Covid dobbers out in force during Sydney lockdown

Calling on us to dob in fellow Aussies for Covid breaches as we battle multiple outbreaks across the nation goes against our way of life, writes Louise Roberts.

Oh joy. Dobbing on someone is back in vogue and actively encouraged by government ministers and police alike.

Now that we’re battling multiple outbreaks across the country and a particularly nasty Delta strain, our smug international status as a Covid safe haven is a lingering memory.

In nine days alone, NSW went from one case to about 54 cases and the majority of people with Covid are isolating themselves. They are doing the decent community thing.

At the time of writing there were only two mystery cases in the state.

NSW police conduct high visibility patrols at Coogee on Monday. Picture: John Grainger

But if our nation is turning to a taboo of being a snitch in order to “control” coronavirus, something so averse to our very fibre as inclusive Australians, then the battle is already lost.

Are we more selfish than we could ever imagine? Or is it the natural progression of those who say they are not anti-vaxxers but then insist they won’t be a “guinea pig” for a vaccine?

Clots have been rationalised as more of a death sentence than Covid itself and as we vacillated about being vaccinated, diabolic Delta hitched a ride smack bang into our Aussie backyard.

The problem is, we don’t know if people who are fully vaccinated will be exempt from future lockdowns. Or allowed to travel overseas.

The NSW authorities — police, health bureaucrats and politicians — won’t say either way, even though many of us remember the original federal memo which preached suppression not elimination as the goal for Aussie life.

COVID ‘dobbers’ are back in force with the current lockdown. Picture Terry Pontikos.

By the time the virus had spread into a party at West Hoxton, NSW parliament and into several schools and preschools, the urge for someone or some people to blame was overwhelming.

So, faced with no guarantee of travel or freedom, we’re turning on each other with the Crimestoppers hotline as our 2021 pitchfork.

“Whilst we can’t make laws against stupidity, we can remind individuals who are not compliant ... that there are substantial penalties,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters.

Our neighborhood watch pages, where we used to see comically assembled mugshots and CCTV footage of would-be car thieves being chased off by the bellowing family dog, are now hijacked by cut and paste posts like this: “Anyone who has information regarding individuals or businesses in contravention of a COVID-19-related ministerial direction is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Information is treated in strict confidence”.

NSW police conduct high visibility patrols at Coogee. Picture: John Grainger

Police have issued several fines in recent days, including a man and his daughter from Paddington and a woman from Maroubra who drove 300km to the Hunter Valley to compete in the Denman horse trials.

A fellow horsey person said, neigh, this is not good enough and got on to Crime Stoppers. Police fined the adults for breaching stay at home orders and for not wearing a mask while the teenage girl was warned.

Sure you might not trust the rogue and potentially dangerous minority to do the right thing but that doesn’t justify a witch hunt.

Inviting this sort of cynicism of our neighbours is diabolical. Show me a country that has controlled Covid by aiding and abetting virus vigilantes.

Exactly.

The mistrust will poison generations to come.

We’re in this mess because of a glacial pace vaccine rollout and Dad’s Army style hotel quarantine, not because we haven’t been armed with binoculars, forensically observing what Sophie and Steve are up to with their ski gear strapped to the roof of their SUV.

Compare the rise of the power-crazed Kovid Karen to the situation in Singapore where they are — brace yourself — exercising common sense rather than empowering the clipboard brigade.

Here NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant told the media: “As we’ve always said, and I think I’ve said for many months, we will at some point have to accept that there will be some community transmission, but we do not want that to occur until we have vaccinated all of the adult population and are progressing through with vaccines available for children as well.”

In Singapore, the message is this: “Instead of monitoring Covid-19 infection numbers every day, we will focus on the outcomes: how many fall very sick, how many in the intensive care unit, how many need to be intubated for oxygen, and so on.”

Meanwhile in the UK, Sajid Javid is pushing for the lockdown to end as soon as possible because of the catastrophic cost of shutting down the economy. Javid has replaced ludicrous Matt Hancock who was forced to quit after breaching social distancing rules with his mistress, Gina Coladangelo, in his office.

The new Covid Tsar’s “most immediate priority (is) to see that we can return to normal as soon and as quickly as possible”.

What a contrast from a country who could only look on with ripe envy at how well us Aussies were doing. And how superior we felt, blind to how self centred we were, in fact, becoming.

The weak against the strong with some of the strong not wanting to get the jab in order to help the weak.

High visibility patrols at Coogee Beach this week.Picture: John Grainger

Corona may pass, although it is likely we will have to live with it, but each new spike we seem to throb more with selfishness.

It seems normal, albeit appalling, to see an elderly person staring bewildered at empty toilet paper aisles where thousands of two-ply rolls once stood, only to be repurposed as a personal barricade in someone’s garage or laundry.

School holiday plans have been ruined and business owners count the cost of another lockdown.

People are policing and punishing because they believe so much is at stake.

But we need to look out for each other, not go to war with our neighbours or strangers.

It’s worth noting that the Delta strain infected everyone who attended that West Hoxton Sydney birthday party except for the six people who were vaccinated.

But while politicians and police give the green light for dobbing, it gives some another excuse to avoid the needle.