COVID-19 Outbreak Threatens Australia

    As we transition into Summer, here in the United States COVID restrictions are loosening with things like the June 15 mask mandate no longer requiring the wearing of mask in public, but the other parts of the world are sadly in very different situations such as with Australia. In the past weeks, the Australian government has detected the growth of the Delta variant of the coronavirus that is extremely infectious and hard to contain. As a result, the country's largest city area (population), Sydney, and surrounding areas were forced into a preliminary two-week lockdown to try and stop the spread at the source before it becomes it can grow into an even more critical situation.

    What's odd about this outbreak in Australia is that it goes completely against the flow the country had been on towards combatting COVID-19, as Australia has been seen some of the most success in the past year through its rapid closure of their borders and the willingness of the population to cooperate with the strict social distancing and quartine guidelines, having had less than 1000 deaths from COVID throughout the pandemic. For me, the standout takeaway from Australia's situation that is almost a bit scary is that even when things seem to be going so well and nearly returning to normal, it's important to still be ready and mentally prepared for if outbreaks happen again like with Sidney and Australia.