Follow NSW on virus response

NSW has now recorded 18 straight days of zero local COVID transmissions and announced further relaxation of restrictions implemented prior to Christmas. It now looks certain that NSW has beaten the Avalon cluster, and its offshoot, the Berala cluster.

Some had predicted that the outbreak, which began in mid-December, could spiral to over 3,000 cases by early January. This led to calls to shut all the borders, lock down greater Sydney, and even cancel Christmas.

Yet by Christmas week, new cases had basically stabilised at under 10 a day and NSW saw its first day of zero new cases on January 4.

NSW beat these clusters without a state-wide — or even city-wide — lockdown, without the imposition of a curfew, and in spite of lockdown-happy commentators on social media.

With recent outbreaks in Western Australia and Victoria, it might be time for other states to learn from NSW.

The NSW approach stands in contrast to the draconian methods favoured in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia in particular; where border closures and city-wide lockdowns were implemented after just a handful of cases.

Indeed, each time NSW deals with an outbreak, the case gets stronger that the more flexible, less authoritarian approach of the NSW government is the best method of controlling the pandemic.

It is important to understand that this approach has nothing to do with denying the potential health risks of the pandemic, but a recognition that the choice is not between letting the virus run rampant or sacrificing all our freedoms.

A responsible middle path exists: one that encompasses all interests — including economic and social — not just minimising COVID transmission at any and all cost.

Lockdowns may be an effective tool at suppressing cases, but their social and economic costs are immense. Shutting the border to a state is an extreme measure — or at least, it used to be; back when we considered ourselves Australians first and residents of our state second.

In some states lockdowns appear to be the only policy in the toolkit.

Learning from the successful approach in other states is a key benefit of federalism: maybe it’s time we remembered it.

This is an edited extract of an opinion piece published in the Canberra Times as
It’s time for states to learn from pandemic management successes