This article comes from the WeChat account: Chief Character View (ID: sxrenwuguan) , author: Liu intended Mo, from FIG question: IC PHOTO
In the past two months or so, I have completely experienced the occurrence and spread of the new coronavirus in Australia in Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia. The measures also saw the dilemma of “returning to China or leaving behind” encountered by some Chinese students.
Up to now, there are still many uncertainties in the control of the epidemic in Australia, and the official has never been relieved, but I always saw more locals wearing masks than before, and saw a decline in the rate of confirmed cases. Now, from the perspective of an ordinary foreign student, I can restore how the warm water in Australia boils step by step, and how to make this new normal of epidemic prevention slowly accepted.
The beginning of an unexpected encounter
A mere 25 million people in Australia may not be considered a big country in the eyes of a typical Chinese.
After all, the resident population in Beijing alone exceeds 21 million.
But with a population of 25 million, the world ’s top 15 GDP was created, which at least proves Australia ’s status as a developed country. And how such a developed country can behave in the face of a worldwide virus is a topic worthy of observation.
In the early days of the spread of the Chinese epidemic, and even after the closure of Wuhan, Australia was in a state of watching fires like many other countries, but the difference was that Australia was one of the countries that earlier announced that it would prohibit the entry of Chinese tourists.
After the closure of Wuhan, on January 25, Australia found the first case, just 6 days later, on February 1, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Scott Morrison) announced that it is forbidden for all people who fly from China to Australia after February 1, except Australian citizens and others.
Objectively, the ban still has a certain effect. This has led to a slow growth of early cases in Australia and mainly imported cases, but this is very unfavorable for Chinese students studying in Australia, because February is the Australian school season Except for the left-behind students who did not return home during the Spring Festival, most of the Chinese students are still in the country, and the estimated number is about 100,000. The promulgation of the ban is a great deal for these foreign students.
Fortunately, the Australian government has left a mouthful that it can return to Australia via a third country, but the premise is to isolate itself in the third country for 14 days, otherwise it will not be allowed to enter, so many students have started the trip to Australia from the third country, Thailand , Singapore, and even return to Australia from Dubai to continue school.
This undoubtedly increases the financial burden of students. Many Australian universities also provide subsidies of several hundred to thousands of Australian dollars for these students. Compared with the tuition fees and expenses of returning to Australia from third countries, the subsidy money is not much, but after all better than nothing.
I am not scared at this time because there is no large-scale community infection in Queensland where I am. At that time, the cases in Queensland all appeared in a domestic tour group on the Gold Coast tens of kilometers away. There are no cases in Brisbane, so the discussion at the time was more domestic.
However, despite the fact that masks are no longer available in Australia, the fast-paced Australian Chinese either hoarded the masks or donated them back to the country. I would not be able to buy a few pharmacies in late January Later, I got the first mask from a student from Hubei. What Jane didn’t know at the time was that those who had experienced the family in Hubei were going to experience it again.
Purchase of toilet paper also began at this time.
Compared to the phenomenon, I pay more attention to why the toilet paper is snapped up but nothing else. After reading a lot of analysis, I think the originalThe false demand for toilet paper is caused by the placement of goods and consumer psychology.
Generally, Australian supermarkets do not have much inventory for toilet paper, which is a large, low-profit, slow-consuming product, so the first wave of consumers is likely to buy one can and one toilet paper, but less can An unremarkable, a large package of toilet paper is very eye-catching, causing consumers to think that the supply of toilet paper is insufficient, and the panic of toilet paper quickly spread.
Once the panic is formed, it is difficult to resolve it quickly. Even though the Australian government and suppliers have come out and said that toilet paper can be self-sufficient, it still cannot stop panic consumption. I went to the supermarket some time ago and the toilet paper bar is still empty.
Picture: Supermarket “One Piece is Hard to Find”
Common sense is important at this time. I live in a host family. The landlord and family are ordinary people in Australia, and they do n’t have deep economics knowledge, but they have common sense and know that it is ridiculous to buy toilet paper or even fight for toilet paper. I felt at the time that maintaining common sense in an unconventional state was actually a luxury.
Although the masks have long since disappeared, the mask wearers were hardly visible on the road during the first month. The earliest person I knew was wearing a mask as a nurse at Melbourne Chinese Clinic Y. Y has been studying and working in Australia for nearly five years. Because of the reason for working in the Chinese Clinic, after the closure of Wuhan, the new crown virus was faced with almost Wear a mask at the same time.
Australia, at this stage, in addition to the Chinese, most of the locals are still in a state of ignorance. It feels like the Chinese first knew about the emergence of Ebola virus in Africa, full of strangeness.
Heating
But the strangeness of Australians to the new corona virus soon dissipated.
As Italy loses ground, the British epidemic prevention measures have attracted controversy, and the increase in cases has gradually become a daily concern for Australians.The frequency of ronavirus is increasing.
After the diagnosis of three cases, the University of Queensland where I am located decided to suspend classes for a week to prepare for the next online class. The University of Queensland has also become the first school in Australia to suspend classes because of the epidemic.
Picture: Epidemic Prevention Sign on the University of Queensland Campus
Official measures have also become stricter, such as the cancellation of meetings of more than 500 people. As a result, the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix, which had high hopes, was also cancelled. Before the cancellation, there were people pulling “Stop F1” in the air. Sydney ’s famous scenic spot Bondi Beach has also been closed, but many people have violated the ban to bask in the sun.
At the beginning, part of Australia ’s border quarantine can only be described as crude, not even a temperature measuring gun. After getting off the plane, just ask if you feel unwell, and then you can leave the airport, but as the epidemic worsens, the airport The quarantine measures have gradually been escalated, and before the closure of the country, it has become a requirement that any immigrants must be quarantined by themselves for 14 days, and the offenders will be fined.
The initial rough border quarantine, coupled with the idea of preventing China but not Europe and the United States, led to a rapid increase in Australia ’s overseas import cases. Later, Morrison also had to admit that the United States became the largest source of infections in Australia.
The previous decision has already secretly marked the price.
On March 2, NSW saw the first human-to-human case. Although only 27 cases were diagnosed at this time, the continued deterioration of the situation is inevitable. As the number and scale of infections continue to expand, Australia ’s measures are also continuing. Plus.
On March 19th, Australia officially announced the closure of the country. Non-permanent residents and citizens are not allowed to enter the country. At this time, the number of diagnoses has soared to 708. On the day of Feng Guo, I suddenly felt that time was accelerating, and the future was accelerating. In addition, the school was closed, there was a strong sense of insecurity, but this feeling passed quickly, and panic was always no match for busyness.
But the popular panic buying is now unstoppable, lateWhen you go to the supermarket, you will find that the freezer column is empty, but the sales are only limited to sought-after goods. Most of the goods are still sufficient, and supermarket brands such as Coles also set up an hour of shopping time for the elderly.
With the spread of the epidemic, the Australian dollar has also experienced a round of depreciation under the closure of the country, from about 4.5 at the end of last year, to the lowest exchange rate of RMB to 3.9 in March. The beginning of the century.
Under the closure of the country, my roommate Xiaojie was also affected.
He is also a student of the University of Queensland. In order to experience a foreign life, he did not return to China during the Chinese New Year. Although he escaped the return of a third country to Australia, he still had to do part-time work at the airport duty-free shop with the crowd contact.
Although the employer has issued masks to the employees, he is still the only one who chooses to wear them. The point that really scared him was the knowledge that a diagnosis was made in a Taiwanese regiment he received. Since then, wearing a mask has become his only choice.
But wearing masks in Australia requires intangible costs.
In Western cognition, you only need to wear a mask if you are sick. If you wear a mask, others will think you are sick, not just for prevention. Roommates have encountered mask discrimination more than once. Some people cough at him deliberately if he wears a mask, or avoid him.
This is also where many Chinese are dissatisfied with the Australian government. “Head irons” such as the United States recognize that masks are useful, but Australian health officials still emphasize that “people do not need to wear masks unless they are infectious.” Some people speculate that Australian officials say this is more because of the supply of masks A nervous worry, not a protective effect of a mask on a specific individual.
At the same time, mask discrimination is often associated with racism. There have been incidents where Chinese were beaten while wearing masks. As roommates said, racism is actually a very ignorant and stupid thing, and discrimination will only happen if you do n’t understand.
Overall, the probability of racist incidents in Australia is not high, many people have been to Australia for many yearsHave encountered it once. But there is no doubt that the epidemic will cause racist sentiment to rise.
Compared with the government’s carefulness at this stage, the people’s hearts are much greater. I asked the landlord ’s daughter if you are not afraid of infection. She said that the disease is like flu, and it is only a threat to the elderly and people with basic diseases. I am very young and I am very healthy so I am not afraid. There are reasons to believe that many locals think the same way.
Future
Australia is surrounded on all sides by the sea. Closing the country means almost severing contact with the outside world, but the closure of the country ’s measures is lagging behind, and internal infections are accelerating.
Soon after the closure of the country, a stricter interstate travel ban was also enacted, so the landlord ’s younger brother stayed in Brisbane and could not return. This is very similar to the experience of foreigners who accidentally stayed in Wuhan and encountered the closure.
A large number of Australians lost their jobs due to comprehensive factors such as the epidemic situation and the closure of the country. The Morrison government has launched a plan to stimulate economic and social stability of nearly 100 billion Australian dollars. In addition to injecting funds into enterprises, the plan also includes direct payments to vulnerable groups. , Reduction of water and electricity bills, etc.
At a meeting, Morrison said, “Therefore, we must summon the ANZAC (Anzac) Spirit, Great Depression (Great Depression) The spirit of the period evokes the construction of the snow mountain project (Snowy) 1. Winning the great peace of World War II and defending the spirit of Australia. “The Prime Minister said:” For many people, young and old, 2020 will be the most difficult year of our lives. “
Australia is still running in the cracks of the epidemic. Not only is the country closed, the course is also changed to online, and the work can be changed to online. All buses can be changed to online. , Non-essential situations (work, exercise, purchase of daily necessities, etc.) It is not recommended to go out, and the social distance is maintained at a distance of 1.5 meters or more. This has now become the new normal in Australia.
Undoubtedly, under strict epidemic control, many people ’s lives and future plans have been affected.
Dada is a graduate student at the University of Queensland, and also serves as a tutor in a programming class. Because the course is more practical, it is necessary to check the student ’s code and explain, so it is very inconvenient to change all to the online class.
After the domestic situation started to improve in March, many international students started to go back to China, but I still have no plans to return to China because of the need to take classes and worry about the risk of infection on the road. Most of my classmates and friends choose to stay under.
Jiang, my Hubei classmate here, couldn’t get back before Hubei was unsealed. At the same time, the high price of 20,000 to 30,000 air tickets also deterred ordinary foreign students like Jane.
If there is no epidemic, Jane and Y originally planned to return to China after June, but the sudden and unpredictable closure of the state order made everything unknown. The same is true for the entire country of Australia. The consequences of economic and other secondary disasters caused by the epidemic are emerging, and the unknowable future is becoming more unknowable.
However, in general, the situation in Australia has not been pessimistic to the point that everyone is in danger. Not only is the growth rate of confirmed cases now dropping from 25% to 7% per day last month, but Australia ’s detection rate is The highest, equivalent to 1% of the Australian population, was tested.
As of April 5th, 5687 cases were diagnosed in Australia, with 34 deaths, most of them elderly, with a mortality rate of only 0.6%, which is not only lower than that in Italy, but also very low compared with the mortality rate of more than 1% in the UK. It turns out that Australia’s medical conditions have stood the test, at least for now.
When chatting with Xiaoda, we talked about the game “The Plague Company”. The anti-epidemic measures in “The Plague Company” we have all seen in reality this time to prevent people from gathering, closing borders, and developing vaccines.
In the game, if the vaccine is developed faster than the virus can spread, the game will fail after the vaccine is successfully developed. Obviously, the situation facing humanity is much more optimistic than in the game, and specifically for Australia, although it is still certain when the turning point will come, there are already signs that things are going well.
This article comes from the WeChat account: Chief Character View (ID: sxrenwuguan) author: Liu Italian silent