The preparations for controlling coronavirus has been commended by doctors but wanted more like the European Centre for Disease Control for Australia.

Director of the Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre at the University of Queensland Professor Mark Walker has said that Australia should learn from the experience of Europe during the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak. He added that in handling the novel coronavirus in the present day, one should imagine the worst thing to happen.

Since the first recorded death caused by COVID-19 a month earlier, 1,500 people have already died. These recorded deaths are concentrated in Wuhan, the ground zero of the pandemic and other cities in Hubei province. Emergency responses were done. People had evacuated and quarantines, flight and travel bans were issued. The director-general of the World Health Organisation demanded a continuous action towards the issue but the leading epidemiologists in Australia said that the country’s steps have been robust but insufficient.

In Australia, 15 cases have been recorded. Although 10 have recovered and 5 are stable, the country is continuously making efforts to evacuate Australians from Wuhan. Quarantine facilities on Christmas Island and Darwin are set to handle the evacuated residents. The Australian government has issued travel bans for non-citizens going in and out of China. Scott Morrison announced last Thursday that the two-week ban would be extended for an additional one week.

Confusions regarding the true number of cases cause anxiety for people but epidemiologists mentioned that the trajectory could be well understood in the coming months. Current research about the virus has provided that the mortality rate could range between 2% and 2.5% as compared to the below 1% of regular flu.

According to the incoming president of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, the absence of evidence is detrimental to the decision making of the government.

The novel nature of the virus has prompted concerns among the experts in trying to manage and understand the virus.

Australian response ‘a bit clunky’

The Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza has been designed to deal with the worst.

The program encourages control measures such as cancellation of big events, closing down schools and home employment. Moreover, basic hygiene measures are also amplified. It also covers business and hospital pandemic planning. Learning from the experience of the 2009 Swine Flu, the program functions primarily to deal with the increasing number of highly infectious patients.

Professor Cheng stated that hospitals would be able to handle such capacity whenever needed yet the acknowledgment that hospitals are also limited is important.

He also affirmed that the Australian measures are of the best quality. However, he maintained that the situation in Hubei would draw every government to a challenge.

He also expressed his thoughts regarding the existing program as a bit clunky and it could work better. A permanent centre for disease control could do the thing, he added.

Christmas Island decision as ‘draconian’

The Australian Medical Association commended the efforts done by the Australian government in handling pandemic. However, they also expressed criticisms over the quarantine facility established on Christmas Island.

According to the chairwoman of epidemiology at Deakin University, Professor Catherine Bennett, the decision of putting up quarantine facilities in Christmas Island and Darwin could be considered as draconian yet a good measure in protecting the Australian citizens and the health workers.

She added that the government is in complete control of screening the flow of people from China and put them on quarantine whenever necessary.

However, the federal system has inconsistencies regarding the response. One of which would be public messaging.

Due to the outbreak, the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases reiterated its call for establishing a central government command to coordinate with issues surrounding public health triggered by pandemics like this. Prof Cheng has supported this call.

Prof Cheng and Asid compared the central command as the European Centre for Disease control. The latter coordinates all European countries to form a continental-wide response to pandemics.

Although Australia has a model for food security issues, the OzFoodNet, the coordination on disease response could be improved if the central command would be established. It could be supported by the states and funded by the federal government.

Public fear and response

Walker and Bennett both expressed their discontent over the information dissemination regarding the virus. They said that the media always propel insufficient information yet prompt scare. The focus of the media should be the almost zero chance of contracting Covid-19 for the average Australian.

It couldn’t be denied that public anxiety is high and this triggers racist behaviors towards Chinese looking individuals.

Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy asserted that the people should recognise that the risk of the virus should be for people who visited China and not on the Australian-Chinese community as if the virus was borne out of them. Although xenophobic tendencies have been obvious, the government is trying its best to do its part in alleviating it.

Prof Cheng, who is of Chinese ancestry himself, the public fear should be dealt with appropriately.

Provided that the census of Australian residents with Chinese ancestry is 1.2m, the public is not completely aware of it.

Prof Walker also said that although the geographic aspect of spreading the disease is a relevant matter to be considered, China should not be considered as an enemy just because it is the origin of the virus. Instead, governments should work with China to contain and control the threat.