The Diamond Princess was quarantined in February in Yokohama for a month. On March 19, the Ruby Princess was permitted to dock in Sydney and 2,647 passengers — 37 percent were foreigners — disembarked in Circular Quay next to the iconic Opera House, without any testing. Many transferred to trains, buses and flights to head home. By March 25, one passenger had died and another 133 were confirmed infected with COVID-19. Desperate contact-tracing began after three people tested positive. Port, city, state and federal authorities are still bickering over the blame for the fiasco.
Australian authorities could learn from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan on weighing public health risks and the optimal balance between sufficiently slowing the disease, preventing an economic meltdown and maintaining a functioning society while the threat and responses evolve in a dynamic environment.
But for that, social capital and trust in governments and public institutions are vital, when in fact in almost all Western countries they have been rapidly dwindling in recent decades. It remains to be seen how much damage perceptions of ignorance and incompetence will cause to U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election prospects. Or will he be seen to have been prescient in confronting China?