Susie O’Brien: Andrews government determined to keep handbrake on with isolation rules

We’ve earned the right to decide not to isolate if we have no Covid symptoms and a negative RAT — we all want to move on yet the Andrews government keeps holding us back.

For the past two years we’ve been lied to by the Andrews government.

We were told that everything we’d been through – lockdowns, isolation and restrictions – was to ensure the health system wasn’t overloaded while we battled the coronavirus.

At every step, we were told we’d be free as soon as it was possible.

This week both assertions have, once again, been shown to be false.

In February, Premier Daniel Andrews promised we would have some of the harshest restrictions on the planet “for not a moment longer than they were needed”.

And yet his government is still forcing people into a week’s isolation when the hospitals are not overloaded and there is no justification for it.

It was a lie.

In Victoria at present there are 63,000 Covid cases, but only 305 people in hospital and 13 in ICU.

It’s not 1300 or 130, but 13.

Sure, that’s 13 too many, but it’s a manageable number.

Our hospitals are stretched but coping, so there’s no reason to continue with any restrictions except the measures protecting the most vulnerable people.

Daniel Andrews told Victorians restrictions would only last until we were 70 per cent vaccinated. Picture: David Crosling

Victorians have kept their end of the bargain. We’ve got some of the highest vaccination rates in the world – 3.5 million of us are triple vaxxed and in total we’ve had 14 million jabs in our arms.

And yet it all means nothing because we are still not free.

In August 2021, Andrews told us that if we “follow them together, we’ll be able to lift them (restrictions) sooner”.

Well, it’s been more than two years and we’re still waiting.

Another lie.

In September 2021, Andrews told us restrictions would only last until we were 70 per cent vaccinated. He told us getting vaccinated “is well and truly our way out of this pandemic”.

Another lie.

We’re now 93.7 per cent double vaccinated and we’re still subject to restrictions.

In November 2021, he said our high vaccination rates makes us “one of the safest places in the world”.

More lies.

So if we’re so safe, why aren’t we free to go to work and send our kids to school when we wish?

All the way along we’ve been fed lies and half-truths to keep us compliant, not just by Andrews but his ministers.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick expressed frustration at isolation rules. Picture: Getty

In September 2020, then Police Minister Lisa Neville said the state of disaster is “never a decision we make lightly – and it won’t be in place a moment longer than it needs to be”.

So why are we still subject to draconian emergency powers?

The removal of the mask mandate still enslaving younger schoolchildren and some workers, and the removal of the week-long isolation period for household contacts are within the power of the state government.

Instead, Andrews is following the recommendation from The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, which wants states to wait until the peak of the BA.2 Omicron strain has passed.

The committee ruled on Friday that the isolation rules should remain because of the high transmissibility of the strain.

But that’s not where we’re at in this state.

Remember back in December Andrews telling us he would not be pursuing an “Omicron zero strategy?”

Victorians were told it’s not about case numbers, but making sure the hospitals were not overloaded.

Another lie.

Jaala Pulford dismissed critics of the rules. Picture: David Crosling

We’re now at the point where elective surgery is resuming, yet the rules are still in place.

I don’t blame Richmond coach Damien Hardwick for expressing his concern at missing talented younger players due to the pointless close contact isolation rules.

Minister Jaala Pulford is wrong to dismiss his views as just frustrations about footy. She would know Dimma was simply saying what we’re all feeling.

However, this is not about footballers or politicians.

It’s about the right of Victorians to go about their daily lives after all this time.

It is not a mere frustration. It is a hard-fought right earned over the past two years.

I think it’s responsible for those with Covid – such as the Premier last week – to isolate at home.

But those whose family members are sick – such as the Opposition Leader Matthew Guy – should not have to stay home if they keep testing negative and have no symptoms.

Pulford said the government would “keep listening to the health experts”.

But there are many esteemed health experts, including Professor Catherine Bennett, who are on the people’s side.

More lies.

After all this time, we have earned the right to decide that if we are fully vaccinated, have no symptoms and have done a negative RAT, then we don’t need to isolate.

We want to move on, and yet the government is still feeding us lies and holding us back.