I was aware that you guys don’t think you’re an island.
The committee is always on the lookout for more noms
“So apparently the media is freaking out because we dared to celebrate the holidays in a perfectly ordinary and unremarkable way — with a gathering of friends and family,” the group said in a statement. “A good time was had by all. We abided by all precautions. But we are not the mask police, nor are we the social distancing police.”
The Eagle reported that it is aware of at least two other guests who tested positive for the coronavirus after the party.
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Island or continent, the important distinction is not having any land borders. South Korea is effectively in the same category.
How about two land borders but a moron for president?
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So, all we need to do to solve COVID is mine the borders? $5 trillion spending package, get it done!
The moat just got 2 feet deeper!
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It certainly makes it easier. But the australians have also closed inter-state borders a numbers of times. Its not an insurmountable problem.
My flight to Amsterdam, shortly before takeoff
Got upgraded shortly afterwards. Probably around 30-40 passengers on the flight.
Most people probably canceled or rebooked their flight due to the sudden implementation of covid restrictions
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Risking covid just so your bag of lettuce doesn’t have any soggy parts is clutch white America.
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Completely WTF that this was even an issue. Fortunately, it looks like it got sorted.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article248221505.html
I think the mask mandate should have been done before Xmas but the rest is strict enough. NSW contact tracing should get this under control without further lockdowns. Almost all new cases the last 3 days are close contacts already in isolation. There is only one unknown chain in west Sydney while NSW got the previous outbreak under control with several unknown chains going at some point.
Fuck 'em
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The whole land borders thing is a total made up excuse. Do we really have Covid infested people illegally entering? Even if the answer is yes we have had international air travel open this whole time so how does that matter? The fact that excuse is being bought here is crazy to me. If Mexico and Canada had sunk into the ocean in December 2019 the US would be every bit as bad today as it is. The whole island narrative is a literal right wing shtick you hear from them every day to try and justify why we are doing Die for the Dow Joans.
Jeez, nobody said land borders were the key to controlling spread. microbet mentioned islands in passing as a geographic feature that makes containment easier, which seems like something that should be a non-controversial observation.
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That same narrative is being used by right wing propaganda sources to explain why Australia is doing better than the US. If Australia had kept international flights pouring in and gone the US level of restriction path they would have had the same result as the US. The land border is irrelevant. I mean maybe you can make that argument wrt to Europe and the general ease of travel between the EU nations but using that to explain why Australia has done better than the US just isn’t true. They have done better because they have actually taken it seriously.
It’s also semi-racist to try and blame non-legal border crossers for our problems.
I think it also helps that Australia’s population centers are relatively isolated from one another, making it easier to do effective local lockdowns.
I think some states in the U.S. could be doing OK if there was a way for them to restrict interstate travel or mandate real quarantines for people entering the state.
None of this is meant to downplay the important role that good policy and public compliance have had in minimizing the spread in Australia.