Editorial: Countries stuck in a coronavirus cycle

Editorial

EDITORIAL

After battling Covid-19 for about nine months, major parts of the world are stuck in a cycle of deja vu.

The end of the coronavirus pandemic is receding further as cases in countries in Europe and the Americas climb to levels reminiscent of March.

At the weekend, the world hit about 383,000 new cases in a 24-hour period, the World Health Organisation said. Brazil's death toll passed 150,000 and in Latin America and the Caribbean overall case numbers hit 10 million. India's confirmed case total reached seven million although new infection numbers have dipped.

The United States had 57,000 new daily cases on Sunday. In Europe, France had about 27,000, the UK 15,000, Spain 12,700, Italy 5700 and Germany 4721.

More than 700,000 new cases were reported in Europe last week, up 34 per cent on the week before, the World Health Organisation reports. Deaths have also started to rise, up 16 per cent in the same time frame. England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said "the seasons are against us" with the winter ahead.

In the past week, Germany has introduced a curfew in Berlin, and Italy and Poland have told people to wear masks outdoors. Spain's Madrid region is in lockdown. The Czech Republic has experienced record daily case numbers and has the highest per-capita infection rate in Europe. Ireland has had its worst spike since March. Expanded testing is uncovering far more asymptomatic positive cases than earlier in the year.

It certainly looks like the start of a big second wave after a few months in Europe where infection levels were low and restrictions were relaxed. There have also been growing signs of virus fatigue with protests and rules flouted.

The coronavirus, which has the patience of a spider waiting for an errant fly, does not care whether humans are over this pandemic and ready to move on.

Commenting on the situation, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggested Europe and the US could be excluded from any quarantine-free travel for Australians until 2022. Morrison said that after New Zealand, Australia would aim for travel bubbles with Pacific nations, Japan, Singapore and South Korea - but cautiously.

Earlier, Australia's Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said: "The prospects of opening up widespread travel with higher-risk countries will remain very reliant on effective vaccination or other major breakthroughs in the management of Covid."

The overall story of the pandemic in many places overseas is of repeated mistakes.

Most governments did not wisely use the time while the outbreak was occurring in Wuhan, China, to adequately prepare for a possible virus invasion of their territories.

In Europe, after the virus was wrestled down to a suppressed level, restrictions were eased and businesses reopened for the northern summer. Critics say authorities failed to use the time to prepare properly for the cooler months. Many countries still lack necessary testing, tracing and treatment.

In the US, the virus has crossed regions without ever being brought under control nationally. Most of the country is now either "trending poorly" or suffering "uncontrolled spread", according to covidexitstrategy.org. A University of Washington estimate says the US death toll could nearly double to 400,000 by February.

In New Zealand - touch wood - today should be 20 days without community transmission.