639 面對Delta毒株的不同回應 Different means to deal with the Delta strain

面對Delta毒株的不同回應

Delta 病毒, 從新州走進社區, 並且擴散到不同州份。新州於四週前開始封閉隔離, 而剛於六月中才從第四次封閉隔離中走出來的維州, 在發現了數宗個案後, 州長安德魯斯立時把維州進行即時短暫的封閉, 務求阻止病毒的擴散。

新州與維州都聲稱在封閉隔離, 不過程度卻不相同, 明顯地結果也不一樣。7月27 日, 新州感染人數達到172人新高, 其中有60多人曾在社區中傳開病毒, 而維州則只有10人受感染, 但全都已經是在隔離之中的密切接觸者。維州州長安德魯斯在當天宣佈, 維州會在週二午夜開始, 逐步解封, 同日新州州長貝雷克利安表示會再進一步收緊隔離限制。

維州及新州都採取了在室內及室外佩戴口罩, 及限制居民離家及家居之間的探訪, 兩者的分別是新州採取了較溫和但現時看起來並不徹底的隔離限制。最初悉尼的隔離, 只有在小部份發現病毒的地區局部實施, 其後一點一點地擴大, 政府這樣做並沒有提高居民的危機感, 反而制造出「只要我附近沒有發現病毒, 我就不應被隔離」的感覺。而且在新州可以容許的工作, 遠比墨爾本的隔離多,例如商場中的飲食廣場就可以開放, 非必要的零售仍可繼續, 或是買賣房屋的視察仍可以進行等。

這些都令悉尼居民覺得, 隔離只是要降低人的活動流量, 而不是完全停止日常的生活。維州去年一開始的鐡腕政策, 及派上警員去執法, 明確地傳達了大家必定要遵守完全隔離的指示這訊息。違反禁令帶來鉅額的罰款, 也令到維州居民不願意輕易違反隔離限制。

結果, 今天墨爾本的第五次封城, 在大約兩週, 就逐漸解封, 而相反, 悉尼卻要再進一步增加隔離的限制, 而且能否成功地壓抑及把病毒清零, 還是未可知。

其實去年墨爾本第二波爆發時, 維州政府亦是不願意作出封城的決定, 錯過了在開始時病毒還未擴散的最好時機, 結果墨爾本人要隔離112天才能逐漸解封。明顯地, 新州政府盼望以實施局部隔離來控制Delta 病毒, 是重蹈覆轍, 未能成功, 最終也將要付上沉重代價。

周偉文 社長

Different means to deal with the Delta strain

The Delta strain virus has been spreading from NSW to the other states. NSW started the lockdown four weeks ago where Victoria just emerged from the 4^th lockdown in mid-June entered into a snap lockdown as Daniel Andrew wanted to make a quick snub on the spread of the Delta virus.

Both are lockdowns, but not the same. On 27 July, NSW cases surged to 172 among which more than 60 were infectious in the community, whereas there were only 10 cases in Victoria all of which were in quarantine. On the same day, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Victoria’s restrictions would be lifted while Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced tighter restrictions would be coming.

Both states mandated on mask wearing and limited home visiting, but only that NSW took a loosen approach that did not work out well. Sydney’s lockdown started as a localised one confined to hot spots – sending the public a wrong message that I would be fine if I did not go near those hot spots. The categories of permitted worker/business were not well defined, thus even food courts and non-essential retail shops or even real estate open inspections were all allowed.

Mr. Raymond Chow, Publisher