Dubbo has recently passed a significant milestone. We have clocked up two full weeks without a new case of coronavirus recorded in the local government area.
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The two weeks is important as it represents the quarantine time health officials have recommended for people who have come into contact with the virus.
So while the Western NSW Local Health District has not been able to tell us exactly how many of the six Dubbo people who had tested positive to COVID-19 have now recovered, we have some reason to be confident they are well on their way to getting better.
That's something to celebrate, and we should all share in that celebration.
Overwhelmingly, the Dubbo community has responded magnificently to a public health crisis unlike any we have seen before. We have taken seriously the warnings from politicians and health officials to exercise public distancing and we have adapted our home lives and work lives to help slow the spread of this terrible virus.
The daily updates form Western NSW LHD tell us these difficult decisions have not been in vain.
Infection numbers have continued to fall not only in Dubbo but right across the Central West and right across the state - so much so that there is now serious discussion of the possibility of eradicating the virus in Australia altogether.
But now we face a new threat, one that's as dangerous as the virus itself. And that is complacency.
We need to share the good news that infection numbers are falling and celebrate each small victory over this virus.
But, as health officials keep stressing to us, this war is not yet won.
Other countries have seen the rate of infection fall before a relaxing of attitudes has seen it skyrocket again. We cannot afford for that to happen here.
Australia might be the "she'll be right" nation but that attitude will not help us in this fight. And having come this far, we can't drop our guard now.
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