Message from the Publisher #11

Dear Readers,

Melbourne is officially open again from 11:59 pm 27 October 2020 after 112 days of lockdown with home confinement, travel restrictions and closing stores and restaurants.

It is a success by of Victorians. There are no other places in the world with an explosion of over 100’s of Covid-19 cases that reduced to a few cases. The cost is great. With over 800 deaths and many businesses going broke and lots of people losing their job in this second wave of infection, Victorians are paying an enormous cost to win this battle.

Premier Daniel Andrews praised the state’s six million residents, saying: “Fundamentally, this belongs to every single Victorian who has followed the rules, stayed the course, worked with me and my team, to bring this second wave to an end.”

Yes, few Victorians have disobeyed the order to wear masks and breaking the restriction rules. Over 15,000 Victorians had submitted to Covid-19 testing and isolation before the results were known every day. Few people were sympathetic to gathering for anti-lockdown protests. And small business owners had patiently waited for re-opening of their business and coming back of the customers without causing confusion in the society. It is a success of the cooperation of the Victorians that should be commended.

It is time the government should think about why this has happened?

Obviously, the failure of hotel quarantine was the source of this explosion but still, nobody in the government is found to have made the decision of using untrained and unprepared private security guards.

On the other hand, Deputy Secretary of DHHS Jeroen Weimar has categorically denied the Victorian health department sent mixed messages to the family at the centre of a cluster in Melbourne’s north. It was said that there might be misunderstanding but DHHS messages were accurate.

Both issues reflected that the government is NOT listening. Yes, the Victorian government have tried their best but they need to listen carefully to the voices of the community.

CALD communities who are new to this society need more resources and detailed instructions to help them to be engaged in this war with Covid-19. We have just recovered from a big setback and we cannot afford another mistake.

Regards,

Raymond Chow

Publisher, BlessingCALD