I live in Australia. Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, was in a policed lockdown for 112 days following a second wave of COVID cases over winter. The city had over 700 new cases per day in July. It was the epicentre of Australia's second wave, accounting for more than 90% of its 905 deaths.
The DHHS modelled the outcome of various bipartisan policies in order to determine the best course of action. The possibility of achieving the lockdown model targets was savagely challenged. The targets were described as "a guess", "unachievable" and "impossible". The team was described as "inexperienced", "cherry-picked" and "opinionated non-experts".
The state enforced home confinement, travel restrictions, mandatory masks, curfew, and the closure of stores and restaurants. People were allowed out for an hour a day for exercise only within 5km of their homes. But lo and behold, the fall in case numbers matched the modelled numbers. By the 1st of November, they had their first day of zero new cases.
The state premier copped a LOT of heat from naysayers. But the fact is that it looks like Victoria has defeated the second wave. Victorians are now looking forward to a COVID-safe Christmas. As of today, there is only a single active COVID case in the state. There have been no new cases for 23 days running.
