Australians quite happy with their country's response to pandemic

SYDNEY, Nov 01(New York Times): Australia's borders are closed, internationally and between several states. Its economy is smaller, and its population growth has fallen to its lowest rate in more than 100 years.

Rather than chafing against isolation, though, Australians these days are more willing to smile in the mirror. Island living looks like a privilege when the world is pestilent.

Those gnawing questions about travel, recession and the loss of global experience are being shoved down, below a more immediate appreciation for home and a search for silver linings.

In dozens of interviews, Australians have said they're quite happy with their country's response to the pandemic. Even with travel rules so strict they seem like something out of China or North Korea.

Even with a 111-day lockdown in Australia's second-largest city of Melbourne, which just finally ended. Even when the people kept away are grandparents longing to see new grandchildren.

That's the case for Jane Harper, a best-selling novelist in Melbourne, who has traded getting to know every building in her neighborhood for seeing her parents in Britain.

"I had my second child in November, and they would have come out at least once and possibly twice by now," she said. "Not knowing when that will lift - I guess it gives us more appreciation for how lucky we are to be able to visit in normal times, and it makes you realize how far away Australia really is."

Not that she would have it any other way. After so much isolation, she added, "there is a real sense among Australians that we can dig deep and help each other deal with whatever is facing us."

Many other countries have also cut themselves off from their neighbors, and other island nations (Singapore, Japan, New Zealand) have also kept the virus in check. But in Australia, the ever-smaller circle is more intertwined with the pursuit of safety.