More than a year and a half into the pandemic, Australians are no strangers to lockdowns: Sydney is going through its worst COVID-19 outbreak yet with a snap lockdown announced for Dubbo; south-east Queensland’s lockdown ended just as a three-day lockdown in the north was announced; Victoria is in its sixth lockdown which has just been extended — their fourth lockdown this year.
But lockdowns this year feel harsher than in previous years, and there are a number of reasons why. We have lingering emotional and financial trauma from last year. There’s no clear path to freedom from the federal government, with its post-vaccination transition plan lacking key details. Financial aid is still a shambles, vaccines are out of reach for many, and any novelty of the pandemic has worn off.
Our sacrifices last year were for nothing as cases continue to grow and regions get shuttered again.
Looking abroad doesn’t help
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Parliament yesterday: “No government has got anything right, whether here in Australia or anywhere else around the world.”
But there’s little solidarity with other wealthy Western nations. The UK celebrated Freedom Day; international news websites are littered with ads for airline deals; the White House has announced lockdowns were no longer a solution to high COVID cases in the US. As White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week:
This is not March 2020 or even January 2021. We’re not going to lock down our economy or our schools because our country is in a much stronger place than when we took office.
But for Australia, life is pretty much the same as it was seven months ago. Watching other countries celebrate freedom after we spent a year feeling superior for having avoided high deaths and hospitalisations (largely thanks to our geography) is tough. Any guilty sense of schadenfreude has since been reversed.
Fear has not subsided
“I remember the fears of that time [in March 2020],” Morrison continued in Parliament. “Of what this could do to our most vulnerable communities.”
Those fears have not subsided. The vulnerable populations Morrison was talking about were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Many regional areas avoided infection thanks to community-led health initiatives, although there are still concerns for cities. While Indigenous Australians have been prioritised for the Pfizer vaccine, the Health Department doesn’t provide data on how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have received the vaccine in its vaccine rollout updates. Rhetoric has largely focused on regional communities, and there are concerns many Aboriginal medical services don’t offer the vaccine, potentially inhibiting uptake in metropolitan areas.
While about 80% of those over 70 are vaccinated with at least one shot, recent deaths and outbreaks in aged care homes have shown the risk has not gone away. This constant feeling of risk fuels pandemic fatigue — especially, one Australian-based study found — in cities that had a relatively easy time last year.
Economic outlook is bleak
Morrison went on to spruik Australia’s economic recovery — a recovery that is now in danger as NSW is at risk of a recession (not to mention most of our economic recovery was geared towards male-dominated industries, with women in NSW losing jobs at a faster rate than men).
Financial support is not as simple as it should be 18 months into a pandemic. Support payments still exclude many businesses and workers, and the lack of JobKeeper presents the risk that for those forced to skip their shift, their job won’t be there when they get back.
Even though for NSW this lockdown is already longer than last, JobSeeker hasn’t been given the same boost as it was last year and JobKeeper has been axed, with hundreds of thousands relying on the second-lowest welfare payments among OECD nations to stay afloat. Thousands have been asked to return their JobKeeper payments while businesses that made a profit get to keep their cash.
Business confidence has suffered its second-biggest hit since the global financial crisis.
Vaccinations are out of reach for many
Vaccinations have long been lauded as the key to freedom. While last year we excitedly checked updates on vaccine clinical trials, this year we’re instead watching the rollout happen at a snail’s pace.
Australia’s bungled vaccine rollout — from the University of Queensland abandoning its vaccine over false HIV-positive readings, to not securing enough Pfizer or enough Moderna early on, to the rare risks of blood clots linked to AstraZeneca and the subsequent mixed messaging around who is eligible to get it — has made it tough to get enough of the population vaccinated to avoid lockdowns.
Worse, young Australians were insulted with an ad showing a young woman gasping for air — an ad nurses took offence to as they wouldn’t let a patient suffer like that without intervention — urging ineligible Australians to get vaccinated.
Little to look forward to in the transition plan
The final straw is the lack of a pathway out. The government’s four-phase plan for a vaccinated Australia — the modelling of which was released only last week — is, like most COVID-19 messaging from the government, vague as hell. The Doherty modelling that guided the response plan doesn’t even go into the fourth phase of the plan, or even much into the third.
When we hit 70% vaccination rates for the adult population — which, in one silver lining, is likely to happen sooner than the government is saying — international border caps will be implemented. Whether these will be lifted to the same level as earlier in the year is unknown. There will be eased restrictions on vaccinated residents — although these restrictions have yet to be determined.
What we need is clear goals to determine when we’ll be able to visit our families interstate or abroad and time frames to give people something to look forward to.
These clear goals, including providing details on when extra government powers will be walked back, could also drive vaccination rates, providing a light at the end of the tunnel for those of us stuck in the gloomy cycle of lockdowns and pandemic fatigue.
Complete lack of confidence in the Federal Governments ability to provide leadership and Inspiration, or to plan and deliver policy efficiently and effectively. No trust because there nothing and nobody there to trust, no faith that they are interested in the nation they lead or have our interests at heart. It’s just a disorganised, self-interested shambles of corrupt politicians only interested in hanging on to power and for what? They actively avoid doing anything useful or at all.
That’s how I feel today as our Melbourne lockdown, seeded from Sydney, is extended another week. More plans and outings cancelled yet again.
And there’s no end in sight.
The reason being due to Berejikill doing a Boris Johnson and thinking she can vaccinate her way out of the state of disaster she has brought upon Australia. This despite the vaccine supply being precarious, the strollout being a pork barrel rollout for Aspen Medical, GP and pharmacy mates.
Just a couple of casual observations from a non-expert in the medical field.
Firstly, the most important “freedom’ for me and those close to me, at the moment, is ‘freedom from the virus’, not freedom to swan about in the community and not to wear a mask (although I find wearing a mask when I am out and about to be an inconvenience. I believe that it is best to follow expert medical advice). The lockdowns and other various restrictions are, on balance, the least worst course of action that can be taken in combating this very infections and potentially deadly disease.
Secondly, I believe it would be absolute madness to even consider the easing of restrictions before we have a very high proportion of the population fully vaccinated and purpose-built quarantine centers are built and operated by the Federal Government. These facilities must be built and operated by experienced professionals and not by cost-cutting, bean-counting, economic rationalist maggots. (Apologies for the strong language.)
You will never be “free of the virus” in your mind.
In the real physical world the lockdowns and restrictions, on balance, are the worst response that could ever be made.
I am unclear just how you arrive at the conclusion that:
“In the real physical world the lockdowns and restrictions, on balance, are the worst response that could ever be made.”
In countries such as America, Brazil and Sweden, just to name a few, that have not chosen to go down the restriction and lockdown path, the number of infections and deaths have far exceeded what we have seen here in Australia. Although there have certainly been mistakes made here by Governments we are in a much better state than in any of those countries. It is sheer insanity and totally irresponsible to adopt a ‘let her rip’ approach to this virus.
I am also not clear about what you mean in your first sentence either. We may well never be “free of the virus”, but I do not see that as the most immediate problem.
My issue is not with lockdowns per se, but our lockdkwn response here in Australia which I regard as disproportionate and partially politically motivated.
We used a sledge hammer to hammer a mid sized nail into a wall, smashing the frame in the process.
At this stage, the repercussions are not able to be measured, but everyday we are told how many cases of this virus have been measured, and how many people have been tested. A covid death is elevated above all other reasons for death. We have become obsessed with one side of the coin, because it is simple, As the cost of our folly immeasurably rises we continue to kick that can down the road whilst people’s dreams, ambitions and plans rot.
PS I am sitting at home in my safe IT job getting paid everyday and my wife’s government job pay check roles in every month like clockwork.
If I hate lockdown, how must if feel for those who’s income has disappeared, who haven’t been able to visit family, go to funerals, get married, see friends, etc.
Its a cluster**** of a response from our governments.
Thank you for your reply Melbourne.
I am not sure what you are suggesting that the State and Federal Governments here in Australia should do as an alternative to lockdowns and the restrictions. If you can come up with a workable and viable suggestion then I am sure that that your state government, not to mention the health experts and the federal government, would love to hear from you.
If you think that the response from our governments was bad, then what is your opinion of how, say, the American, Brazilian and Swedish governments, for example, handled the COVID problem?
I know where I would much rather be living.
Well I suppose that’s where we differ, I’d much rather be there, than here. But I cannot leave the country.
Melbourne, I cannot believe that you mean what you say. I am quite frankly gobsmacked to say the least. Have you looked at the infection rates, and death rates from COVID in those countries?
Anyway, I hope that you remain in good health in all respects, while you are in Australia.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte conceded on Monday that coronavirus restrictions had been lifted too soon in the Netherlands and he apologised as infections surged to their highest levels of the year.
Part of the problem is the desire to declare victory over the virus and claim credit when the virus had not gone away. This was couple with the feeling that 1 January 2021 somehow marked a new beginning when viruses don’t use calendars. Some honest straight talking from the top would have been useful in dampening expectations but the PM couldn’t resist grabbing a big of good news as part of his re-election strategy, which seems to be the only thing he really cares about.
When we hit 70% vaccination rates for the adult population — which, in one silver lining, is likely to happen sooner than the government is saying — international border caps will be implemented.
70% is a very low threshold for any kind of opening up, especially as it applies only to people over 16 years and amounts to about 55% of the total population. The Delta variant is prevalent in lower age groups, and some epidemiologists are advocating vaccination for those as young as 2. Other countries with much more rapid vaccination rates have slowed once they’ve reached about 60% (or just below that) of the adult population; the UK, USA, Israel for example, have found it quite hard to rope in the last 20%. But even 80% is on the low side for the Delta strain, according to my reading, or any worse variants that might emerge. And getting to either of those targets may take longer, rather than sooner, than forecast, regardless of how many doses become available.
At 70% the people who are worried about Covid are free to stay at home, don’t go out, and get their food delivered.
80% appears to be the maximum vaccination rate achieved anywhere.
We can’t all stay locked in whilst we search for some pie in the sky unachievable magic number and are held hostage by anti-vaxxers, social misanthropes and other fringe dwelling nut cases.
As soon as those international borders open I’ll be on a one way trip out of this hell hole making sure the door doesn’t hit me on the arse on the way outta here. I’d even fly to wherever the hottest Covid location on earth is and take my chances with the double vaccination I have.
Be careful what you with for Melbourne. I wish you the best of luck what ever happens.
Hi Crikey just giving you a wave and a reminder about how COVID-19 is managed in WA I really love reading your many and varied in-depth articles but gee when it comes to the great East- West divide the old East Coast focus comes to the fore. It would be great to get some positive feedback on how the WA state government has handled this pandemic rather than the dismissive little brother over there approach from the big boys in the East. Gladys and Scotty full of NSW hubris have well and truly stuffed this up and it will be a huge burden now for the whole country to recover.
WA has done great, but it has had the same advantage Australia has had, remoteness.
Its a remote place in a remote continent and so has done proportionally better, as one would expect.
It’s not really a management issue, just statistics.
I don’t know of anyone being dismissive of WA, in fact I’m sure many think it’s a great place to be whilst riding out this health (and political) disaster.
Hopefully one day we’ll be allowed to visit, although I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Suffering from the inferiority complex many in the great state of WA appear to relish