Two words overshadowed the historic announcement today of unprecedented restrictions on businesses and workplaces as part of Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown.
Premier Daniel Andrews fronted the media late in the afternoon to outline the closure of virtually all retail businesses in the Victorian capital, the scaling back of trades and other jobs, and the reduction in staffing levels in offices.
It was a painful explanation of the dramatic changes to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, with untold economic and social consequences.
The details no doubt left coronavirus crisis-fatigued Victorians – and particularly Melburnians – reeling, on top of Sunday’s news of a nightly curfew and severe restrictions on movement.
But there were two words in the Premier’s announcement, distributed during his press conference, that immediately leapt out at the reporters present.
And they’ve sparked quite a bit of unnecessary confusion and even panic.
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The inclusion of the words “stage 5” in a press release accompanying the full details of the closures that will impact Melbourne quickly drew attention away from the business of the day.
“It’s hard to imagine what a stage five might look like, but it would radically change the way people live,” it read.
That might just be the understatement of 2020.
It’s expected that stage 4 will result in at least 250,000 job losses, devastation for small businesses and a multibillion-dollar hit to the national economy.
On top of that, Melburnians will be effectively confined to their homes unless it’s absolutely essential to leave for another six weeks.
Going out after 8pm will be illegal. A ‘State of Disaster’ has been declared for the second time in the state’s history. The case numbers and death toll continue to rise.
That should rightly be the focus, so the decision to even utter the words “stage 5” is bizarre.
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“We’re not thinking about a stage 5,” Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said.
“We’re thinking about a successful stage 4. We know it can work. But it does require – and this is what we’re talking about (with) a stage 5 is – it does require everyone’s co-operation.”
It wasn’t the most elegant clarification.
If the government and medical experts aren’t thinking about a stage 5, Professor Sutton was asked why it was mentioned at all in the announcement.
“Well it mentions it because it’s saying that the alternative is inconceivable. We need everyone to do what’s required now in order to get to where we want to be.”
Essentially he’s saying that stage 4 is painful and severe, and it needs to work because the next step would be even more horrific.
What that next step looks like it anybody’s guess. Or, as Professor Sutton put it, “inconceivable”.
A month or two back, so too was a nightly curfew on the almost five million residents of Melbourne, it must be said.
Mr Andrews was quizzed about the stage 5 reference, given it was contained in his media release, and rejected the idea that it could make people uneasy.
“The reason stage 5 is mentioned is because there is no stage 5,” he added. “It doesn’t work.”
Again, that’s not quite the clearest explanation, but he went on to say that it was meant to drive home the importance of adhering to stage 4 measures.
If not, and if Victoria’s stubbornly high number of new daily cases of coronavirus doesn’t come down, then more will need to be done.
“Otherwise, we will have to develop a set of rules that will even further limit people’s movement. I don’t want to get to a situation where we’ve got to take those steps.
”You know, you can be polite and not talk about those matters, but that’s not the way that I operate. I’m being frank. I’m being direct. I’m making it clear to people.
“We all have to follow these rules. We all have to accept that this is the reality we’re now confronted by. We have to make this work.”
If you’re still unconvinced and wondering what a stage 5 lockdown could possibly look like, given the severity of these new measures, you’re not alone.
“We’re, at best, uncertain what the next steps would be,” Mr Andrews said.
And earlier in the media appearance, Professor Sutton conceded there weren’t even many more measures that could be implemented.
This is, in many ways, Victoria’s last shot at getting things right.
“We’ve got to focus on this,” Mr Andrews said.
“We can all make contributions large and small but, be in now doubt – all of us must make this contribution.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMivgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9saWZlc3R5bGUvaGVhbHRoL2hlYWx0aC1wcm9ibGVtcy9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy12aWN0b3JpYS1kYW5pZWwtYW5kcmV3cy1zdGFnZS00LWFubm91bmNlbWVudC1oYWQtdHdvLXdvcmRzLXRoYXQtc3BhcmtlZC1wYW5pYy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2FhODBmMjU2NWJjMGM1ZDgyZTRlNDM4OTRmNWEwNGY20gG-AWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L2xpZmVzdHlsZS9oZWFsdGgvaGVhbHRoLXByb2JsZW1zL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXZpY3RvcmlhLWRhbmllbC1hbmRyZXdzLXN0YWdlLTQtYW5ub3VuY2VtZW50LWhhZC10d28td29yZHMtdGhhdC1zcGFya2VkLXBhbmljL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvYWE4MGYyNTY1YmMwYzVkODJlNGU0Mzg5NGY1YTA0ZjY?oc=5
2020-08-03 08:58:48Z
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