Melbourne enforcing another lockdown has come far too late. It’s time we implement a lasting, official solution.
After another six cases were registered in Melbourne, the city’s lockdown was expanded for a further seven days. Now, into the fourth lockdown, the calls for standalone vaccination facilities have grown louder.
Victoria’s acting Premier James Merlino fronted the media today, plainly stating that his state needs an “alternative quarantine facility”, referencing the Northern Territory’s Howard Springs facility.
He said, “…nothing is holding up the construction of this facility. We have access to both sites and we are doing the planning and the design work in the $15 million that we put on the table, but I remind people that quarantine is a federal responsibility. Howard Springs is a federal facility. What we are saying is that we need an alternative to hotel quarantine.
“This outbreak that we are talking about and have been talking about for some time now originated from a hotel quarantine breach in South Australia.
“I think we are up to about 21 breaches of hotel quarantine right across our nation. And that is why we need an alternative quarantine facility. It is absolutely appropriate that it is a Commonwealth responsibility in terms of the funding of the construction and ultimate ownership.
“We are prepared, as long as it is related to covert response, we are prepared to operate and run the facility. It is on Commonwealth land and it should be constructed as soon as possible.”
Ultimately, governments around the world face the tough choice of being proactive or reactive during the pandemic. Being proactive to small spikes might be perceived as being heavy-handed, especially economically. Victoria, so far, has been more reactive than proactive — but the time has come to consider different approaches.
We know many people pick up the virus in their own homes from another family member, even if the infected individual isolates in one room. This is partially because indoor environments often have crowding and poor ventilation. It’s also quite difficult to practice good sanitation, cleaning high-touch surfaces properly with detergent or bleach.
The best option is to relocate an infected family member to reduce the risk of spread to the rest of the family. An option is to relocate them to hospitals or other suitable purpose-built health facilities. Victoria’s numbers will get worse unless infected individuals are relocated. This is a particular risk for crowded high-rise housing.
Victorians should also be wearing masks in all public places. Recent evidence suggests wearing masks reduces the risk of catching and spreading the virus. The World Health Organisation released updated guidelines on June 5 acknowledging masks can reduce transmission when physical distancing can’t be maintained or in places of high prevalence. Metropolitan Melbourne is now a place of high prevalence.
Ring-fencing didn’t work
Ring-fencing is an effective control method when the pattern of infection is not the same across regions. Recently, China lifted the lockdown of Wuhan and then ring-fenced hotspots to effectively repress a spike in case numbers.
Last year, hotspots in Melbourne were ring-fenced, which gave other regions with very low or zero cases a reprieve from unnecessary restrictions.
But we’ve since seen cases leaking out of these hotspots and rising rates of community transmission. This forced the government to apply a wider lockdown.
Further, ring-fencing is an effective control method when people’s needs — food, heating and internet access — are well looked after. If we get that wrong, we lose people’s collective goodwill and cooperation.
The “hard lockdown” of public housing towers in Melbourne’s north and northwest wasn’t done in a compassionate manner that meets people’s immediate needs, which erodes trust in the process.
It also lacks epidemiological sense. Forcing people into even closer quarters creates a pressure cooker environment where family outbreaks are even more likely.
A pandemic is a long-term project, so it’s essential trust is built and maintained over time. Building trust is an investment in resilience that enables our community to continue to respond well during this extended outbreak.
Victoria’s experience should be a lesson to governments everywhere that it’s crucial to act quickly and early when flareups occur. Don’t wait until the moment of crisis arrives.
It’s also time for the Victorian government to closely consider how to reduce transmission among families, and part of that may be housing infected people outside the home until they are well again.
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