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Week 13 - Thursday takes us Western Australia, where all is quiet on the Coronavirus front, for now

Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Simon - Perth Western Australia


 Well here we go again folks! I hope everyone is safe and well.

 

 Life goes on pretty much as normal in Western Australia. My family and I are well and the kids finish term 2 of school tomorrow. Espe and I have both been working as normal although we are taking the usual precautions.

 

 As this pandemic continues it seems more than ever that there is such a massive divide between how different countries and even regions of the same country are doing.

 

 The situation globally and especially in the US is never out of the news with the figures there being on a scale that we simply cannot make sense of here. The other day America had around 40,000 new cases in one day. 40,000.

 

 As things stand right now we have had less than 8,000 cases here since the outbreak started. Around 700 are still active and we have had 106 deaths. By contrast the US have had 2.6m cases, 1.8m still active and 128,000 deaths. Our population is around 8% of theirs yet why the difference? Doing the math, if you extrapolate the numbers for Australia to the size of the U.S. population we would have 96,000 cases and 1,300 deaths. 


Clear guidelines

 A similar story can be seen in the UK, Brazil and elsewhere. I suppose the Government can take some credit for shutting borders early and making people quarantine. In fact our figures should be better except for a few cruise ships docking early on and passengers causing around 50% of all of our cases.

 

 I think the main difference here is how quickly and responsibly most people listened to the advice, stayed home from work, did not go out, adopted better hygiene and all the other things we have been told to do. Everyone simply did it, found a way to make their life work and just got on with it. Yes we have had a few deaths, people out of work and businesses closing.

 

 However, here in WA we are seeing the difference now reaching stage 4 of our lockdown easement. Most places are now open including cinemas, gyms and bars etc. If all goes well then on July 18th we hit stage 5, which means no more 2 square meter (6 square feet) rule for indoor activities and essentially no restrictions.

 

 I was working away last week on a minesite in the North of WA. Even at the stage we are at now with the virus, all the normal protective measures were in place. It’s almost funny to see groups of giant, hairy miners happily washing their hands, wearing tiny plastic gloves to handle food and cheerily crossing the footpath to give people space when they walk past each other. To me this sums up how we have nearly got through this.

 

 It’s not all good news though. Our State of Victoria looks like it may be hitting a second wave. Cases there have gone from almost none to over 50 a day. That has resulted in some suburbs being locked down and rigorous testing being carried out. It shows what a long haul this is going to be. Our state borders remain closed and international travel is a long way away.

 

 Still, here we are fairly safe and happy in WA and wondering how long we are to remain shut off from the rest of the world or even the rest of our country.


A minesite in the northern part of Western Australia


 It looks like I may be going away for work again next for a week or a little more. This is the highlight and the lowlight for life for me at the moment. Working away means more money and shows we are still busy and the future is looking ok. Of course it means being away from my family for a while and being stuck in an accommodation camp with a bunch of sparkling clean, plastic glove wearing miners!

 

 Stay safe everyone and keep doing the right thing. These precautions do work although they will take more time to in some places than others.

 

 Cheers.

 


 

 

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