Very interesting NY Times article on how Australia is handling the reopening of theatres

I came across this article the other day. It was all about how the theatres in Australia are operating now that they are reopen.

They were doing things that I never thought of, and, I do think that these are things that can be implemented here on Broadway. Naturally, The usher in me thought that doing these things would be nothing short of a royal pain in the ass. Yet, on reflection, it makes sense and I wouldn’t mind.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/theater/australia-theater-reopens-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare

It's a lot easier to quarantine an isolated sparely populated island in the middle of no where that was hit less strongly in the pandemic initially (in summer too!) than countries like the UK (with the EU at the time) and the USA that are geographically, politically and economically a core part of the centre of the world. I understand that Australia did make some good decisions during this pandemic but I find it a bit over simplistic for the article to say the difference is 'mostly' because it adopted strict safety protocols and because people have followed public health advice. They did not start this pandemic from the same starting line as others.

Updated On: 3/1/21 at 03:26 PM

I'd prefer to talk about the UK than the US because I think in the UK it was handled better than in the US (although some of these points still stand for the US). My point regarding why Aus/UK are very difficult to compare as done in this NYTimes article in terms of virus response is because there are a number of factors that make this more challenging for the UK:

* The virus hit the UK sooner and harder and faster than Australia during winter (as opposed to summer) - Australia had actually a couple of more weeks to assess the response and learn from others. Meanwhile in the UK and especially London there is a dense population and far more crowded mass transit systems spreading the virus much quicker and earlier than it did in Australia
* The UK (London) is geographically, politically and economically a world centre with open borders to Europe (at the time), the closing of which is not something that there was any recent precedent to do and a very very difficult and complex decision to make (of course, in an ideal world the UK should have closed their borders immediately and this would have prevented much of the virus entering but hindsight is 20/20. In 2020 the only countries that liked closing borders are associated with right-wing fascism/authoritarian/nationalism and so it was not a lever that was going to be used first.
* The UK in terms of safety measures has also not been standing still - there has constantly been national lockdowns, local lockdowns, group size restrictions, closures etc. masks have been mandatory on public transport and indoors for most of the pandemic and compliance has been relatively high on mask wearing. Lockdown compliance maybe not 100% especially as time goes on but of course getting public compliance in UK vs Aus to this is completely different. Australia has not had to face at a wide scale the kind of constant in/out national lockdowns that the UK has faced for months and months and months at a time - there is no cultural factor of Australians more likely to follow these protocols vs UK they simply just haven't had to to the same degree at all. Many Australians do not even understand how normal their lives are vs the rest of the world right now based on direct conversations with them and the silly questions they ask about the UK. I find it hilarious and annoying to hear my friends/family complain about the relatively small-scale measures they have had to follow in Australia. It's as if some people think the UK is a sorry state because we have no measures, which is not accurate at all.
* The UK is not handling the quarantine system as well as Aus but again it's hard to compare - the numbers of people that transit in/out of the UK are much higher than Australia and London is a world city with a much more diverse population so it's much harder to simply lock borders as strongly as Aus has done^
* Right now Australia continues to benefit from responding early, not being hit as hard initially, a much less dense population, summer & effective quarantine system that is difficult to apply elsewhere.

I suppose my conclusion is that if you hypothetically went back in time and had Scott Morrison/team in the UK facing similar scenarios I am not confident that they could have 'solved' the situation in the UK the same way they have in Australia.

^ Not to say that locking the Aus borders has been easy for many Australians including myself who cannot visit family/friends in a financially sustainable or practical manner for a very long time. Though I recognise this has probably been the single greatest thing prevent C-19 and was a good decision.

Updated On: 3/3/21 at 10:58 AM

Aussies here, can you help me? I could swear I read an article a few months ago about how the bushfires in early 2020 prompted Australians to realize they really, REALLY had to look out for each other, regardless of government response, which also is an example of how covid hit differently culture-wise than in many other English-speaking countries.

I think one of the other things about Australia is that by closing their borders, they have allowed tens of thousands of their own citizens stranded in foreign countries, often at risk, without visas, and broke. If Australia had land borders, this alone would be considered a humanitarian crisis. But for now, it's invisible, all in the name of "following the science".

I'll also add that Australia's good fortune is following a similar pattern of the entire Asia-Pacific region. It has no result on Covid that is significantly different or better than China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea, to name but a few. Covid has affected regions differently.

In addition, to compare Australia with the USA or the UK is nonsensical. Australia is the size of the USA, with a total population the size of New York State plus a few more. Compare with Taiwan instead - an island, same 25 million population. On that count? Taiwan has a MUCH better record - fewer cases, fewer deaths, and no humanitarian crisis for its citizens abroad trying to get home.

Finally, the pandemic has been disastrous in many places - the USA has a lower death rate per capita than Belgium. Italy and Spain and Portugal are struggling. The Czech Republic is at its worst point yet. In other words, people like to use the USA as an example of a disaster, but it ignores the reality of the global nature of the pandemic, in which the vast majority of the planet has suffered from death and destruction, in many places with equally awful consequences. Just ask the Spaniards, British, Hungarians, French, Germans, Polish, Mexicans, Chileans, Ecuadorians, Argentines, Indians and South Africans, to name but a few that have suffered from lockdowns and restrictions to minimal avail.

The US has been saddled with appalling leadership, lying media, a terrible healthcare system, and disparities between rich and poor that have ravaged this country. But to suggest that it's just Americans or the British that have fu****d this up is just patently untrue.

Islander_fan said: "I don’t think that it is fair to single out one country for closing its boarders to keep things contained. Australia was not the only country to do that.

Also, there have been a good number of countries who instructed people to stay home in quarantine and had citizens who listened and followed through on that. But, not in America.

You are correct on the first count, but only Australia has refused the return of its OWN citizens, as part of an under-resourced quarantine system that allows only the rich to return (that was perhaps not the intention, but that has been the outcome for 9 months and counting) . Not only is this against international law, but it's so popular that no one is trying to change it. These stranded citizens are collateral damage to keep the country going to theatre or the pub.


As for staying home through lockdowns, again, most of Australia was locked down for less time than the UK or New York or Paris or Amsterdam (three months between March and May or June). In almost all parts of the country during that time, masks weren't mandatory. Shopping centers were open in April 2020. Restaurants were full by June. Only Melbourne has been on any significant form of lockdown for more than three months. They simply didn't have enough Covid in the country to warrant the measures elsewhere in the world.

None of this is to disparage the results. It is simply to say the complexities are vast, and it's not simply about everyone following the rules and "believing in science".