Australia's Victoria state reports five new COVID-19 cases; Delta cluster grows

And by the sound of what the athletes said in interviews, they actually weren't allowed to meet and train while in Australia. That says it all.

Imagine living in a country with hard lockdowns. Sends chills down my spine. We are so fortunate to live in Japan where our freedom of movement is not controlled and the economy is actually recognized as essential to all members of the public.

Australia has fumbled here, but it seems they will make the difficult decisions to control this latest outbreak.

@Objective, Australia has been doing quite well, my friends there are enjoying life mostly as normal but they also act quickly when things go wrong. I find their approach preferable, obviously.

But this also sends a dire warning about the fantasies of a 'safe and secure' Olympics in a country whose leaders are struggling to face the reality of the Pandemic.

The virus is constantly mutating. The same mutation may occur in different places at different times, randomly. Australia may have just been unlucky.

Lockdowns and other measures are an emergency option but are not a solution. Vaccination is the only (potential) solution. Australia needs to speed up its vaccination programme.

We are either going to get two years of this or are being gently transitioned into a permanent state of movement restrictions. Only time will tell.

Current rules tend to suggest the latter. The rich, powerful, politicians, sports stars and movie stars can fly, like in the early years of travel, but the rest of us are banned.

It wouldn't surprise me if each geopolitical bloc eventually gets its own variant of concern.

Objective

Imagine living in a country with hard lockdowns. Sends chills down my spine. We are so fortunate to live in Japan where our freedom of movement is not controlled and the economy is actually recognized as essential to all members of the public.

The fact is that Australia is doing better economically through the pandemic than Japan because of the lockdowns.