A FORMER Worcester teacher who now lives in Australia has said he was ‘baffled’ by the UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia has had more than 22,000 cases as well as 909 deaths since the start of the pandemic, which is far fewer than many countries.

Matt Wilson, from Malvern, believes the Australian government’s decisive action, as well as the way the country’s neighbours New Zealand have dealt with the pandemic is the reason Australia has managed to keep case numbers relatively low compared to other countries.

He said: “There were no massive outbreaks in New Zealand, and they were able to get their case numbers down really quickly, and Australia adopted the same approach - there were no half measures.

“As soon as there were any signs of potential for virus outbreaks or hotspots those places were put under lockdown immediately and the population as a whole responded really positively to it.”

Matt now lives in Melbourne, a city which has emerged as a world leader in disease suppression after its strict second lockdown - which was one of the world’s longest and has enabled the city to reopen again.

“As a resident you know what’s happening and that made a huge difference,” Matt said. “As long as you know what’s going on, then it makes it easier to plan and people know what you can and can’t do.”

Matt grew up in Kempsey and taught at Northwick Primary school before moving to Australia with his wife. He said seeing what has happened back at home in the UK has been ‘frightening’.

“It’s just baffling,”he said. “You experience what your country is doing and it’s been handled so well here, and then you watch what’s going on back home and it’s honestly frightening to see how it’s escalated so quickly - it’s almost like a lack of action to try and resolve what’s going on.

“The guidelines in the UK seem to have been very lax at time – pubs remaining open but closing at 10pm just made no sense, and that’s just been the biggest difference over here – it’s been an all or nothing scenario, in the UK, at times, people haven’t seemed able to know what they can and can’t do.”

He added: “There are still restrictions in place but a lot of it is people still being cautious, for example I will wear a face mask when I’m walking in the street.”

Matt cannot physically work in a school at the moment as he is suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so he has set up a blog and website over the last nine months to help children, their families, teachers and book lovers find their next great read.

He said: "I have a passion for children's books and I love teaching and as I cannot physically work at the moment, I still wanted to offer something to teachers, parents and children.

"I hope my website will support parents, schools, teachers and librarians in finding the books for your children that will develop a lifelong love of reading."

To see Matt's blog, visit: bit.ly/3a7ceB0