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While several recent sociological studies have sought to examine the reasons why people tend not to perceive themselves at personal threat of HIV infection, few have been explicitly directed at understanding the reasoning behind the decision to seek HIV antibody testing. This paper presents the findings from semi-structured interviews carried out with adults living in Sydney who had had one or more HIV tests. Aspects relating to the socio-cultural dimensions of the HIV test for those who have experienced it are discussed, including representations of HIV/AIDS in mass media education campaigns, assessment of partners and notions of HIV risk and contagion in the context of embodiment in the age of epidemic.

Objective: To assess the impact of different non‐pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID‐19 cases across Victoria and South Australia. Methods: Poisson regression models were fit to examine the effect of NPIs on weekly COVID‐19 case numbers. Results: Mask‐wearing in Victoria had a pronounced lag effect of two weeks with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 0.27 (95%CI 0.26–0.29). Similarly, the effect of border closure (IRR 0.18; 95%CI 0.14–0.22) in South Australia and lockdown (IRR 0.88; 95%CI 0.86–0.91) in Victoria showed a decrease in incidence two weeks after the introduction of these interventions. Conclusions: With the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic, varying levels of vaccination coverage rates and threats from variants of concern, NPIs are likely to remain in place. It is thus important to validate the effectiveness and timing of different interventions for disease control, as those that are more restrictive such as border control and lockdown can have an enormous impact on society. Implications for public health: Low case numbers and deaths in Australia's first wave of COVID‐19 are thought to be due to the timely use of interventions. The observed two‐week lag effect associated with a decrease in incidence provides justification for early implementation of NPIs for COVID‐19 management and future pandemics.

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