Louise Roberts: Don’t blame the beaches for the latest COVID outbreak

If the coronavirus is so dangerous we have to lock down suburbs and borders to contain it, Louise Roberts asks why the government is making us wait for a vaccine.

Oh, sure – blame the beaches.

That’s the message that’s been coming through loud and clear for a week now as Sydney’s Northern Beaches — the ultimate insular peninsula — cop the blame for ruining Christmas, and no small number of January getaways to Queensland, too.

As a resident of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, I am at the epicentre of the blame game as the rest of the city points the finger and declares we’ve killed Christmas.

The predictable smacking around of my own home ground has flared in recent days as everywhere from the Spit to Palmie plummets from the lofty heights of God’s Own Country to “disease central”, as one my out-of-area pals described it.

Northern Beaches residents attend a drive thru pop up COVID testing clinic at Newport Beach. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Sadly we are not as insular a peninsula as often charged given the virus has not sauntered across our metaphoric border/drawbridge The Spit but likely galloped at speed to other parts of Sydney.

But let’s be honest.

While some of the stereotypes might be rooted in at least a kernel of truth, this outbreak could have happened anywhere in Sydney and the knives would still be out.

Imagine a flare-up of cases in the inner-west.

It’d be all talk of stinky, hygiene-challenged Newtown hippies passing the virus around their share houses and kombucha bars.

And there would be a fair number of cracks about the anti-vaxxers who live in that part of the world.

Which brings up another question: rather than being locked down with little hope of a reprieve before Christmas, why am I not queuing up for a vaccine, just as citizens of Great Britain and the US are?

US Vice President Mike Pence receives the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington, DC. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

We’re locked out of every state and territory instead, the door clanging as soon as the C word was mentioned.

Never mind that NSW did not slam the border shut to Victoria until cases were sitting at well over a several hundred a day and never mind that in NSW we take the majority burden of international travellers.

“All I’m saying to colleagues around the country is please think about the heartbreak and please think about the facts when you’re making these decisions,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said about looking forward to Christmas after this most cruel of years.

So far, there’s no explanation as to how the virus escaped and seeped into the Northern Beaches community and beyond.

But there are plenty of juicy theories, of course.

A discussion yesterday about where to source a turkey buffe for Friday lunch did a 180 and became about the ID of actor couple Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, who were unfairly and incorrectly tagged uberspreaders.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has asked other states to think about the facts before making decisions. Picture: Gaye Gerard

No one here is complaining about being tested or the masks being worn everywhere from the cereal aisle in Woolies to the petrol pump and open air carparks where all walk an extra long loop to avoid each other.

If friends and colleagues are not working from home, they’re in a queue waiting to have that bud shoved up a nostril.

We are all, contrary to the image of the Northern Beaches as an island of entitlement, trying desperately to do the right thing.

A quarter of a million of us are effectively housebound and what happens between now and 10am Wednesday will shape Christmas Day 2020 according to the Premier.

But the vaccine? Well, sit tight until March 2021 at the earliest.

The wait and see approach is borne from the view that the urgency for a vaccine here is far less than the UK and US. A so-far minor outbreak in a localised area versus thousands of cases a day.

Sydney International Airport is a ghost town due to COVID-19 ahead of Christmas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Extra confidence here because we have time on our side. Or so the ­theory goes.

So why not import the vaccine, roll it out in warmer weather when respiratory diseases are less widespread and give us all peace mind?

Otherwise we risk unintentionally aligning ourselves with our mortal enemies the anti-vaxxers and celebrity health experts who feast upon hesitation as proof that vaccines are dud.

The Australian government requires robust scientific data and analysis before supporting a vaccine candidate. This is a critical part of the scientific process,” says the federal government website.

Until we get a vaccine, Australians have nothing to celebrate.

Then there’s the multi million dollar COVID-safe app which we diligently downloaded but has yet to yield any significant results.

The PM of course says it is still our best tool and to make sure we’ve got it on our phone.

In reality it doesn’t matter what part of Sydney it erupted in — we’d still be pointing the finger.

But the fact remains were are in this as a state and a nation, not just an LGA with a pampered reputation.