![]() Even 2 years into the pandemic, 48 countries had not yet fully reopened their schools, according to the UN cultural organization UNESCO. By February this year, schools globally had been closed because of COVID-19 for an average of 4.5 months, affecting an estimated 1.6 billion students and creating what the United Nations has called the largest disruption to education in history. Similar scenarios have played out in classrooms around the world. “The number of referrals to her was astronomical,” Brydon says. So many children had behavioural or psychological problems after lockdowns that some were getting violent, and the school hired a full-time psychologist to help. But in the latest cohort, Brydon could see that a shocking 30% of them were behind. The school had been closed, on and off, for about seven months.īefore the pandemic, around 10% of children who joined Ashwood at the age of 12 would be below the expected national standard. Brydon was a teacher at Ashwood High School, in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia - the city that has spent more time in COVID-19 lockdowns than any other in the world. Mackay, who has worked closely with Australian government officials, called it “hammer and dance”.By October last year, Meg Brydon could see the terrible toll the pandemic had taken on children at her school. And big gatherings are in the works: the Australian Open is expected to take in 30,000 tennis fans a day after a series of challenges from infected comers when it kicks off on February 8.ĭr. Masks are recommended but are not required. ![]() Offices and restaurants are open across the country, with rules dictating physical distance. “If you work three days now, you can avoid 30 days in the future,” she said.īrisbane is now Covid-normal again, like all of Australia beyond Perth. Annastacia Palaszczuk, the senior officer in Queensland, which also includes Brisbane, announced the lockdown 16 hours after the positive test. It was the first known occurrence of the mutation in the community in Australia, and officials were moving quickly. Authorities also listed more than a dozen places the security guard may have touched or breathed someone.īrisbane followed suit with a brief lockdown in early January after a cleaner in its hotel quarantine system was infected with a highly contagious variant of the virus first identified in the UK. In the Perth case, contact tracers had already tested the man’s roommates (previously negative) when the lockdown was announced and placed them under 14-day quarantine at a government facility. The UK and United States are only now trying to make quarantine mandatory for people from Covid hotspots.Īustralia has also maintained a strong system of contact tracing, although other countries have essentially given up. Australia has severely restricted international travel and has mandated hotel quarantine for international arrivals since last March. Nevertheless, it has taken a number of crucial steps. ![]() The geographic isolation of Australia offers a great advantage. ![]() “I’m not sure we’re being viewed with enough interest,” said Dr. Some argue that successful public health comes with not only prosperity and more stable economies, but also national pride and the practical expertise that mutating viruses require. The center of trust, if not gravity, continues to shift east, especially as China comes back to life.
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