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Every day by which the arrival of the virus is delayed could represent dozens of lives, if we assume that this will be ended by a vaccine or cheap, simple and effective treatment, rather than just running out of the fuel of susceptible hosts. With the air routes cut, all focus can now be on the land border. Every jalan tikus should be patrolled and anybody crossing intercepted. The Indonesian border patrol should deal with Indonesians wishing to enter Indonesia, and be assisted in preventing non-Indonesians entering. All who are determined to enter Timor-Leste, and can show that they have friends or family waiting to receive them (note that this should include people with no Timorese passport or residence permit… this is not the time to worry about migration law) should be transferred immediately to a quarantine site close to the border. This should be a pleasant, free wifi, hot and cold running water, well-fed quarantine (with lots of education on the virus, to fill the time) and include the promise of a lift to the home village, with a generous “thank you for your co-operation” food parcel, once the all-clear is given. This will a. give the military something to do (patrolling) that does not involve being in large groups; b. minimise the incentive to slip in under the radar or escape early from quarantine; c. offer employment to redundant hospitality workers; d. help out transport providers; e. give custom to border-region food growers; f. be a supportive and protective government intervention visible to the many destination villages; g. disperse grateful (or at least not resentful) people with factual stories to tell about how the virus spreads and kills, and how it can be recognised and halted – the go-to person on this subject for the whole village. The Northern Territory government is quarantining international arrivals at the Mercure with a daily food and beverage allowance of Aus$80! It looks crazy but they know that it’s cheaper than handling an outbreak of COVID-19. Timor can achieve the same for a fraction of the cost per head, and perhaps head off a disaster.

Well presented for a holistic, health, social, technical, economic, political, sustainable Team Building Leadership & Humane solution. Because Coronavirus is still relatively unknown, Scientists with respective Governments are still trying to play “catch-up” from Testing, Treatments - Personal, Business, Hospitalization, Vaccine, Plasma or Peaceful death. We are reminded by Dr. Anthony Fauci (Whitehouse Corvus-19 Consultant. CNN daily news. March, April 2020) to be humble, report symptoms, practise social & Physical distancing & personal hygiene with regular hand washing with soap, stay home until the curve is flattened with updated advice & be kind to all. Scary but we need data, facts & modeling by the scientists to win this “infectious war”. It is our humanity that will sustain the human spirit to overcome “coronavirus war uncertainties”. Thank you. Mere.

Hi James I appreciate different views on framing. And I do indeed agree with you about your *to* *for* and *with*, and *with* is definitely difficult work. I have just assumed it. My experience is limited on the ground. Certainly all the guys I classed as heroes in Aceh and Nias were all working both for and with locals. We tried to develop Village Planning in Aceh after the tsunami, and we just did not have the resources to help the villagers plan. And yes too many parties came in with their housing programs that locals jumped at because they were delivering faster. It's complicated. But I fail to understand your point about 'handing back power' so I guess you miss my point. Of course I did not mean return to the status quo. An example from Aceh, we got WFP to take on planning of logistics. Important, because if all parties organised their own transport of goods, there would be chaos and delays. But before WFP could deliver, the good guys were getting materials in. And when WFP came in, they handed the logistics over to them. While many people do not like to release power once they have it, it was not a problem with the good guys in Aceh and Nias. And I doubt it is a problem of all the heroes of the Corona disaster. I think most will be quite happy when it's over. In Aceh, would it be credible that I meant to hand things back to the police and army and GAM depending on where they were working before the tsunami? Not at all. And yes I did help with the change to local autonomy.

Thanks Robyn for your exemplary work. It's my prayer that as humans we adopt systems thinking to combat these issues that are mostly affecting us with regards to GLOBAL ONE HEALTH: Towards human,animal and plant health. I've shared your work with my colleagues in our department for I found it very insightful. Be blessed always.

I have made several representations to minister's offices about 'essential service' status for seasonal workers, about reducing red tape and the urgent need to extend the 403 visas for our vulnerable seasonal workers. I have not had any response to any of my inquiries. Instead we have been left to figure things out for ourselves. It would take a one line email from the minister to 'extend all 403 visas for 6 months' and I cannot understand why this has not happened. Instead we have commenced the task of applying for the first six of nearly a thousand bridging visas. On Monday we submitted six applications for workers whose visas expired on Saturday. The workers have (correctly) been stood down by the farm where they were employed, as they are currently illegal, and no longer have work rights, so we are paying their rent, insurance, travel and food bills. They are a long way from home with no job, no legal status and no idea when they might see their family again. The bridging visa applications were returned from the Hobart office of Home Affairs where we had lodged them and where the original 403 visas were issued. They advised we had to submit the visas to the state Home Affairs offices where the workers reside. These workers are in WA so we sent the applications to the Perth office. They forwarded them to the Brisbane office because our company's registered office is in Qld. Brisbane wrote to us saying the 956a forms we submitted with the original 403 applications are not valid for the BV applications and we need to get new ones. It is now five days since the applications were submitted and we are no closer to getting these workers back to work. State offices of Home Affairs do not seem to be aware of our workers or their need for new visas.

Thanks so much Lois for your really important question. In my opinion, plant health is a key component of One Health and Planetary Health initiatives. The early vision of One Health was very holistic and getting back to this broader framework will enable us to better understand challenges and opportunities. Working together will undoubtedly prove to be much more efficient (in dollar and health terms) in the medium- to long-term. So, let's just find a way to work together and contribute to refining definitions that will stand the test of time. I'd welcome an opportunity to learn more about your plant health endeavours.

Hi Chris, the tests are done by the PNG Institute of Medical Research. The positive result was from tests conducted by IMR. Getting mixed results is part of the process, and can happen anywhere. That is why multiple tests are conducted. What happened was, Wong, Marape, and Kramer all announced results as tests were going on. They should have waited and announced the test result after the IMR guys gave the final result when they were satisfied. Also, read Manuel Hetzel and Ben Bande’s comments below. They know better than I do. Thanks.

Thank you for your inspiration Emma. Cheering for you.

Andrew, Many thanks for the details of the rigidities I referred to in my blog. I hope other Approved Employers can also provide details of the immediate difficulties they are facing in getting official approval for the new arrangements they have worked out to minimise the effect on workers. For those readers who are not Approved Employers, I should explain that the new Deed of Agreement between the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business and Approved Employers came into effect from 1 January 2020, after many months of consultations. A sample of the Deed can be found here: https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/seasonal-worker-programme-deed-agreement-effective-1-january-2020 Richard Curtain

I am compelled to share the experience we are having with the impracticalities of the Deed in this very challenging time. The following is to illustrate the complete and utter dismay we are experiencing with a system that does not serve the people it was set up to … Seasonal Workers, Growers and Approved Employers. Four women from Vanuatu finished their contract in Kununurra and were due to leave 23 March. The last flight to Vanuatu was cancelled and they are now stuck in Sydney. We contacted numerous AEs to find work for them and have found employment near Mildura, with another Approved Employer Labour Hire Service Provider. The ladies' visas have expired (we have applied for the bridging visa) and both the AE and the SWs are anxious to start their new work and get out of Sydney. However, the variation won’t be looked at until the pending accommodation form for Mildura is approved. The accommodation form has been submitted by the other AE Labour Hire Company and is waiting approval. We need to wait for that approval and then we have to apply, in our own name, to lodge the same accommodation form. As a result of the expired visas we have been advised by our Contract Manager we now must submit a Recruitment Plan … with Labour Market Testing … yet the department advised it was not looking at any new Recruitment Plans. Not only is this absolutely ludicrous its wasting more time (and the Seasonal Workers' money) and preventing the women from working! The Deed that we have signed up for has failed magnificently during this crisis. Given that policymakers and senior Department officials do not heed advice, suggestions or recommendations from AEs (who are legitimately building this program), with absolute genuine priority for the welfare of the SWs and our grower clients, nothing is being done to make this function efficiently. We have decided to transfer the SWs in Sydney to the AE in Mildura in an attempt to expedite the ladies' transition back into work (we understood this would take less time to be approved). However, we remain bogged down in government red tape, painfully slow processing and general lack of outcome-oriented practices ... despite the rhetoric from government agencies.

I have shared on LinkedIn with a comment. I think you are spot on. I have been involved in the internal plant health scene via the IPPC for many years, including as Chair of the Commission. One Health has not come up in this time and only last year we took a preliminary look at antimicrobial resistance. What do you see as the scope for plant health in One Health or other planetary initiatives?

Thank you for your comments Godfrey. You are well aware of the situation on the ground in East and Southern Africa and we do hope that COVID-19 will be controlled there as quickly as possible. Thank you for your work on food safety and your commitment to improving food security in Tanzania and beyond. I agree completely with you that we do need to work together across countries and regions to ensure sustainable access to adequate, safe and nutritious foods.