Susie O’Brien: Lockdown is coming, so let’s just get it done
The economic cost of a full lockdown would be catastrophic, but now is the time to go into complete lockdown and stop the irresponsible actions of those who refuse to take the current situation seriously, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
Don't miss out on the headlines from Susie O'Brien. Followed categories will be added to My News.
‘Just get on with it. Let’s have the pain now so we can get back to normal faster.” Shane, the guy who came by yesterday to deliver topsoil for our garden, wants Victoria to move immediately to a full lockdown.
Even though his job would be impacted, he’s keen to get it over with.
He’s ready. We are all ready. Let’s do it now.
Each additional day without a lockdown means one day longer — maybe more — before normality resumes.
Victoria is moving to stage three restrictions, but it’s well short of a full lockdown.
After an increase of 52 cases on Sunday night, Premier Daniel Andrews announced new measures on Monday morning.
These include a ban on gatherings of more than two people and the closure of skate parks, outdoor gyms and playgrounds.
Those are important steps. Many people aren’t taking this seriously enough.
My local playground was packed on the weekend. So was the leafy bike path that winds its way to a popular weekend coffee haunt. So was the skate park and the BMX track down by the freeway. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was life as usual.
The rhetoric from politicians doesn’t match the current measures.
Andrews said people “should only leave the house to go to work or study, to exercise, to get essential food and supplies or medical care”.
So why are coffee shops open for takeaways? Why are hardware shops and garden centres open?
Andrews said no gathering “is worth someone’s life”.
Surely the same applies to shopping queues?
We’re told to stay at home and yet shopping centres and hairdressers are still open.
How can we justify people dashing out for a haircut or a new handbag when lives are at stake?
Or picking up a pair of two-tone pumps from Chanel? A friend of mine works at Chadstone and she tells me such stores still have customers.
If keeping these businesses open means the infection rates don’t drop as fast, then many people would prefer them to be closed. That includes those who will lose their jobs as a result.
Most just want to be home with their kids and away from customers who could carry the virus.
In any case, many shops have closed already.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also peddling mixed messages. On Sunday night he said his wife recently went out and bought puzzles for his children.
“I can assure you over the next few months we will consider those jigsaw puzzles absolutely essential,” he said.
What rot. Anything you can easily buy online (apart from food) is not an essential service.
A lockdown is also needed because some people won’t follow social distancing unless they’re forced to do so. The influx of holiday-makers to the Mornington Peninsula and Surf Coast on the weekend illustrated that. Although they were told to stay home, many people left Melbourne to stay at their holiday houses. Sites like Airbnb are still taking bookings for such areas, with bargains encouraging still more people to leave their homes — the exact opposite of what they’re being told to do.
At the time of writing, we’ve had 17 deaths and more than 4000 cases nationally. We’ve managed so far to slow the growth and are doing much better than many other countries.
And yet thousands of people are returning from overseas, so the numbers are expected to jump.
There is still much to be worried about. In two days last week, the number of cases jumped from 186 to 821, and there are still cases of community transmission not linked to overseas travel.
A full lockdown would be no picnic. We would have to stay inside all day, every day, only leaving the house to buy essential items, exercise once a day, get medical supplies, or go to work in essential industries.
Judging by China, it may go on for 10 weeks or more. In New Zealand, the lockdown is four weeks, but it may be extended.
The economic cost of a lockdown would be catastrophic. There are warnings one in three businesses won’t reopen. But the human cost of not doing all we can could be momentous. US experts predict up to 200,000 people in America alone could die. The sooner we face the worst, the better.
We as a community don’t fear the future; what we worry about is mismanagement of this crisis.
Life is going to look different for a while, but the sooner we go into lockdown, the sooner we get our lives back.
Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist.