Australia Joins Countries Requiring Covid Tests From China Travelers
Wall Street JournalJUL 2022
Report: Australia's Health Chief Urged Against COVID Checks for PRC Flights
Image copyright: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
It's unacceptable that the Australian government has imposed new restrictions claiming they were out of an abundance of caution even though available evidence and scientific information indicate that Australians have already been exposed to variants circulating in China. Rather than protecting the nation, this move will only interrupt family reunions and affect the country's economic activity.
Pro-establishment narrative
The Australian government is right to adopt precautionary measures as China arrivals resume. Although an imminent public health threat is unlikely, China has long failed to provide trustworthy information so other variants could be circulating unreported there. This is a prudent move given the extraordinary mass infection occurring in the PRC.
Metaculus Prediction
There's a 50% chance that China will first reach 250k confirmed COVID cases per day by May 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
