Susie O’Brien: There’s no COVID in the community, so why all the restrictions?
Mandatory mask wearing indoors and stopping the return to work isn’t based on health advice, it’s a political power play for an election-win.
Opinion
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If the public health response to the new corona outbreak is as good as the government says, why do we need mask wearing and further restrictions?
Single cases with known origins do not justify six million Victorians wearing masks indoors, halting the return to workplaces and counting the number of people in our homes.
We need to be smart and keep our distance, but the continuation of blanket restrictions is more about Dictator Daniel Andrews retaining control over our lives than anything else.
It’s not medical, it’s political.
Just when the fallout from the current single new case in the state — a worker from the Grand Hyatt hotel quarantine — was abating, we learned of a new case in quarantine.
On Sunday night, a worker from the airport Holiday Inn, who is not believed to have breached any infection protocols, tested positive for the virus.
No doubt this will justify the government extend mask wearing, further restrict the number of people in homes to 15 and postpone the full return of workers to offices.
Given that there is no evidence of the virus in our community, and the only cases have a known source, it’s hard to see how this is justified.
Mass mask wearing in a state with zero community transmission isn’t a public health measure, it’s a political one designed to keep us in a heightened state of anxiety.
It’s a pervasive and stark reminder of the risks we face even though they aren’t rooted in reality.
On Monday, Premier Daniel Andrews was nowhere to be seen, but his officials were talking up the government’s reaction to the latest outbreak. Or, as Commander Jeroen Weimar called it, the “rapid and comprehensive outbreak response”.
Within hours of the new case, contact tracing had begun and more than 100 people were isolating and will be tested.
Three potential exposure sites were also identified and widely communicated.
In addition, hotel quarantine procedures have been reviewed, focusing on the operation of the airconditioning system. Staff will also be tested every day, including on their day off, meal deliveries will be staggered and face shields worn as well as surgical masks.
Our state’s efforts have been bolstered by 50 defence force personnel landing in Melbourne to help with hotel quarantine.
It was a swift and impressive response; perhaps the government has finally learned something from its past mistakes.
Both new cases have come from overseas arrivals in hotel quarantine and sewerage testing shows no strains of the virus anywhere else in the state.
So, there’s no justification for the continuation of restrictions affecting people from Mornington to Mildura.
This is not about keeping people safe; this is about the Premier making sure his government is re-elected.
Despite the fact that the second wave of the virus in this state was caused by the state government’s dire handling of the first round of hotel quarantine, the Premier has enjoyed record highs in the polls.
This is due to the poor performance of the Liberal opposition led by the lacklustre Michael O’Brien.
But it also reflects the way people stick with leadership they know in times of crisis.
That’s why the Andrews Government is determined to keep us in a prolonged state of unrest and crisis for as long as possible.
Let’s put this current situation into perspective.
As I write, there are 21 active cases, including one new case in the past 24 hours from hotel quarantine. There are no cases acquired overseas, no cases acquired interstate and no lives lost.
There are no cases in hospital. No cases in ICU.
There is surely no justification at all for the measures which continue to cripple our city economically by keeping workers at home in the suburbs.
It’s going to be a long year, so it’s more important than ever that the government’s response is appropriate and proportionate.
We’ve worked hard to get back to some sense of normality in our lives, and we should be allowed to enjoy that, not stay in a heightened sense of siege for political purposes.
There’s another sign that the crisis is not as dire as the restrictions appear: the start of the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Ask yourself: if things are so bad that we can’t go back to work, have to wear masks and reduce the number of people we can have over, why has the government allowed 30,000 people to attend the Australian Open from this week?
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Originally published as Susie O’Brien: There’s no COVID in the community, so why all the restrictions?
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