Originally Posted by
Dannyboy39
Brisbane going into a three day snap lockdown for the sake of ONE known case. Ridiculous.
(1) Why 3 days when the incubation period is around 5 days on average but up to 14 days.
(2) Its supposedly the “super Covid” U.K. strain - how did it get in if the borders have been all but shut for a year? Clearly a lot of countries are not flung enough genomic testing - the genie is well and truly out of the bottle.
(3) Isn’t this proving that all out elimination isn’t working?
1. The 3 day lockdown is to make contact tracing, easier, to limit the amount of exponential spread and better track any movements of close contacts.
2. it’s not “supposedly” the UK strain, it has undergone genetic testing and has been confirmed as the new strain. For a detailed explanation about why this new strain can have a much greater effect on the populace and why all states and the federal government are being very serious about today’s situation here’s a good explainer:
A top scientist explains why a more infectious coronavirus variant is a bigger problem than a deadlier strain
How did it get in? Easy. The carrier flew in on an international flight and infected a hotel worker whilst quarantining.
3. No, it proves bring in people from infectious countries and housing them in the middle of cities isn’t working. Some improvements have been made today (mandatory masks on flights, preflight testing before boarding a flight to Australia, a reduced cap on arrivals) but the ultimate solution (quarantining arrivals in remote locations) is not being taken.
Maybe they’ve decided to accelerate the vaccine rollout to establish a basic herd immunity within the next few months and it’s not worth setting up remote isolation facilities for that time?