a fever, it feels crazy. It's like a culture of NOT wanting people to get tested - whereas here it's encouraged.

Our rules have been strict - not just 'advice'. Anyone entering the country has had to isolate in a medi-hotel for two weeks since the very beginning. We weren't encouraged to eat out and mix when numbers were still very high.

Just a few things I can think of. I'm in no way trying to boast - I am well aware how fortunate that we are living relatively normally right now. Just trying to answer your question of 'what's different.' Id also give anything to be able to return to the UK right now and visit a dying family member 😞

i am in Australia, we have gone 11 days with no community transmission, We only have cases in hotels, where people have come back from overseas.
Our life is back to normal mostly. Movies, pubs and restaurants are all operating. Concerts and theatre in limited numbers.
I guess it is all attributed to hotel quarantine, a decent contract tracing system and our population realising if we put in the hard yards we get the reward. Earlier this month Brisbane was put into lockdown for ONE CASE. After 3 days the authorities deemed it safe enough to ease it and life continued as normal. When the snap lockdown was called we all did it, no complaints or excuses. We know that this is not over by a long shot, we still social distance and wear masks when necessary. We are lucky but are accutely aware of what is going on overseas and for our authorities that scenario is not an option

Yes to the schools sending kids home. Daycare are the same and they temp test 2-3 times a day. They are great at teaching and supervising the kids to wash hands with proper technique and for how long.
The ease for testing is really great- DD wakes with a sniffle, book her online for an early test and can usually get one before 10am that day. Home to isolate and results by text between 7-9pm that night so then either back to daycare next if she's well or home until she's well enough to go.
I think there has also been greater acceptance about WFH. My DH has been in twice since mid March last year. I have been in maybe 5or 6 times. My company has announced we will be hybrid moving forward with two required days in the office to keep culture/connectivity but that this won't be implemented for quite some time. We're a global company and see our colleagues suffering through restrictions, lockdowns etc all over the world so we are well aware of what is at stake.
As pp said I also can't get my head around the uk testing where you must have exact symptoms listed- so many must be missed or unable to test.

They are at the end of the world, 5 hours flight from anywhere, not a travel hub, it hit at the right time of year for them. They also made good decisions.

Umm.. Because they essentially saw bad things starting to happen and cometely shut them selevs off along with NZ and said fuck that... We will let the rest of the world deal with that shit while we hide in our own bubble... Do nothing to help the global cause and then happily take the vaccine (but only the best, none of the British shit) once they are ready to come back and play with the rest of the world...

@Forgetmenot157 so Australia and NZ made bad decisions to close their borders?!?

Melbourne had a long and brutal lockdown throughout our winter and got our daily cases from 700+ to zero.

I'm in Western Australia. Our State Premier took a very hard line and closed the Western Australian border very quickly, and was very cautious about re-opening it. We've had around 850 cases in total and 9 deaths in the state. Life is pretty normal, except we can't travel overseas, and even travelling interstate the rules can change and you might have to quarantine. We have had zero community transmission since April, all our cases are from overseas and in quarantine. So yes, we are incredibly lucky, and we are living in a bit of a bubble. But it isn't right to say we haven't contributed, The government have invested a lot in research and development, unfortunately the vaccine developed here failed testing. And not sure what you're on about saying we are rejecting 'the British shit', as that is the vaccine most of us will be getting. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Which is understandable, if I still lived in Europe I'd be pretty jealous of Australia and NZ too.

It’s great that Australia have done so well so far. But they haven’t done so well with the vaccine. They haven’t even started vaccinations yet and likely won’t for a while yet. There is also hardly any community immunity. It’s going to be very hard for them to open up.

I am in Perth.

Yes no community transmission since April and life is literally, normal.

I do feel lucky but worried when I can see my family again as the UK seems to not be progressing at all.

I hate when people say that OZ success is due to hitting right time, we were going into winter when it started? And that we arn't a travel hub? The closed border led to our success and hard line from our leader. Everyone would have been coming and going freely if they could.

@Mousehole10

It’s great that Australia have done so well so far. But they haven’t done so well with the vaccine. They haven’t even started vaccinations yet and likely won’t for a while yet. There is also hardly any community immunity. It’s going to be very hard for them to open up.

Our population isn't as big , it won't take as long to vaccinate plus the healthcare system is very efficient and will run smoothly when it gets going

Key things were quarantine in hotels for all international arrivals, accessible testing for mild symptoms, good contact tracing and a culture of compliance with the rules. The state borders have helped limit the spread as they are closed when there’s a small outbreak in a specific area. The government has put funding into various vaccines, some of which were stopped at trial stage. A small and widely distributed population is a big factor, but I think a willingness to go hard from the start and compliance with strict lockdowns where there’s an outbreak has really helped (plus no trips out of the country have been allowed for nearly a year for anyone except for compassionate or essential business reasons).

I’m going out for drinks and dinner in inner Sydney tonight. A few weeks ago parts of the city were locked down due to an outbreak, but now we’ve had no cases for over a week. No doubt there’s be similar small outbreaks again in future but they go hard with lockdowns pretty quickly so that contact tracers can mop up all lines of transmission so I fee reasonably ok about opening up somewhat while it’s safe to do so.

There is no Australia when it comes to management of the pandemic. It's what's happening in states that matters. Looking good so far, but no-one is under any illusion that we're out of the woods.

The vax is at national level, so the two mitigations are not decided by the same people.

They haven’t even started vaccinations yet and likely won’t for a while yet

I’m booked for mine next month (HCP)

I live in Melbourne. We had a short lockdown at the beginning followed by a long strict lockdown through the middle of the year but it allowed us to get down to zero cases of community transmission for about 3 months I think it was. Masks have been mandatory inside shops etc for quite some time though this has eased a bit now. Unfortunately there were a few cases that popped up just before Christmas, but because we were working from such low levels,the contact tracing was effective and it was under control quickly.

It does surprise me that you are encouraged not to test without symptoms, as here we were pushed to get tested even without symptoms and without being a contact of a known case. That way we had fewer people unwittingly transmitting the virus.

I think the other main differences are that our population is much smaller and also much more spread out (it's not surprising that our two largest cities have been the most affected). We also closed our international borders very early and many internal borders have been shut too.

It is not all perfect over here though. My 9 month old baby hasn't met her Grandparents yet as they live in Perth (WA) which is very quick to close its borders at the first hint of any cases elsewhere. But apart from that, we are now living fairly normally. My kids go to swimming lessons and school, have play dates etc.

I think they said we would all be vaccinated by September? There is no need for us to rush really.

@Forgetmenot157

Umm.. Because they essentially saw bad things starting to happen and cometely shut them selevs off along with NZ and said fuck that... We will let the rest of the world deal with that shit while we hide in our own bubble... Do nothing to help the global cause and then happily take the vaccine (but only the best, none of the British shit) once they are ready to come back and play with the rest of the world...

That is spiteful and also incorrect.

The Australian Government has invested $363 million to support research and development, to contribute to the global effort to find successful vaccines and treatments to stop the spread of COVID-19.

www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/about-covid-19-vaccines/australias-vaccine-agreements