Urgency and Australia in the Time of COVID19

I have some friends who live overseas. Thanks to self-isolation, I’ve been able to connect with them more lately — checking in on each other as this weird new science-fiction-movie world continues to unfold.

Among them, a French best friend currently under an estimated 45-day Parisian lockdown; another in India, one of the 1.3 billion people confined to their home; Barcelona where my friend went downstairs to the street for a cigarette and saw only a police officer; and New York where my friend goes for a run and sees the famous concrete jungle… free of people. Each one of these friends has asked me, at one stage or another:

What in the world is Australia doing?

I have said before that I don’t envy the government’s situation right now. They are playing a very risky chess game, constantly weighing up factors and trying to preserve both lives and livelihoods. I can appreciate that they are taking action, albeit slowly. No matter what they do or don’t do, they will receive criticism. There are economic arguments for trying to keep businesses alive, and I am aware that a sudden spike in unemployment also opens Pandora’s jar to a potential increase in suicides, mental health issues, and poverty. I am aware that closing schools and confining people to homes may exacerbate problems, like those for children who rely on school as a safe space; may escalate existing domestic violence situations; may have a number of tremendously horrible impacts on people’s lives.