Covid-19 Has Impacted Countries I Have Been To (2)澳大利亚如何应对新冠病毒疫情

李林博士是澳大利亚墨尔本的一位公共卫生专家。他曾经参加过很多卫生领域的国际合作项目，并因工作需要访问过众多国家。他希望通过这个叫“新冠病毒深刻改变和影响了我曾经访问过的国家”的视频系列节目分享他的经历和思考，希望对全球抗击新冠疫情的努力有所贡献，对创建更强大、更健康的国际社会有所帮助。此前的第一集视频特别奉献给了英国人民，尤其是在疫情一线无私奉献的英国国家卫生服务体系（National Health Service， NHS）千千万万的工作人员和志愿者。

今天李博士分享的是该视频/音频系列的第二集，重点分享澳大利亚联邦政府、州一级政府面对国内外新冠病毒疫情变化在2020年2月初至5月中旬期间如何逐渐引入旅行禁令、国境检疫、强制隔离、禁止大型集会等措施，建立由总理和各州州长组成的“疫期”国家内阁（National Cabinet）领导机制，在首席医疗官及健康保护指导委员会(AHPPC)的建议和支持下协调开展工作，强调保持社交距离（至少1.5米）、个人卫生行为，要求居家上班、线上教学，必要时实施公共卫生紧急状态，提高病毒检测、提供经济刺激计划及福利援助等策略措施；并在疫情得到初步控制的情况下（澳洲国内总病例数到5月中旬控制在7千多例、每日新增病例基本控制在20例之内、社区传播基本得到控制）提出分阶段解除相关控制措施的计划和路线图，让各州根据当地具体情况实施解禁计划，妥当推进复产、复工、复校，在确保疫情不反弹、健康、安全的前提下有序重启澳洲新生活……

Dr Lin Li is a public health professional who is based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been involved in many international health cooperative projects that brought him to a number of countries in the world. He hopes by sharing his experience and reflections through this video series which is called “How Covid-19 Has Impacted Countries That I Have Been To”, he can contribute to the global efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and help to build a stronger and healthier international community. Previously, he dedicated Part 1 of the video series to British people, particularly to tens of thousands of staff and volunteers of the National Health Service (NHS), whose heroics and dedication during the pandemic has been deeply appreciated by the British people.

Today, in Part 2 of the video series, Dr Li focused on Australia, a great country where he has lived in for the past 16 years. He first briefly mentioned some of his early interactions with the Australian people and its health system. He then shared when (starting from early February in 2020) and how the coronavirus-related restrictions and bans were introduced in Australia, step by step; and how this great nation of 26 million people got into isolation from the rest of the world due to the terrible health crisis. He also talked about the coronavirus response coordination and leadership mechanisms such as the National Cabinet (consisting of the Prime Minister and the Premiers and Chief Ministers of all the States and Territories), main measures and rules that have been put in place by the governments, institutions, and the society as a whole to respond to the pandemic. Finally he touched on the National Cabinet’s three-step plan to gradually ease restrictions and re-open the country from mid-May 2020…

How Covid-19 Has Impacted Countries That I Have Been To – Part 2, Australia

Note: Due to a technical issue the slides shared during the talk cannot be shown properly in the recorded video. But you can still access them through the pictures and writing in this article. Thanks.  注：因技术原因讲解时所用PPT文件在所录制的视频中不能显示，但您仍可以通过本文提供的照片和文字看到PPT中的相关信息。谢谢。

Hi everyone.

I’m Dr Lin Li. I am a public health professional in Australia. I am recording this video from my home here in Melbourne. As I mentioned in my last video about 2 weeks ago, I hope by sharing my experience and reflections through this video series which is called “How Covid-19 Has Impacted Countries That I Have Been To”, I can contribute to the global efforts to contain the pandemic and help to build a stronger and healthier international community.

My last video was dedicated to British people, particularly to tens of thousands of staff and volunteers of the British National Health Service (NHS), whose heroics and dedicated work during the coronavirus period have been deeply appreciated by British people, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was admitted to the ICU after becoming seriously ill and now has recovered.  

Today, in Part 2 of the video series, I will focus on Australia, a great country where I have lived in for the past 16 years. In this video I will first briefly mention some of my early interactions with the Australian people and its health system. I will then share with you when and how the coronavirus-related restrictions and bans were introduced, step by step; and how this great nation of 26 million people got into isolation from the rest of the world due to the terrible health crisis. I will also talk about the measures and rules that have been put in place by the governments, institutions, and the society as a whole to respond to the pandemic, and finally I will touch on the National Cabinet’s three-step plan to gradually ease restrictions and re-open the country.  

Long before I first came to Australia 16 years ago, I had been impressed by the Australian public health system and initiatives such as the road safety and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Back in February 2001, my Chinese colleague Dr Zhang and I gave a very memorable presentation entitled “Health Promotion in Sichuan Province in the Beginning of the 21st Century” in front of a high-level Australian Health Delegation led by Australian Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care (Dr Michael Wooldridge) and the Ambassador of Australia to China (Mr. David Irvine) who visited our Center for Disease Control in Sichuan, and we had a very good discussion about some public health initiatives that both sides were interested in, including containing the HIV epidemic in vulnerable groups.

Two years later, after the SARS outbreak I started to apply for an Australian visa to do a PhD in population health in Australia as an international student, and I started my PhD program at University of Melbourne in early 2004. My PhD research topic was HIV/AIDS prevention and control among migrant workers. During my PhD years, I was based at the Australian International Health Institute (AIHI) and because of that I had the opportunity to meet Australia's former Prime Minister Mr Malcolm Fraser who was a dedicated board director and supporter of the AIHI and relevant public health initiatives.

After completing my PhD in 2007 I have stayed in Australia and have been a public health researcher in Melbourne for the past 13 years.

So, what are my main observations and impression of the response of Australia to the Covid-19 pandemic so far? 

Well, like many of you who are watching this video, I have been closely following the coronavirus related news and development in Australia, China and other countries since early 2020.

I witnessed how all the restrictions and bans were introduced in Australia, step by step; and how this great nation of 26 million people got into isolation from the rest of the world due to the terrible coronavirus, and what measures and rules have been put in place by the governments, institutions, and the society as a whole to respond to the pandemic.

I remember the Australian Government announced the China travel ban on February 1, 2020;  11 days before the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic. The travel ban denied entry to Australia for people who have left or transited through mainland China (except Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families). The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) also advised Australians not to travel to China due to the "escalating threat" of the virus, while asking those who returned from the country to self-isolate for 14 days.

Since early February 2020 I’ve been writing some articles about the impacts of travel bans and restrictions on Australian international education export in general, and on international students’ life and studies in particular.

By the end of February Australia reported about 20 confirmed cases, no deaths were reported.

But just one week later, the total cases almost tripled. By 5 March, total cases reached 60, and there were 3 cases of community transmission, including a health worker and a local female resident in Sydney who contracted the virus without leaving the country.

By mid March total confirmed cases in the country spiked up to 1000.

Victoria, the state I live in is one of the Australian states worst hit by the virus. For example, the state had seen a huge jump (over 50) in coronavirus cases overnight on 20 March. Public school students were ordered to stay at home.

With increased total cases and local transmission as well as increases in unemployment and a sense of uncertainty ahead, people became worried and some panicked. The widely reported news of people hoarding toilet paper from super market and empty shelves made things worse.

Medical and health experts worried about the potential shortage of face masks and personnel protective equipment for doctors and nurses if the outbreak was not controlled before adequate capacity was in place.

Health professionals and the wider community urged the government to take stricter measures and decisive actions to curb the pandemic.

This prompted the governments at national and state levels to introduce economic stimulus and rescue packages to help those who are vulnerable and negatively affected by the outbreak, and introduced tougher restrictions and rules, in addition to public health measures such as asking people to observe personal hygiene and social distancing.

The government has the advice and support from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC). The AHPPC committee is the key decision making committee for health emergencies. It is comprised of all state and territory Chief Health Officers and is chaired by the Australian Chief Medical Officer.

With the rapidly increasing cases and community transmissions of Covid-19 in some parts of the world, the Australian government enhanced its border control and protection. It imposed travel bans or restrictions on those countries worst affected by the virus:

Australia announced an Iran travel ban on 1 March, and raised the travel advice for Iran to the highest level of “Do not travel”.

Five days later, on the 5^th of March, a similar travel ban was announced for South Korea. Some critics contend that the government should have introduced such a travel ban earlier for countries like South Korea and Italy where tens of thousands of cases were reported (Note: Even on 5 March, the travel advice to Italy was “Exercise a high degree of caution”). Subsequently, stricter screening, mandatary quarantine and self-isolation rules were introduced for international travellers arriving in Australian airports.

From 9pm of 20 March, non-residents and non-citizens were no longer allowed into Australia under new restrictions put in place by the government in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.  Since then the country has almost been completely isolated from the world (and domestic travel restrictions have also been in place). Today the international travel bans are still in effect.

By about mid-March we witnessed that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the establishment of a National Cabinet, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Premiers and Chief Ministers of all the States and Territories. This leadership and coordination mechanism is key to Australia’s response to Covid-19 pandemic.

States and territories have also taken proactive actions to respond to the outbreaks and challenges they faced. For example, Victoria declared a state of emergency on the 16th of March in a bid to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Victorian galleries, museums, libraries and schools closed their doors after the Government announcement. Subsequently, university campuses were shut down, and moved from face-to-face learning to on-line learning. Most employees have been asked to work from home.

As I mentioned in the last video that I started working from home from the 24^th of March and we won’t be back to the physical campus very soon. Actually the state of emergency in Victoria only ended three days ago, on the 11th of May.

People have learned to adjust to new life and new “norms” in lockdown and isolation. Here are some pictures from the lockdown period in our community and online.

As we all can understand, the transition and adaptation to the “new normal” has not always been so smooth and complete.  On a warm day in mid-March at Bondi beach, people ignored social distancing, and spent some “good times” at the beach. Governments and critics agreed that this was not acceptable. Consequently, police were mobilised to enforce the restrictions and rules.

With government interventions and enforcement of social distancing and other public health measures, the spread of virus in Australia appears to be well contained, although some states are facing more challenges than others.

The government is confident that Australia has flattened the curve, with enhanced testing, tracing and health surge capacity, and it seems that the country’s health and hospital system can cope with possible outbreaks. The National Cabinet and state governments have recently been taking proactive steps on the pathway to relaxing restrictions.

Again, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) played an important role by providing strong advice to the National Cabinet on the conditions that must be met as they establish COVID safe ways of working and living so that the country can reopen parts of the economy in the safest possible way while living with COVID-19.

On the 8^th of May, The National Cabinet met to further discuss options for easing restrictions over the coming months, helping prepare Australians to return to work in a COVID-19 safe environment.

The National Cabinet came up with a three-step plan to remove restrictions and reopen the country. This 3 step framework serves as a road map to a COVID safe Australia. States and territories have the responsibility to implement it based on their local conditions and specific circumstances, and they independently determine the pace of moving through the steps. 

States and territories have recently announced some details about their plans to move between the steps on the pathway, at different times and pace, as shown in the following examples.

·   Queensland to permit up to 10 people in pubs, clubs and bars from this Saturday;

·      From this Monday: South Australia has eased restrictions allowing cafes and restaurants to reopen; Tasmania lifted some restrictions on aged care and parks;

·  Australian Capital Territory is easing restrictions allowing gatherings of 10 people;

·       Etc (see the pictures)

The actual implementation of these plans and their effectiveness remain to be seen, reviewed and readjusted, and it is important to continue monitoring the situation closely as restrictions are eased.

I believe in the determination and discipline of Australian people. Australia’s coordinated efforts in the last few months are an important part of the global efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Again, as a co-founder of the East West Partners for Education and Health ("East West Health"),  I look forward to sharing with you more videos and stories about how people from different parts of the world are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, and working together to build strong and healthy communities across the globe.  

You are welcome to contact me through the following email address:

Dr Lin Li

Email: [e-mail]

Thank you.

Stay safe and all the best.

 (Dr Li would like to thank James Li for his assistance in preparing the speech drafts and presentation slides.)

相关文章、视频链接（Links to related articles and videos)：

Main sources:

AustralianGovernment Department of Health. Coronavirus (Covid-19) health alert.

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

AustralianHealth Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc

Prime Minister’smedia statement - Update on Coronavirus measures:  https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-08may20

TheCanberra Times. The national cabinet is key to our coronavirus response. Here'show it will need to work. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6684142/the-national-cabinet-is-key-to-our-coronavirus-response-heres-how-it-will-need-to-work/

ABC News.Victoria enters state of emergency as coronavirus pandemic sees Melbourneuniversities take classes online. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-16/coronavirus-state-of-emergency-declared-in-victoria/12058442

ABC News:Watch and read NSW Premier's coronavirus press conference in full. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-23/nsw-premier-coronavirus-press-conference-in-full/12080656

ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-19/coronavirus-non-resident-travel-ban-australia/12071640

7 News.Australia closes borders to stop coronavirus. https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/australia-closes-borders-to-stop-coronavirus-c-752927

TheGuardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/20/australia-coronavirus-live-updates-nsw-victoria-qld-tasmania-closed-borders-travel-ban-cases-tally-schools-stimulus-qantas-latest-update-news