Sorry, BLM and anti-maskers, it’s safety first
It’s time for everyone to settle down and accept the science - it’s not perfect and it changes, but in the middle of a pandemic, it’s all we’ve got, writes Louise Roberts.
Opinion
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Is your right to demonstrate more important than my right to avoid, as much as possible, a case of coronavirus?
It speaks volumes about myopic mindset of would-be Black Lives matter protesters that NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller is finding himself back in court to stop a Black Lives Matters event in Sydney next Tuesday.
And is my family’s right to stay safe less important than someone else’s claim that wearing a face covering in public – which Melburnians have to do, and which Sydneysiders may have to as well if numbers don’t improve – is an unnecessary over-reaction, based on some blog post or gut feeling.
It’s a curious thing where the pro-protest left and the anti-mask right (for whatever reason, they tend to congregate on that side of politics) find themselves on the same side, against the experts, in the midst of a pandemic.
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And when really we’re all trying to get out of this situation alive.
Sure, a few months ago masks were somewhat, so to speak, on the nose when it came to protecting ourselves from this deadly viral pathogen.
Official advice was that they were not necessary for healthy people, based on what we knew at the time.
But from 11.59pm Wednesday it is compulsory for anyone over the age of 12 to wear a mask in public in coronavirus-hit Melbourne and the adjacent Mitchell Shire or risk a $200 fine.
That’s because an infected person in a mask, even if he or she doesn’t show symptoms, sheds less of the virus.
Again, shouldn’t common sense reign supreme?
If you’re in a hotspot like Melbourne, follow the advice and get a mask.
And no matter where you stand on freedom of speech, the experts have warned the second wave of coronavirus had the potential to be worse than the first because this time around the enemy is unknown.
Community transmission is far more difficult to trace and control.
Mass gatherings pose an unacceptable risk yet more than 4400 people have said they are interested in attending next Tuesday. Do the community transmission maths on that and tell me you feel comfortable with this episode of free speech.
Let’s be clear: This is not an attack on the campaign for justice over the death of Indigenous man David Dungay in 2015, or other Aboriginal deaths in custody.
After earlier protests in Melbourne and Sydney, Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “Once the protests occurred, there were some who saw what appeared to be an understandable view of a double standard, and changed their behaviours.”
COVID-19 is spread by asymptomatic and symptomatic people alike. So much for all lives matter and we’re all in this together.
Police Commissioner Fuller says: “I think it would be devastating to anyone’s cause to cause the next cluster breakout in NSW.”
But in a breathtaking insult to every child and adult in this city, organiser Paddy Gibson argued that being at the protest was safer than going shopping or to the beach.
“I do understand people would be concerned. I was at the markets on the weekend where hundreds, if not thousands, of people went through the markets,” Gibson said in a TV interview.
“I can tell you now that our protests are far better organised and with better attention to COVID safety than what I saw at the markets with people piled on top of each other, no hand sanitiser everywhere and very few masks.
“Everyone will have a mask at the rally and we will have hand sanitiser and we can spread out far more safely than people in shopping centres.”
On Gibson’s planet, the protest is essential.
“It has to happen right now because the world is finally listening … Timing is everything in politics. It is absolutely crucial,” Mr Gibson said.
What is crucial is staying alive. What is crucial is not ignoring a ban on mass gatherings of more than 20 people.
Going to a shopping centre is a passive experience with your family. A protest is aggressive by nature even if they call it “peaceful”.
How can you compare the two?
And urging people to minimise risk by bringing their own hand sanitiser, wearing a mask and not touching their face is facile – make your point, sure, but not in a pandemic crowd.
Worse still is the sly leveraging of the fact Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said it had no concrete link between the six people tested positive for COVID-19 after attending Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter protest in June and a mass outbreak at public housing towers west of the CBD.
And don’t be put off by the likes of chef Pete Evans who, in a now deleted post, said: “Free legal advice to Victorians. Don’t wear a mask. Get a $200 fine then elect to have it determined in court:” because it is too expensive for the government to do so.
There’s an engraved mirror on a wall in Melbourne which was doing the rounds of Twitter this week.
It was positioned to “accommodate ANTI-MASKERS. we have provided this space away from everyone else so you can stare at your reflection since apparently you’re the only person you care about.”
This is a plea for commonsense and community because when it comes to the critical mindset of fighting a deadly virus like this, commonsense and community are the weapons in our arsenal.
As a Sydneysider with a young family I don’t accept this risk is worth taking, for me and my kids, for our community, for our elderly and our vulnerable.
Twitter: @whatlouthinks