Australia is showing the perils of a zero Covid strategy

There were joyful scenes at Heathrow Airport as people were reunited with relatives from America after border controls were eased on Monday. The Government is urging Washington to reciprocate and allow fully jabbed travellers from the UK to fly across the Atlantic without needing exemptions or quarantines.

But there is one country in the world with close ties to Britain whose families will remain divided for some time to come. Australia has pursued a policy of zero Covid that has led them into a cul-de-sac of perpetual lockdowns with little prospect of early relief. Since the number of cases was low in Australia while the rest of the world was ravaged by Covid, the government in Canberra decided that an urgent vaccine programme was unnecessary. This has proved to be a serious mistake now that the delta mutation of the virus has taken hold, spreading faster than previous variants.

Even though Australia has just a few thousand cases and remarkably few fatalities, its major cities have been subject to a series of shutdowns. Residents of Sydney have been told to stay at home other than for essential purposes since June. People are legally required to wear masks even while in the open air – an obligation never imposed here, not least because the spread of Covid outdoors is almost non-existent. While many Australians have hitherto supported the eradication strategy, there is growing resentment in some quarters at the imposition of these restrictions. Protests have led to the deployment of the army on the streetsto enforce the lockdown.

How has it come to the point that Australia needs to call up the military to eradicate a virus that is now endemic in the world? In order to uphold its zero Covid approach Australia will need to keep its borders closed forever and lock down its cities every time a cluster of cases is detected.

Scott Morrison, the prime minister, says the borders will only reopen once more than 80 per cent of Australians have been jabbed. The figure at the moment is 15 per cent so that could take at least a year. Moreover, as can be seen here in the UK, high vaccine take-up does not stop the spread of Covid so if Australia sees salvation in the vaccine only disappointment lies ahead.

This matters for the thousands of British people who have family in Australia. Many older relatives must wonder whether they will ever be reunited with their children and grandchildren. It is a policy for never-ending despair.