Playgrounds and schools must reopen in optimistic Covid future

Daniel Andrews is finally taking baby steps out of harsh lockdown measures that have left us demoralised and defeated.

Premier Dan Andrews has listened. Kind of.

His notion of threshold case numbers, as opposed to the ideal of no cases at all, is a baby step towards the lifting of draconian measures which demoralise and defeat.

But is it too little, too late?

There was some truth in what Andrews said.

If you don’t have low case numbers, you will by default have high case numbers. This is untenable when only a third of the adult population is vaccinated.

And it’s a fair point, too, that the pandemic will shift to target the unvaccinated, whether they are young or old.

For now, we are trapped in the limbo of low vaccination rates and high case numbers. At some point, the perils of lockdowns will trump the perils of the disease.

Yet this ultimate threshold is months away. Until then, it will be a balancing act.

Victorians are more likely to follow rules if they can see a way out. Picture: Ian Currie

Andrews promised modest changes if (yet to be detailed) thresholds were met.

Here are some suggestions.

Pointless restrictions, such as playground bans and the curfew, should be dropped immediately.

Essential workers should be compelled to be vaccinated. They spread the disease as readily as misbehaving citizens. That vaccinations have not been prioritised in particular settings, such as hospitals and schools, undermines the efforts of all.

If the 5km or similar limit remains in place, which appears likely, a less blanketed approach should be considered. Why lock down entire cities and states when outbreaks should, by brutal design, be contained to specific areas?

Andrews promised a plan for year 12 students.

Victoria’s lack of foresight, transparency and planning in this area is best described as scandalous. After all, there are few surprises in the rate or endurance of Delta strain spread.

It’s been same shit, different day, for weeks. Recognising this goes to another critical prong in the strategy.

As others have pointed out, people are choosing their own rules according to their own measures of safety. After what feels like a thousand days of being trapped in Antarctica, or on the moon, this is entirely understandable.

The prospect of nothing changing motivates at least some of these poor choices.

Victoria has lacked, unlike NSW, some blue sky promises. Optimism seems as essential as this or that policy setting. There needs to be projecting of easier times – or at least different shit, different day thinking - in the foreseeable future.

Threshold triggers, and the implied abandonment of the donut day nirvana, is progress.

But like all things COVID, the devil lurks in the detail. What thresholds will trigger what changes?

The strident history of the local approach hints that the changes won’t be as friendly as we need.