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85,000 Argentines killed by Covid: how the four countries that controlled the virus did

2021-06-16T20:24:03.051Z


Australia, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore are one breath away from normalcy. What strategies worked for them.


Australia, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore are one breath away from normalcy.

What strategies worked for them.

06/14/2021 12:01 PM

  • Clarín.com

  • World

Updated 06/14/2021 12:18 PM

Argentina already has 85,000 deaths from coronavirus since the pandemic dropped anchor in early May last year with its first fatality.

Today, the country is the ninth in the world in terms of the number of Covid cases, and it is in 12th place in the number of deaths;

a place at the antipodes of

four other nations

that keep the virus at bay.

Argentina, on the other hand, is going through a complicated place in the fight against the virus for a diverse number of reasons: a relaxed summer, the late arrival of vaccines and a health strategy that did not always find consensus.

In fact, every day an average of

500 people

die in the country

.

But what is the perfect recipe?

How did those other countries bend the arm of the virus.

What measures were applied and what lessons can be learned in the face of winter.

v1.7 0421

Covid-19 in Argentina vs.


other countries

THE ACTUAL SITUATION

CASES

DEATHS

Source:

OWID

Infographic:

Clarín

The

“gold medal” countries 

are Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

They applied strategies with common points, in some cases, and their own peculiarities, in others.

While some share geographic qualities like New Zealand, Australia and Singapore (they are islands), Israel stood out for its massive and accelerated vaccination campaign.

New Zealand: quarantine with 50 cases

New Zealand announced

the first case of Covid-19

, on February 28, 2020. It was a person who had arrived in Auckland, its largest city, from Iran.

Restrictions were immediately established for people arriving from other countries with more infected, but the borders remained open.

Not for long.

On March 25, with 50 cases on the island, the government decreed a

quarantine for the five million inhabitants.

Animation created by Siouxsie Wiles to raise awareness of the importance of flattening the curve.


The main strategy was elimination.

“The plan was to stop the virus at the borders, so they were closed early.

When the first community case was detected, we decreed quarantine, ”says

Siouxsie Wiles

, a microbiologist and associate professor at the University of Auckland.

Wiles received the New Zealander of the Year award in 2021 for her effort to

creatively

raise awareness about the virus

.

Animation created by Siouxsie Wiles to raise awareness of the importance of keeping bubbles.


Dr. Wiles explained to

Clarín

that the quarantine "meant that (the health authorities) could increase the capacity for testing and tracing close contacts."

This advantage allowed scientists to create the genomic sequence of the virus in order to

understand its evolution, behavior

and forms of transmission.

"We decided to prioritize people's health and found that it was also

the best decision for the economy,

" said research analyst Ellen Rykers, a member of the government team of Senior Scientific Advisor Professor Juliet Gerrard.

CASES


0.000.00000.000


per million inhab.

Xxxxx

DEATHS


00,0000,000


per million inhab.

Source:

Johns Hopkins

Chart:

Flourish

|

Infographic:

Clarín

Rykers further noted that an alert system similar to Singapore's was developed during the SARS outbreak.

The country was at alert level 4, the strictest of all, for

six weeks.

The restrictions were lowered as they managed to contain the contagions, until reaching level 1, in October, and

they have not detected community outbreaks since then

.

The vaccination process has been slow, but efficient.

Israel: model vaccination

The case of Israel is a model in terms of vaccination, and one of the first to achieve herd immunity.

Approximately 60% of its population is vaccinated with the second dose of Pfizer, and the number of deaths in recent weeks does not exceed ten a day.

Today, restaurants, bars and shops operate almost normally and those who have the green pass -Green Pass- for vaccination enjoy formidable freedom.

This was possible thanks to measures that focused on closing borders, strengthening communication channels, complying with isolation, and advancing

early

towards vaccines.

Financial aid was extended up to 70% for sick and unemployed people.

And

more than half the country was

able to continue working in some way.

Israelis relax on the beaches of Tel Aviv.

Photo: AFP

"Israel's strategy changed as we learned more about the virus, but the most important thing was that the vaccination process began,"

Adam Levene, Political Counselor at the Israeli Embassy in Argentina

, told

Clarín

.

For Levene, a strong health system was one of his great advantages in containing a largely young population until the country was supplied with vaccines.

Dr. Manuel Katz, Director of the Department of Medical Risk and Patient Safety, Medical Services (Meuhedet) explained that it is very important to continue learning about the virus and

not lose sight of mutations.

CASES


0.000.00000.000


per million inhab.

Xxxxx

DEATHS


00,0000,000


per million inhab.

Source:

Johns Hopkins

Chart:

Flourish

|

Infographic:

Clarín

Katz, 2018 Award to the "Distinguished Pediatrician" from the Israel Pediatric Society, maintains: "There is no end of coronavirus in any country,

until there is no end of coronavirus worldwide

, because problematic variants may appear."

Singapore: health first

Singapore is made up of 63 islands and connected to the mainland by two bridges.

When the WHO officially declared the pandemic, Singapore had to quickly close its borders and declare a strict quarantine due to its

high population density.

Created a Ministerial Working Group with high-level officials led by the Minister of Health.

They outlined regulations and prioritized contact tracking.

Central to the strategy was the government's development of the Trace Together app.

CASES


0.000.00000.000


per million inhab.

Xxxxx

DEATHS


00,0000,000


per million inhab.

Source:

Johns Hopkins

Chart:

Flourish

|

Infographic:

Clarín

In conversation on Zoom, Desmond Ng, Charge d'Affaires of the Singapore Embassy in Brazil, explained to

Clarín

the phenomenon of sanctions as a tool.

"Some people who broke the quarantine

were penalized

either with fines (of 700 US dollars) or with jail for three or four weeks."

He also highlighted that his government managed

three phases

of protection: safe reopening, safe transition and safe nation.

The State implemented a novel health practice, the “Social Distance Ambassadors”: ordinary citizens whose job it is to warn circulating people to maintain social distance.

Almost normal life in a shopping mall in Singapore.

Photo: EFE

Desmond Ng explained that his country injected

70 billion dollars

into its economy to help SMEs and the unemployed.

Although they have not yet achieved herd immunity, 33% of Singaporeans have already received the first dose of Pzifer or Moderna.

Desmond Ng told

Clarín

that Singapore decided to also vaccinate its students

from the age of 12.

By the end of the year they plan to vaccinate nationals and permanent residents, since they opened the borders to all countries.

There are quarantines that vary according to the contagion rate of the country of origin and if they made previous agreements or not.

For Desmond Ng, part of the key to success was protecting the health and well-being of Singaporeans in the first place, building on the experience of when they suffered.

the SARS pandemic, 18 years ago.

The diplomat commented that according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of his country: "Covid-19

is a new resident

and it is here whether we like it or not, and we have to deal with it."

Australia: social contract

Australia's management effectiveness can be summarized in three points: infection tracking, border closures and a strong social contract between the government and citizens.

The Australian Ambassador to Argentina, Brett Hackett, highlights the importance of having

a detailed follow-up of the cases.

"If a person with Covid takes a train, and registers a positive, the government would publish in the national media

the information of the train and the schedule

so that those who were in contact can make preventive isolation and a voluntary test," he explains.

CASES


0.000.00000.000


per million inhab.

Xxxxx

DEATHS


00,0000,000


per million inhab.

Source:

Johns Hopkins

Chart:

Flourish

|

Infographic:

Clarín

The country designed a close contact detection and tracking application that was downloaded by 7.5 million people.

The monitoring strategy includes genomic testing, which allows

the coronavirus variant

to be

identified

and through its genetic information, to discover the path that this strain traveled.

Due to its geographical proximity to China, Australia was already monitoring the advance of the new coronavirus

before it was declared a

global

pandemic

, so they were among the first to close its borders.

The Australian ambassador acknowledges that

being an island

, with well-defined natural borders, was of great help.

A day at the beach at Coogee Beach, Sydney.

Photo: Reuters

To discourage entry into the country, a strict 15-day quarantine was established at the time of arrival in a sanitary hotel, where everyone must finance their own stay.

A cost close to US $ 2,700.

Hackett also highlighted how important it is for people to trust the government to act in solidarity.

“There is a town of 30,000 people in rural Victoria called Shepparton.

There were 5 or 6 possible exposures to the virus 6 months ago.

When it came out,

the entire city

came forward to do a voluntary test.

That shows the support of the community. "

Hackett's advice is simple: "The quickest way to get this over with is to

vaccinate as many people

as possible

,

as soon as possible."

Balance

Strict border closure has been a common strategy of the four countries, some of which have the advantage of being geographically isolated as islands.

The use of applications and extensive connectivity have been crucial factors in successful case tracking.

All of them also

injected billionaire sums

into their households that allowed the inhabitants to stay at home and thus prevent the spread of the virus.

Covid 19 vaccination center at the San Martín Theater in the city of Buenos Aires.

Photo: Maxi Failla

With its unique health model in the world, which stands out for its accessibility and horizontal treatment for the entire population, Israel managed to mitigate the infections of the first waves thanks to

a rigorous vaccination plan.

He suffered very large variations in the rate of contagion and finally could tame the virus through mass vaccination of the population.

In addition, the governments of these four countries have closely followed the

advice of the scientific community.

For experts, vaccines are the key, not only to generate immunity and prevent the number of deaths, but also to gradually reduce the viral load.

Argentina is finally advancing on the vaccination path along a path that has had several shocks and controversies.

It also carries out a process of restrictions that harden or soften with the rhythm of the number of cases;

a strategy with conflicting visions and that has become politicized in an electoral year, with winter just there, just around the corner.

By

Aurora Mercadé, Ana Schlesinger, Axa Pacheco and Paulo Chullmir

.

Clarín-San Andrés Master's Degree


ap

Look also

Weekend of total opening: people in the streets, shops open and almost no control in the AMBA

Argentina reported the lowest coronavirus figures in a month: 13,043 new cases and another 268 deaths

Source: clarin

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