Melbournian’s 200 days of dystopian lockdown

 

 

Melbournians woke up to their 200^th day under lockdown on the 19^th of August, 2021. This also marks the start of the third week of the extended sixth lockdown. And what kind of a world is it?

 

If a Melbournian took a walk within their allotted 5 km radial confinement, within his allowance of daily exercise time, and within the limits of curfew hours, they might see striped tapes wound like spider webs around swings and slides, brazenly denying children access to playgrounds, deemed too contagious by the authorities. This despite government figures, multiple studies, and systematic reviews all showing that the chance of outdoor transmission is virtually nil.

 

They might walk by empty and quiet schools on a week day, with no sounds of laughter, no high jinx, and no bells announcing recess or class. While children like Malala Yousafzai are willing to risk being shot in the head for some education, the Victorian government has deemed education in schools too risky for our children. This is in spite of CDC data showing that while making up 22.3 percent of the population of the US, children (under 18 years) make up only 0.1 percent of deaths associated with COVID-19. In the UK, with a population well over double that of Australia, data show that in the first year of the pandemic, 25 children (under 18 years) died of SARS-CoV-2, out of whom 18 died as a direct result of the virus, and of the 25, 19 had preexisting chronic health conditions.

 

Compared to this, in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is the capital, Victorian Coroner’s Court data show that eight girls under the age of 18 have died by suicide between January and July in 2021, versus just one such death in 2020. The Victorian Agency for Health Information reports show that the number of teenagers hospitalized for self-harm or suicidal thoughts have ballooned by 51 percent this year, with a weekly average of 148 cases, compared to 98 cases in 2020.

 

Is anyone surprised that a mental health pandemic is blossoming in young Melbournians under such an extended, unpredictable and draconian response to a virus that is now shown to be only as deadly as the seasonal flu for youths? What scars this might leave for the rest of their lives are hardly brought up, let along discussed.

 

The strolling boulevardier might see half-finished houses, standing mute and idle; local shops and restaurants closed or shutdown. The vast majority of Melbourne’s 300,000 strong construction workers live within lockdown areas and are unable to work. It is also neigh on impossible for many businesses to keep head above water through a time during which seven out of the last 16 months were in sporadic and abrupt lockdowns.

 

In stark contrast, the opening of the UK has spurred on economic growth not seen for almost a century. In the second quarter of 2021, the UK economy grew at more than double the rate of the EU, and tripling that of the US. Simultaneously, cases have been falling steadily in the UK, surprising many experts. Similarly, in Sweden, 7-day average death numbers have been zero for over two weeks, a-month-and-a-half after they abandoned all mask recommendations. The Swedish economy has also surpassed its pre-pandemic size. A reasonable person might think that this is evidence that lockdowns do no good whatsoever.

 

The pedestrian, hastily adjusting his mask, may chance upon policemen pepper spraying young girls in the face for not wearing a mask. He might see friends exchanging everyday greetings furtively on street corners, alert as nervous herbivores, in case they are reported by nosey and self-righteous neighbours, encouraged by the government, for illegally gathering.

 

After his walk, he might return home, unmask, turn on the television, and see the authorities telling him that all this is for his own good.