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Here we go again. Just when you thought we had turned a corner, along comes the Omicron variant, and we wheel out the COVID classic hits – emergency meetings, travel bans and a dose of hysteria.

So far there’s a ban on non-citizens coming from southern Africa, the return of quarantine (albeit only 72 hours at home at this stage) for all arrivals into NSW and Victoria, a delay (for two weeks) on plans to reopen to students, migrants and refugees, and a large pall of uncertainty over international and domestic reopening plans.

International travellers arriving at Sydney Airport on Sunday. Credit:Edwina Pickles

In the scheme of things over the past two years, these “necessary and temporary” measures are not extreme; they’re pretty modest, perhaps even sensible. In the face of a new strain it may be prudent to buy time until we have more information and much of the world is making similar decisions.

But the context is part of the problem. Events in Australia to date – the world’s longest lockdown, some of the world’s harshest border policies and highly questionable interventions like curfews – will give no one confidence that these precautionary measures are where it will end.

And the positioning of border closures as a precautionary first step – rather than an absolute last resort – is a very troubling precedent to cement. The World Health Organisation wants countries to keep their borders open, saying travel bans targeting Africa are an attack on “global solidarity”.

Buying time for more data sounds good, but to what end? If Omicron proves more transmissible than Delta, what do you do? We are already one of the world’s most vaccinated countries – in a sense, our position doesn’t get much better than this. And as a recent Slate piece contended by referencing Australia, border closures only really work when they are “extreme”.

This new variant could have been an opportunity for us to recast our global image; to say that while other countries are shutting their doors, our very high vaccination levels would allow us to keep opening. It should also remind us of the urgent need to vaccinate the developing world.

Instead, there will now be calls to make our reopening dependent on the rollout of booster shots. The Australian government, like others, has rightly opted to review the booster program in light of Omicron. But at some point, returning to normal has to be decoupled from all of that and locked in, otherwise it will never happen.

Back when Sydney and Melbourne were in the grips of their Delta lockdowns, Sky News host Paul Murray liked to observe with dismay that “we are [only] four letters into the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet”. Well, he may have had a point.

I do sense, however, that things are different this time – not just in terms of vaccination but vibe. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was clear on Tuesday that Omicron can’t be kept out and “we are committed to continue to reopen”. More people are questioning the way the media presents these developments and calling for calm instead of panic.

“We are committed to continue to reopen,” says Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, with Health Minister Greg Hunt and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

University of NSW epidemiologist Greg Dore says it makes sense to keep doing things that curb all COVID variants – boosters, indoor masks and better ventilation – but measures aimed at Omicron such as border closures “will have limited impact and as always cause considerable harm”.

Borders have proven an easy target throughout the pandemic; much of the affected constituency is overseas, and many Australians see international travel as an optional luxury rather than a right and a necessity connecting our modern migrant nation to the world.

Meanwhile, long-suffering family and friends have largely taken it in their stride, their hopes kept alive by plans and promises that never quite come to fruition.

But authorities should be careful; the community’s tolerance for border closures and other drastic interventions is much lower now. I think the tolerance for more lockdowns is pretty much zero.

It’s a shame the people protesting on the streets of Melbourne (and other cities) are a hodgepodge of anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and far-right loons. Otherwise, one might be quite tempted to join them.

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