Racism in the history of quarantine in Australia

Monday, 10 February 2020 - 6:00pm to 6:30pm

As news broke around the world about the outbreak of the coronavirus now known as COVID-19 in China, the Australia government announced that it would quarantine citizens evacuated from Wuhan, the city where the first infections were identified, to the immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island. Medical historian Dr Peter Hobbins explains the history of quarantine in Australia and addresses questions about whether the practice can just be dismissed as racist.