*For medical professionals only
“Trust between people saves lives”
Writing | Yan Xiaoliu
Source | “Medical Community” Public Account
On May 18, local time, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the country has passed the “emergency period” of the new crown pandemic, and various epidemic prevention policies will be relaxed and changed .
“Australia has fared better than many countries for most of the pandemic.” The Guardian reports, with the exception of Montserrat, Anguilla and the Falkland Islands, among others Islands, Australia has the highest single-day rate of new crown infections in the past week. But its new crown death rate has been among the lowest in the developed world.
As of mid-March this year, Australia’s death toll from Covid-19 accounted for 1 in 1,000 confirmed cases, well below the rate of 2-12 per 1,000 in other developed countries.
“Also a developed country, Australia’s anti-epidemic results are better than the United States and Germany, which have better treatment and vaccine conditions, and are far ahead of Sweden and Denmark, which have similar quality of life and geographical conditions. “Xing-Mai Jiang, a former senior researcher at the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, wrote in an article.
Image caption: Multi-country comparison of intensive care beds, data from Q-bital Healthcare March 2022. /The Australian
“In repeated epidemics, Australia has made mistakes: the irregular epidemic prevention in nursing homes has led to the death of many elderly people; vaccinations have been hindered by poor procurement; The number of deaths is increasing as the spread and control are relaxed.” The New York Times reported recently, but Australia’s epidemic prevention results are still remarkable, relying on something more resonant than a press conference.
“What did Australia do right, and what did the United States do wrong?” The New York Times asked itself, from the top government to the hospital level, Australia is guided by the direction of saving lives . The United States’ fight against the epidemic has exposed many deficiencies: “The trust in science and institutions, especially people’s trust in each other, is very lacking.”
Image caption: Australia has banned cruise ships from sailing in its waters for two years. On April 18, 2022, Sydney Harbour welcomed the first docked cruise ship “Pacific Explorer”. The ship departed from Cyprus with a banner on the bow: “We’re going home.” /AAP
Governments trust experts to act quickly
The Commonwealth, States and Territories of Australia are governed by different political parties. According to the New York Times, governments and leaders at all levels in the country support “one voice” that values the opinions of professionals and follows the lead of medical staff.
On January 20, 2020, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt received an old friend, then Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy ) to call.
Just a day ago, the Ministry of Health issued a statement that it is closely monitoring the development of the new crown virus. Murphy wanted to chat with Hunter about the virus.
“It shows worrying signs of human-to-human transmission. I think this may be more serious than any epidemic we have seen in our lifetime.” The New York Times quoted Murphy as saying, “We must act quickly.”
The next day, Australia officially launched emergency response measures, saying there was “a potential pandemic threat from the new coronavirus.” Including the screening of incoming passengers from some areas from now on to prevent the spread of infection.
Meanwhile, Hunt briefed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to begin an investigation into the country’s stockpile of personal protective equipment. He also spent a lot of time calling outside experts for guidance.
Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Australia’s top medical research institution, was one of Hunt’s counselors. Following the Chinese research institute, the institute took the lead in isolating complete new coronavirus samples from infected persons at the end of January 2020.
Lewandwin and Australia’s public health laboratory leaders and scientists met to communicate a range of Hunter’s concerns. “In the early days of the epidemic, the exchanges between politicians and scientists were very deep.”
In an interview, Hunter spoke of “there is precedent for a lack of trust.” He cited Australia’s failure to respond to the 1918 flu pandemic as an example. “At that time, the epidemic prevention advice was inconsistent and there was a lack of information sharing. This led to rampant ‘snake oil’ traffickers and a high mortality rate.”
The 1918 flu was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. “Jianghu Langzhong” were dispatched one after another. Medicines such as “Miller Antibacterial Snake Oil”, “Dr. Bell’s Pine Tar Honey” and “Vickers Mint Salve” claim to have miraculous effects. Relevant advertisements often appeared in the newspapers along with plague news.
“Expert ‘consensus’ is meaningful only when people truly trust the actions taken by the government and their neighbors.” Jie Jie, director of the Center for Epidemic Prevention and Response at Cornell University, USA Jay Varma told The New York Times. He was a new crown epidemic prevention adviser to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Photo caption: In March 2020, there were only a few people in the square at the bustling Sydney Opera House, Australia. /The New York Times
Trust saves lives
Jiang Xingmai wrote in an article that Australia has achieved remarkable results. The core is that it did not blindly follow Europe and the United States, but chose a strategy that suits itself: human-controlled “herd immunity”.
“When the virus first arrived, closing the border was one of the earliest and most effective measures Australia took.” The BBC reported that the country has the strictest border controls. During the second wave of the epidemic in India, Australia once banned its citizens from returning from India.
Jiang Xingmai introduced that in addition to the above measures, the Australian federal government and governments at all levels have followed scientific opinions and exercised effective functions in the following aspects. Including: enriching resources such as antigen and nucleic acid testing, and providing free screening; implementing epidemic prevention and control in industrial and commercial, transportation, cultural, and educational units; guiding individuals and families to implement epidemic prevention and control; ensuring transparency and normalization of epidemic information and epidemic control measures.
“I just don’t want to disappoint everyone.” The New York Times said that when asked why it accepted a long curfew, mass testing, restrictions on movement within a 5-kilometer range, and agreed with repeated blockades, When closed, quarantined, etc. regulations, Australians tend to give the same answer: “It’s not just me.”
A global survey shows that Australians are more likely than Americans to agree that “most people can be trusted”. At the start of the pandemic, 76 per cent of Australians said they trusted the healthcare system. That compares with a “trust” rate of 34 percent in the U.S. survey.
Trust between people saves lives.
“The more trust citizens have in their government or each other, the more effective a country will be in its response to COVID-19.” The Lancet study published in April found 177 countries Expand the analysis. The results show that as of September 2021, some countries have relatively low new crown infection and death rates, and what really matters is trust.
“Citizens who trust the government are more likely to comply with social distancing, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated. Where trust is lacking, citizens are reluctant to comply, and the government is unlikely to demand more. “Research indicates that.
Greg Dore, an infectious disease expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, pointed out that in the difficult times of 2020 and 2021, it is necessary for all people to participate, stay united, play by the rules and become one a social norm.
“Australians are used to closing their doors when cases rise. This is what many supermarkets and businesses do before Christmas (2021).” The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
In order to achieve effective contact tracing, Australia has widely promoted “QR code” technology to record the trajectory of people’s activities. This technology is difficult to advance in some countries and has been accused of violating privacy. Australia assures the public of data security, saying “no QR code entry”. According to the University of Sydney model, during the peak of the epidemic, Australians’ contact tracing and isolation rates, as well as social distancing compliance and Covid-19 screening rates, were stable at around 90%.
Australians’ support for quick screening and early screening is also remarkable. The “Australian Broadcasting Corporation” reported that the federal government and governments at all levels have been vigorously promoting “extensive screening”, advocating that minor diseases should be screened and detected early. In June 2021, Victoria, Australia, “closed the city for prevention and control”, and the daily increase was only single digits. However, the number of daily nucleic acid tests exceeds 30,000, sometimes as high as 50,000.
Image description: On May 20, many places in Australia no longer require mandatory wearing of masks outdoors. /ABC News
Get vaccinated and win a million dollars
On February 22, 2021, the Australian federal government launched the country’s new crown vaccination efforts. At the time, the federal government said it had ordered more than 150 million doses of the vaccine. Australia’s total population is about 25 million, which means that orders are far more than demand.
According to the federal government’s plan, 4 million doses are expected to be administered by early April 2021, and the first dose of all approved age groups will be completed in October. But in fact, the actual dose in April was only 125,000 doses. The shortfall of more than 3 million is not because the people do not want to get vaccinated, but because the ordered vaccine is too late.
Since then, the Australian Ministry of Health and Minister Hunt have been widely blamed for the lack of vaccine supply, which has caused the spread of the Delta strain and the intensification of the epidemic.
Australia’s vaccination rates soared as soon as the vaccine became available. Vaccination rates for people over 16 soared from about 10% to 80% in six weeks, the “world’s highest” increase at the time.
In order to popularize vaccination, many places in Australia have held “Injection to Win Grand Prize” activities, with a maximum prize of one million Australian dollars (about 4.7 million yuan). Local governments have given grants to GP clinics to help them recruit more staff, or pay staff overtime to promote vaccination. Those who refuse to be vaccinated face “punishments” such as losing their jobs or failing to complete their studies.
As of May 19, 2022, the two-dose vaccine coverage rate for people aged 12 and over in Australia was 94.75%.
Image courtesy of ABC News
“The epidemic is not over yet, and there are still some weak links that need to be treated with caution and efforts to improve.” Jiang Xingmai pointed out that three more communicable Omicron sub-series BA.2.12.1 , BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading in Australia, the local infection rate is rising, and there are some fluctuations in the hospitalization rate and severe disease rate. The good news is that the mortality rate has not changed.
He believes that as long as the epidemic is not over, there will still be infections, severe illness and even death. It is understandable that some people shed their anger over the loss of the epidemic to the government, but it is not fair. “We can expect that on the basis of the vaccine coverage that has been achieved, a large number of newly infected people will effectively increase the level of anti-virus-specific antibodies in the group. In the future, the number of new infections and re-infections will decline, which will accelerate the epidemic. Fall back.”
Source:
[1]How Australia Saved Thousands of Lives While Covid Killed a Million Americans.The New York Times
[2]Populations skew older in some of the countries hit hard by COVID-19.Pew Research Center
[3]What the current spike in Covid-19 cases could say about the coronavirus’ future.STAT
[4]COVID-19 infections in Australia hit worldwide highs—and experts predict another Omicron variant spike is coming.ABC News
[5] Viewpoint: One of the countries with the lowest death rate from the new crown, talking about Australia’s outstanding achievements in fighting the epidemic. The Australian
[6]COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update.WHO.Edition 92,published 18 May 2022
[7]Pandemic preparedness and COVID-19:an exploratory analysis of infection and fatality rates,and contextual factors associated with preparedness in 177 countries,from Jan 1,2020,to Sept 30,2021 .The Lancet.VOLUME 399,ISSUE 10334,P1489-1512,APRIL 16,2022.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00172-6
Source: Medicine
Editor in charge: Jun Ling
Proofreading: Zang Hengjia