Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today that the current global epidemic remains severe and there is still a need to implement the “Fortress Australia” ban on epidemics, while experts warned that Morrison’s intention to lock down the country for another year would turn Australia into a “hermit kingdom”.
In the face of growing calls to reopen international borders, conservative Scott Morrison said, “Everyone wants to go back to the old days as we know them, and the reality is that we’re facing a more serious epidemic this year than we did last year.”
Australia imposed an unprecedented epidemic ban on foreign visitors and travel abroad last March, causing the southern hemisphere nation’s first population decline since World War I, stranding tens of thousands of Australian citizens overseas and separating thousands of people from their families.
Today, communal infections are virtually non-existent in Australia, and life is gradually returning to normal for most people.
The Australian government recently hinted that the border would have to be closed for another year, sparking heated debate.
Omar Khorshid, president of the Australian Medical Association, warned today that “Australia cannot close its international borders indefinitely.” He called for improved isolation facilities and better vaccinations, and a gradual opening of the border.
The University of Sydney’s working group on how Australia can safely reopen its borders this week called out that Australia “cannot remain closed indefinitely, like a hermit kingdom.”
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