Susie O’Brien: Ignorance not an excuse for rule-breaking Casey coronavirus cluster
Cops should be using the full force of the law against the members of the five families in City of Casey coronavirus cluster who are being uncooperative with contact tracers, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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While the rest of us have been staying home, some people in Melbourne’s southeast have been partying like it’s 1999 - or 2019.
The rule-breaking of just five families could be enough to hold up Victoria’s progression out of lockdown.
It’s depressing and maddening.
The cluster, which started on September 4 at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, is linked to 34 cases in the City of Casey. It’s spread to Hallam, Clyde, Narre Warren South and Cranbourne North.
Members of these five families have been visiting each other in violation of stay-at-home mandates and rules prohibiting movement beyond 5kms.
It’s thought the main spreaders are older teenagers who are continuing to socialise freely in each other’s homes.
I know lockdown is dragging on, but there’s absolutely no reason for this.
Ignorance is no excuse. Everyone else is doing the right thing, so why not this mob?
Sure, the City of Casey has a higher than average population of overseas-born people, mainly from India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has suggested the cluster families are from the Afghan community.
But so what? Community leaders and local business owners have been working hard to get the message out there, especially in areas such as this.
Young people in particular understand the virus and how it is spread.
No doubt they know about the rules but don’t care. Perhaps they think they won’t get sick, so they don’t abide by restrictions.
If they don’t think of themselves, they should think of older, more vulnerable people they come into contact with.
Even more concerning are reports that some of these people aren’t being open and honest with contact tracers, making it even harder to contain the outbreak.
Professor Allan Cheng, the Deputy Chief Health Officer, says contact tracers have had to interview some of these people a number of times to work out the relationships between them.
What a disgrace.
Rather than hassling old ladies sitting on park benches, police should target those refusing to co-operate with contact tracers, and slap them with significant fines.
Being in lockdown is devastating and depressing, but we all have to play our part if we have any hope of opening up our city by the end of next month.