![]() The recurrence of COVID-19 infections led to a renewal of lockdown orders and movement restrictions, including border closures. At the time of paper acceptance (on 2 June 2021), 165.2 million people had been infected on all continents in all but seven countries, with a global death toll of 3.4 million. ![]() As the year 2020 progressed, many countries experienced a second and even a third wave of infections with recurrences of small clusters even where COVID-19 could be largely suppressed. In addition, in some jurisdictions, lockdown orders were applied at the sub-national level. At each national level, government reactions to curb or slow the progress of COVID-19 have involved the reduction of international arrivals to repatriation flights, limitations to domestic travel, limitations to crowd sizes, the temporary shut-down of non-essential businesses and the restriction of human movement during periods of “lockdown” (stay-at-home orders). Soon after its existence became public in late January 2020, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, rapidly developed into a pandemic in the globally interconnected world of business and leisure travel. One of the lessons of the 2020/21 pandemic will be to either re-evaluate the wisdom of a close social and economic integration of border communities, which would be a backwards step, or to future-proof these communities by developing strategies, effectively public health management plans, to avoid a repeat when the next pandemic strikes. As a result, border closures and state-based lockdown directives caused significant social disruption and considerable economic cost to families and the community as a whole. Concerted efforts since the mid-1970s have led to effective and close integration of employment and services, with over a quarter of the resident population of the two border towns commuting daily across the state lines. It shows that while border closures as public-health measures had occurred in the past, their social and economic impact had been comparatively negligible due to low cross-border community integration. This paper examines the effects of the public health measures of “ring-fencing” and of prolonged closures of the state border between New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), placing the events of 2020/21 into the context of the historic and contemporary trajectories of the border between the two states. The social and economic impact was considerable. Public health measures designed to contain the spread of the disease saw the cessation of international travel as well as the establishment of border closures between and within countries. Given its intensity, rapid spread, geographic reach and multiple waves of infections, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020/21 became a major global disruptor with a truly cross-sectoral impact, surpassing even the 1918/19 influenza epidemic. ![]()
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