Coronavirus: Dan Andrews doth protest too much about COVID

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: AAP

The Victorian government and its woke police fail to resist thousands of people illegally gathering in the heart of Melbourne in the midst of a highly contagious pandemic in blatant disregard for the health of the community “Local lockdowns to isolate virus”, 23/6).

The utterly predictable result? A big spike in infections risking the lives of the most vulnerable, not the least of which are Aboriginal elders.

That bad orange man 10,000 miles away has a lot to answer for.

Ian Mastin, Woodgate Beach, Qld

Patrons going to restaurants and cafes in Queensland, NSW and Victoria are required by law to provide full contact details before entry, thereby providing authorities the detail to initiate contact tracing should that be necessary.

Why then did not government authorities insist on a similar process of providing contact details before entry to the BLM protests? They could have easily made this a condition of entry.

Prior to the lockdown, all attendees at major sporting matches had to queue to gain entry and their bags were routinely searched to protect the safety of all attendees. To the best of my knowledge no bag searches were conducted at any of the protest rallies in these three states. Why?

Brian Barker, East Brisbane 4169

It is of great concern that the government is considering forcing travellers to pay for their own hotel quarantine if returning home from overseas.

These people are not flouting the rules. They aren’t away from the country on a beach in the Bahamas and have suddenly decided they’ve had enough Pina Coladas.

They are people who have recently lost jobs, whose family members are sick, who need medical treatment that is unavailable or cost prohibitive where they currently reside, or who are navigating the return of children, elderly parents or spouses living in other countries.

Australian citizens who live/work overseas should not be lumped with this on top of everything else the pandemic has thrown up. The bigger question is – if someone who has COVID-19 can be trusted to isolate for 14 days at home, why are returning travellers not afforded the same trust?

Alexis Fishman, Bellevue Hill, NSW

The Bible quote about “seeing the speck in your brother’s eye but not seeing the plank in your own eye” surely applies to Victorian Premier Dan Andrews when he is blaming family gatherings for the spike in coronavirus cases while he permitted thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters to freely gather.

Brian Whybrow, Wanniassa, ACT

If coronavirus outbreaks are occurring in the midst of restrictions, then what will happen when restrictions are eased?

It should be obvious that global cities like Sydney and Melbourne can’t fully reopen for business until comprehensive testing and tracking systems are in place, and that the COVID-19 phone app is far from comprehensive. Meanwhile, regional Australians are subjected to stupid rules despite having zero infections.

In this era of integrated circuits, IT and barcode scanners, how hard could it be to come up with a comprehensive tracing system for the health authorities to analyse?

Russell Graham, Highton, Vic

Not much of any consequence is being said about the sudden spikes in coronavirus cases in Melbourne. Health authorities and government are giving only scant details.

However, it is too much of coincidence that cases have spiked in the two-week time frame that was given concerning when we would see if the protests in Melbourne had any effect on the spread of the virus.

Daniel Andrews needed to be tougher on the protest movement but his softly softly approach was an abject failure.

What with everything else going on it is turning out to be the premier’s annus horribillus!

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic