As every Victorian braces for the fourth lockdown to be extended, the Andrews Labor Government must release the information provided to them including the criteria used to extend this current lockdown, along with what trigger points will be used to lift lockdown.
We’ve been continually told that this lockdown is a circuit breaker. However, it’s evident that it won’t be with hundreds of exposure sites and a system that has yet again become overwhelmed.
Professor Nancy Baker on 3AW this morning said “if you let things get out of control, it takes a lot longer to get them under control”, yet the Government and health bureaucrats have continually told Victorians that they had it under control, even refusing assistance last week from interstate.
The continual arrogant approach by the Andrews Labor Government refusing assistance, and its ongoing failures and mismanagement of the COVID pandemic is taking a toll.
Victorians have endured enough, and this fourth lockdown is the last blow for too many. Their finances, relationships, mental health, general health and wellbeing are all being tested and the ongoing uncertainty is only adding to the distress and pain.
The Government claims that the virus is jumping from “stranger to stranger” through fleeting transmissions. If that is the case, the Government needs to answer the following:
- Why has a film crew been allowed to continue working in Port Melbourne where there’s a known cluster in a workplace and multiple tier 1 sites have been identified in the area?
- Why is the construction industry allowed to operate with workers travelling across the city and in various food outlets?
- What impact did identifying the wrong supermarket in Epping North have with a delay in vital tracking and tracing for days, and any potential for the “stranger to stranger” contact to occur?
- What does the modelling indicate about delayed identified sites and potential for mystery cases circulating within the community?
- In relation to those who were given an exemption from hotel quarantine and allowed to quarantine in their own homes:
- What country did they arrive from?
- When did they leave hotel quarantine?
- Did they arrive to their own homes and reside on their own or were there existing family members residing in the house?
- How many tests did they have and on what dates?
- Did they travel to get those tests or did a health official conduct them in their home?
- On what date did they leave home quarantine?
- In which suburb(s) do they reside?
- Was the person who conducted the tests fully vaccinated?
- How were they monitored and how often were they checked?
- In addition, what will the impacts of this ongoing lockdown be to the elective surgery wait list, the dental wait list, and vital health screenings?
Victoria is only the state to have a fourth lockdown and Victorians quite correctly are asking the question, why?
They also deserve to know the answers to the questions the Government refuses to provide.
Victoria is in this position not due to bad luck, but due to bad management. The Andrews Labor Government has failed to manage COVID and has no plan for Victoria’s economic recovery.