Shannon Deery: Stage 4 shows Daniel Andrews has finally lost control of coronavirus crisis
Unlike previous promises we’ll get through this unscathed, there was no such assurance with the announcement of harsh Stage 4 measures. And why should there be, on this, our third, desperate shot at lockdown, writes Shannon Deery.
Opinion
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DISASTER.
The last thing Daniel Andrews wanted to do was to move us to stage four, and concede he’d lost control of this crisis.
But declaring a state of disaster on Sunday the Premier had to admit defeat.
Australia’s highest paid premier has led us to the worst possible outcome.
Students will suffer. Old people will suffer. Young kids will suffer. Families will suffer. Single people will suffer. The lonely will suffer.
Every single Victorian will suffer.
For at least the next six weeks in lockdown, but certainly more after that.
Already, mental health services are unable to cope. A chronic shortage of mental health practitioners can’t deal with an already strained system.
Unlike previous promises that we’ll get through this unscathed, there was no such assurance yesterday.
And why should there be, on this, our third shot at lockdown?
The stakes are much higher this time around.
The day before our first lockdown in mid-March, Victoria recorded eight new cases of COVID-19, catapulting the total number of cases in Victoria to 57.
There was just one case of COVID-19 in Victoria thought to have been acquired through community transmission.
Yesterday 671 new cases were detected, seven deaths reported, and the total number of cases hit in excess of 11,000 with soaring community transmission.
Mr Andrews said he just couldn’t accept days and days of cases in the hundreds.
Except he has. For weeks we’ve had soaring case numbers. Dozens of Victorians have died.
And yet little action over the past three weeks, a reluctance to ramp up the attack on this silent enemy.
There was the introduction of mandatory mask wearing, but that appears to have done little more than give people a false sense of security that all they need do is cover up to be COVID safe.
Look to the hundreds who hit St Kilda beach yesterday to “exercise”, or the jam-packed South Melbourne market with people shopping for “essentials”.
I wasn’t at either, for the record, but pictures of the crowded hot spots were doing the rounds on social media.
What about the cracking business hardware stores have been doing since March?
There’s nothing else to do, so may as well stay home and decorate.
One major electrical goods retailer was advising customers they had to come into the store over the weekend if they wanted to negotiate prices, it couldn’t be done over the phone.
All this in the middle of a pandemic?
Again we’ve been told if we all behave ourselves and do the right thing, this will be over in six weeks.
If history has taught us anything, it’s that we may very well be right back here in another six weeks.
Especially with the stage four light version of restrictions announced yesterday.
But for the bizarre curfew, there were few changes.
I say bizarre because, from my reading of the stage three restrictions, anyone playing in the spirit of the game wouldn’t have been out after 8pm anyway.
But now we’re being made to stay home by law, like alleged criminals who swap their nightly freedom for a shot at bail.
But take away the curfew and some other minor amendments (thank God sense has prevailed and families can no longer do the weekly shop together), and the restrictions are light on.
And confusing.
I can’t go for a walk with my family, but I can have an Ubereats driver come to my house, after presumably being to 20 other homes.
I can’t be out after 8pm, but supermarkets can stay open until late.
Through this whole pandemic, Mr Andrews has tried to have his cake and eat it too: enforce restrictions without upsetting anyone.
Apart from the fact that could never work, it literally hasn’t worked.
The danger with these new restrictions, apart from the fact they’ve come so late, is that they risk giving too little gain.
It’s likely the Premier will announce some much harsher workplace related restrictions on Monday.
Herein lies the problem.
Why break up the announcement? Why delay the inevitable? It does nothing but confuse people.
Are we in a state of disaster if things can wait a few days until we’re ready?
Disasters don’t wait.
The changes could see a significant number of businesses and industries forced to close.
Indeed Victoria could almost completely shut down.
Good. It seems that is the only way we’ll see this thing through.
A fierce economic knock now, for a shorter period, must be better than months of ongoing suffering, angst and uncertainty.
Between the hotel quarantine debacle and senseless inaction, the government has proven it can’t be trusted to get us through the crisis.
Likewise, many selfish Victorians, including the 130 COVID-positive ones who last week refused to self-isolate, have proven they can’t be trusted to do the right thing.
The safest thing is for us all to just sit inside for a few weeks and ride it out.
Maybe a harder, swifter lockdown from day one could have avoided so much pain for so many.
SHANNON DEERY IS HERALD SUN STATE POLITICS EDITOR