Anti-vax echoes in anti-COVID test crowd
The ignorant anti-vaccination crowd now have their equals — those living in coronavirus hot spots who selfishly refuse to be tested for any signs of the virus, writes Louise Roberts.
Opinion
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The very definition of ignorance in 2020 is to say “no thanks” when a medical officer on your doorstep offers you a test for COVID-19.
Sure, a long skinny swab up your nostril or down your throat is inconvenient and uncomfortable.
But if you ever refuse a test, you are an enemy to our way of life.
Refusals are off the charts in Melbourne. Within just two of the 10 suburbs now in virus lockdown, 928 people this week declined door-to-door testing invitations.
Their refusals place those people among the ranks of the abhorred anti-vaxxer.
Get tested or stay home — can there be another message?
Sure, we live in a free country, which gives you the insurmountable right to choose.
But doing so on the grounds that you object to the impact of pesky government restrictions on your way of life is downright treacherous.
And the selfishness, disguised as conscientious objection that anti-vaxxers wear like a badge of honour, becomes even more insidious for the coronavirus test refuser.
Because unlike measles, mumps or rubella, there is no vaccine for COVID-19.
Clearly bored with lockdowns, social distancing and other restrictions, these people in Melbourne have elevated themselves to the role of public health experts, and collectively decided that they should go about their daily ‘crucial’ tasks, repelling all logic of social distancing and handwashing.
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What they are forgetting is that they are spreading coronavirus without even realising it. And forgetting that coronavirus kills.
And too bad for the 300,000 residents ordered back into lockdown.
To date, Australia has set an enviable international example of how to deal with a pandemic.
The figures speak for themselves.
As of July 1, there were 10.4 million confirmed cases worldwide, according to WHO.
More than half of these people have recovered, and 507,000 people have died.
In Australia, there have been 7834 confirmed cases. Of these, 7037 have recovered, and 104 people have died.
The death toll in Australia is one of the lowest in the world on a country by country basis.
According to the Australian Health Department, there were 71 confirmed cases known to have been acquired overseas, compared to 159 cases locally acquired.
The bulk of those locally acquired cases are in Victoria.
Data from July 1 shows Victoria now has 2231 confirmed cases, second only to NSW, which has 3203.
The 212 cases in the past three days were in quarantine hotels. Staff in the hotels failed to isolate them.
And I vehemently disagree with former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett who slammed the lockdowns as an “over-reaction”.
It’s life or potentially death.
Seeing thousands of people protesting on the streets was bewildering but the sensible among us stuck to the isolation play book.
Now we are staring down the barrel of community-led infections, which is infuriating.
Especially when you see what is happening in the US. In the 24 hours to 11am yesterday, the country recorded 36,390 new confirmed cases.
The threat of a second wave of the pandemic was always hanging over our heads. Not only am I worried but angry. And it is deeply personal.
My parents live in Melbourne, thankfully well-removed from current hot spots, but my father has been very unwell for a number of months.
With the easing of restrictions I had booked a flight to visit them but this week’s outbreak makes the risk too great to go.
I will have to travel past hot spots to get to them and both my parents fall into the high-risk category for infection.
What if I picked up COVID at the airport or stopping to get petrol?
No one is making me cancel my flight but my conscience and common sense tells me visiting them at this time would be potentially dangerous.
Not to mention the potential for infecting myself and bringing infection back to my own home, workplace and community in Sydney.
Aussies began to socially distance and increase hygiene well before government restrictions.
Remember the roar of disapproval when PM Scott Morrison said he would attend a Cronulla Sharks match days before state leaders and health authorities introduced a ban on “non-essential mass gatherings”?
Do we have to go back to hearing stories of families who were unable to sit with loved ones in their final hours or draw straws on who would get to go to the funeral because only a handful were allowed?
Do we want border checkpoints? Can you refuse an RBT? No.
Every person counts in this equation, especially the selfish ones.