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Kids Online
On Monday, Holden, president-elect of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and PhD from Harvard University, was at his home in Randwick juggling academic work and a 10-year-old boy and a 13 year old girl.
Sydney’s George Street Monday. Getty
Like many parents, Holden and his wife have outsourced some of the care of their children while on vacation on the internet, though the family is legally allowed to walk together in the suburbs – an activity not always embraced by teenagers.
Summer confinement could be avoided if the proportion of the vaccinated population reaches 70 to 80%, according to Holden, compared to around 5% currently. At that point, attempts to eradicate the virus may come to an end.
“When we didn’t have contact tracing and testing, we had very few tools to avert disaster,†Holden said of his position last year. “The confinements were really important.
“’Living with the virus’ is a bit loaded, as it is associated with some people who have suggested that we should basically ignore the virus, which in my opinion is not a good idea,†he said. he declares.
“Once we vaccinate people, it will give us more freedom to deal with epidemics. Hopefully, in November, if there is one of these unfortunate episodes, maybe we’ll be in a very different position and we won’t need one of these blockages. “
Public intolerance
Public opinion would have to change significantly to tolerate COVID-19 moving freely. Ninety-five percent of those polled last month for the Lowy Institute, a Sydney think tank, said Australia had handled the pandemic well, suggesting the community prefers very low levels of COVID -19.
Monday, Western Australia complained about a single case in the state that resulted in crowds being canceled at professional sports matches. He did not criticize the decision.
“We are almost 18 months after the start of the pandemic and it is evident that there are many who are still disrespecting the virus,” the newspaper editorial said.
It is not known whether vaccinating most of the population will change views. Vaccines do not prevent all transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Statistical and anecdotal evidence shows that they help, however.
At a birthday party in the south-western Sydney suburb of West Hoxton on June 19, which was the source of Sydney’s current outbreak, 24 people who caught the virus had not been vaccinated . Of the six vaccinated, all of whom worked in health care, none were infected.
“Blockages do not work”
Attention to the virus can paint a misleading picture of its lethality. In New South Wales, 56 people have died from COVID-19, and only one under the age of 60, according to official statistics. Each year, around 60,000 people die in New South Wales, according to the New South Wales Department of Health.
Holden’s college colleague Gigi Foster wrote on Monday in the Sydney Morning Herald that the closures haven’t helped and that society should focus on protecting those most at risk of death.
Foster had an easy pandemic. Her two children are adults, her job is secure, and her shares have risen due to central bank stimulus measures in response to last year’s brief COVID-19 recession.
University of New South Wales economist Gigi Foster is skeptical of the lockdowns.
UNSW
She said she did not want to get into a public dispute with Holden, but was “encouraged” if she helped broaden the debate on the most important political issue Australia has faced in recent years. generation.
“Many of the human costs of our response to the lockdown have been paid for by the most disadvantaged in our communities and have gone unnoticed by policy makers,” she told this newspaper on Monday.
“It is a tragedy, which was personally heartbreaking for me to witness.”
And so to say all of us.
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