The Almighty Doughnut

As a Victorian and more specifically, a Melburnian, 2020 has been a bit full on at times. After something went wrong in the Melbourne Quarantine Program, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly threatened to get out of control. 

Sutton & Andrews (pic via ABC)

With a peak of more than 700 daily cases (some people claim it was only 500, but really, if that's your focus you may be missing the point), our state government, lead by Premier Dan Andrews and his team, including Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, reinstated a citywide lockdown on July 8th, 2020 which included the following restrictions;

You were only allowed to leave your home for 4 permitted reasons;

    - You were visiting a Doctor/Medical Appointment
    - You were shopping for food
    - You were getting and hour of exercise
    - You were employed as an essential worker.

Extra restrictions included a 5km radius limit from your home and a curfew from 8pm-5am each evening. These requirements were to remain in place until our city reached a 14-day average of fewer than 5 daily cases and fewer than 5 cases with an unknown/mystery source.

That's the rough summary. So what happened?

One thing we did learn was that not everyone is equal in our society. Of course, some of us knew this already, but it does become rather more obvious when everyone is struck by the same problem, ie: a global pandemic. When you are reliant on each member of your community to do the right thing in order to protect the safety of everyone, you're often required to pay attention to situations beyond your own little bubble. And aside from the obvious pandemic-related tragedies of death and illness, restricted access to dying loved ones and limitations to funerals attendees, a lot more was just below the surface when scratched. 

Non-secure living conditions, underemployment, the casualisation of the workforce, homelessness, the precarious nature of many businesses, the mental health of people otherwise glossed over by the "RUOK?" crowd, extroverts craving physical contact, adult children unable to visit older parents, the pimping out of our privately-owned Aged Care system to folks more interested in their lavish lifestyles than the welfare of anyone living in their facilities, the list really does go on. 

These issues suddenly stood out.

Stood out like what now?

112 days later. 0 cases. 14 day rolling average <5. <5 mystery cases.

Dan, Brett and the team (which includes all Victorians) had done it.
The first 'Doughnut Day' since June 9th!

The aim of the lockdown was to push the number of cases down to such an extent that it could be maintained at that single digit level from now on. Any community transmissions could be stomped on and contacts isolated to prevent further spread. Even contacts of contacts, that is the approach from now until a vaccine comes along...if it comes along. So now what?

Well there are two rather different positions being taken at the moment.

Firstly, there are the critics of the Govt. and these are also split between two groups;

    1a. The political whingers who are pissed that they're not in charge, but secretly fucking relieved that they weren't, because they have little concept when it comes to supporting people in need. For these types, helping out your "fellow man" is pouring them another wine at lunch. It's a fundamental lack of wanting to be in power for any reason other than to possess the power. Nothing is achieved beyond feathering one's nest or the nests of those who support them and their nest-feathering endeavours. These people are partisan cretins who are often described as 'showbags' - Full of crap.

Liberal Showbag, Tim "Deer in the headlights" Smith

    1b. The second group we should actually listen to because through no fault of their own, they have been directly impacted by the government's health-based approach to protecting the community. They may have lost their job, they may have gone stir-crazy in isolation, their business may have collapsed under the lockdown and their savings depleted. These folks have suffered and should be assisted.

I understand why these people in category 1b are pissed off with Dan and the crew. After all, he's the one that made the lockdown decision. It doesn't matter than it was to save people's lives or health and prevent the spread of the coronavirus through the city and state. They are still responsible.

It's a harsh reality, but it's true. 
They're angry and they want to point the finger somewhere. 

On the other side we have...

    2. Group 2 (of which I am a member) supports the state govt. They are grateful for the efforts to effectively extinguish the virus after a 2nd wave. Looking at the numbers around the world, I can't think of anywhere else I would want to live (well, maybe New Zealand). The norm is for the number of infections to skyrocket and the health systems around the world to struggle under the pressure. 
The USA has 1000 deaths a day. That is hard to comprehend.

It is at this point that I will acknowledge that I have yet to go into the problem with the Hotel Quarantine Program here in Melbourne. The supposed source for the 2nd wave. That blog post will come. However at this time I think it is important to focus on the steps moving forward. There are plenty of tanty-throwing right-wing journos for the finger-pointing.

The Premier says that there is an 'unprecedented' level of programs and job creating initiatives to be kicked off in the upcoming State Budget. I am keen to see what will be on offer and how interconnected the projects will be with the areas of need described earlier. The areas we have ignored or swept under the city's carpet for way too long.

COVID-19 sucks. It kills and has ruined lives, however now we should look to the rebuild of the economy as an opportunity. An opportunity to address several issues at a time rather than the all too often political patchwork approach of project announcements.

Victoria and Melbourne has a LOT going on, particularly in the construction industry. Rail, tunnels, major road projects, rail crossing removals, the list goes on, but these have also continued during the lockdown.

If Melbourne is to truly and rapidly recover from a 4 month lockdown, non-construction industry jobs should be a large part of the focus. I am 100% confident that the Victorian State Government cares about the community enough to ensure the projects are effective and produce jobs and results, unlike the never-ending stream of announcements and reannouncements from the Federal Government, who aside from spending billions upon billions to supplement incomes (an important approach), are largely focused on maintaining power for the sake of power. 

llama
@SirWonderLlama