Australia and Covid restrictions

Sir, – Thank you for publishing my letter ("Quarantine – the Australian way", February 3rd).

The number of deaths recorded in Victoria is 820 out of a national total of 909 deaths over the course of the pandemic, as of February 3rd.

From my letter, readers may have had the impression that 750 Victorian deaths were caused by international travellers. The state of Victoria has not directly attributed deaths to the actions of individual international travellers. I do not either.

Your journalist accurately records that isolation in Australia is unavoidable, it is emotionally hard, financially costly, and police supervision is essential to its success, with international travel to Australia discouraged by Australian authorities (Kate Nic Dhomhnaill, "Quarantine the Australian way: Tight logistics and high cost", World, January 30th). – Yours, etc,

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GARY GRAY,

Australian

Ambassador

to Ireland,

Dublin 2.