Melbourne apartment towers complete lockdown

[Imtootired]

In Melbourne, Aus there are five tower blocks that will be put under complete lockdown for five days. I am all for being proactive about stopping the spread of coronavirus but this is madness. They are public housing so people on very low incomes for various reasons including elderly and disabled people, refugees and single parents. There will be police guarding each floor. No one will be able to leave for any reason. There have been many reports of bad hygiene practices for people quarantined in hotels and it makes me so angry that the government and dodgy contacted companies didn’t do their jobs properly and now the most vulnerable are paying the price. How will they be able to attend to all the individual needs of 3000 people? If I was stuck in a tiny apartment with my children with no time to prepare I would be furious. There were no armed guards for rich travellers returning home. I’m so angry and feel so bad for the residents. This is the beginning of a police state and once it’s happened it could happen again. If I was a resident I would be getting legal advice ASAP. I hope someone takes them to court.

That's OK, Whichoneofyoudidthat, I should have been paying more attention.

www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/topic/1210344-public-housing-lockdown/

Remove this link if not ok but it's to an Aussie forum on this topic. The main concerns for people so far are food supply, Inc for pets, medicine, DV situations and addiction complications
But also being a high immigrant area there also a fear all the stuff promised won't come and those there don't know they can or how to stand up for their rights under Aus law. The cops with guns can also rehash memories of war torn countries they fled, that's how things like PTSD work, that cop most wouldn't look sideways at to others is a bogey man coming to kill them cos that's what they fled

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/05/it-was-a-shock-to-see-police-surround-our-tower-blocks-but-im-happy-victoria-is-helping-us-at-last?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Notes
This a piece by someone who lives in one of the lockdown buildings who has a positive outlook on it and is a refugee

Its a mixed bag of opinions depending who you ask and what their life experience is

Me personally, just put a dome over Vic and let the rest of us get on with it lol

@StartupRepair

It does suck to be poor. The first people to spread the virus around Melbourne were the ultrarich who had just been skiing at Aspen and then went to a series of upmarket birthday parties and beach holidays. They weren't confined in any way.

That’s not actually quite fair. The returning travellers from Aspen came back to Australia and were not required to quarantine (we’re talking some time in Feb, or early March I think?). They were advised a few days after they’d returned that someone at the gathering had tested positive. They didn’t come back and gaily attend parties, upmarket or otherwise (or sleep with security guards) when they should have been in quarantine. AFAIK there were no reported cases in Aspen before they contracted the virus. And I’m quite sure they would have been required to remain at home until they tested negative.

Out of interest though, if there was a block of apartments in posters local community which had an outbreak, I wonder how many people would be supportive of the measures then? I bet a fair few

Course they would! It's kind of the opposite of NIMBY.

Me personally, just put a dome over Vic and let the rest of us get on with it lol

That's what some were thinking when the Ruby Princess and the aged care facilities in NSW were going tits up.

Not LOL. Not at all.

We live about 30 mins from there. Honestly it seems so ridiculous that we can go to the park, shops, out to the pubs now, eat out around other people but these poor people can't even leave at all!!! Why lift lockdown then. There is vulnerable people everywhere. I'd just leave and stay somewhere else if I could.

Would you support it YetAnother?

@NinkiNonkiNikau

Oh ffs. Take five days to quarantine and get food supplies etc then get tested and cleared. Or have many extra bodies in chatting and cleaning and food delivering potentially dragging it out longer. I know which option I would prefer.

Agree with this. Given the high percentage of vulnerable people living there - and the amount of COVID already diagnosed within the towers - it was likely the best way. Probably a good wake-up call for others, too.

Update at 5.36 the PA system in one tower was used to thank residents for cooperating w testing. Testing would resume in the morning and in the meantime residents were called down by floor to collect free food. The announcement was translated into multiple languages.
This is from a journalist, Margaret Symons who is live tweeting from the area.

Would you support it YetAnother?

My position is complex, but given the same circumstances and protocols as in Melbourne, yes.

My hope is that they will tear down the towers and provide better housing after the virus is over.

I've also been wondering under what circumstances the security guards had sex with those in quarantine. I'm guessing that the security guards were male and those they had sex with were female. I'm wondering how much of this sex was consensual on the part of the women and what the circumstances and stakes were.

The towers really are old and dilapidated and quite unfit for purpose.

We live in Melbourne, and the state has been slowly raising restrictions. It is very difficult as a high number of cases have been identified in the blocks, and as they are older buildings communal facilities like laundries, rubbish and lifts are poor and represent a risk of spreading Covid. There are also a lot of very vulnerable people with co morbitidities, elderly, refugees, young children who would particularly suffer if they caught it.

The likelihood is there are many more cases in the blocks that are unknown, so a total lockdown to test everyone is required otherwise there may be many more cases, and some very vulnerable people would likely catch it. If the promised provision of $750/1500 per household, 2 weeks rent free, supplies of food and medicine and other essentials, and nurses, mental health, domestic violence and substance abuse support does all materialise I think whilst harsh it’s the right decision for 5 days. Ultimately Victoria got it wrong with the hotels, and it’s positive that they aren’t using dodgy security firms.

The big question is how they will handle the positive cases after the 5 days - as they can’t keep everyone locked down indefinitely.

The longer term economic impact of many cases spreading from this if the state shuts down again would also be very damaging to vulnerable families. And yes, if it comes to it if it happened in my suburb for 5 days as long as essentials were provided I’d comply - because it’s only by containing outbreaks we will get back to something close to normal. But also because as a pregnant person I really don’t want to catch it.

I much prefer the approach in Canada, which is the idea that if you tell people what they should do, and give them the means to do it, they will mostly do it. Enough to curb this virus. And maintain order while not descending either into anarchy or fascism.

You only need to look at the uk to see that most won't (and those that do will be branded with such names as 'sheeple', or accused of being happy to live in a police state etc etc).

What some posters don’t understand is that the residents in the towers share laundries, they have to use the same lifts, they are living close together. Many of them spend a lot of time together in each other’s flats. Their children play in the playground together, people walk around the oval. Many go to the Flemington community centre. The adjoining suburbs are in lockdown too. The difference is the people living in houses don’t have to use the lifts, they are not in close contact, they have more space and their own front doors.

No one with any sense wants the virus to take hold like it has in other countries. The virus had started spreading quickly in the towers and the people living there are vulnerable. The other states except NSW which has just had a flare up are currently Covid free. The only way to be Covid free is to go hard and go early.

Daniel Andrews, the Premier said if the virus isn’t contained the rest of Victoria will go back into lockdown.

@ItsSummer

I much prefer the approach in Canada, which is the idea that if you tell people what they should do, and give them the means to do it, they will mostly do it. Enough to curb this virus. And maintain order while not descending either into anarchy or fascism.

You only need to look at the uk to see that most won't (and those that do will be branded with such names as 'sheeple', or accused of being happy to live in a police state etc etc).

But the UK has had very high compliance with the laws. Apart of course from the people making those laws and guidelines.

"I'd love to know how the authorities are going to support 3,000 people. How are they going to provide food, medicine, baby formula, nappies, pet food, etc, etc? This plan of action is very worrisome."
It ain't rocket science.

It’s a tricky situation but there probably isn’t another option. I just hope that the supply of food and other essential is done properly.

As other posters have explained, the rest of Australia is almost a Covid free. This Victorian outbreak has threatened the progress of the whole of the country. We currently have a patchwork of border closures and quarantine requirements in different states. Many of is can’t travel to another state let alone another country.Until Victoria gets the numbers right down again the divisions within the country will continue. We can’t have state borders closed indefinitely.

People are offering help and raising money for the people living in the towers. This is besides the government assistance. t.co/NAWaudZV7K

They have had meals delivered, culturally appropriate and with communicated dietary needs catered. These services are geared up to do thousands per day as required. The Govnt is working with appropriate groups to cover this. Healthcare including meds will be covered as required. Supposedly there is something in place for other necessary items, formula and sanitary items have already been delivered for instance.

The only issue I see is any methadone that needs to be distributed given the protocols in place around dispensing but hopefully they have this in hand. Alcohol dependence can be medically managed if necessary and households with ice users are probably safer at present than usual. If they go off I imagine they will be taken quick smart and kept securely in isolation at another location.

If only we took it nearly half as seriously.

You’re being ridiculous. We were met at the airport by the police and the military and the guarded around the clock in our quarantine hotel where we were locked into a tiny flat with our kids for two weeks. Everything seemed well executed to me (although we weren’t in Victoria). These people are only being asked to stay in for five days and they’re being paid off to do it. It’s really not a big deal.

But is it any different than Spain where DC weren't allowed to leave their homes for 6+ weeks?

There have been almost as many different approaches to dealing with covid as there are countries in this world, but Spain's obligatory lockdown came in a country that had so many years of dictatorship that a lot of things seem normal in Spain that we would not find acceptable, likewise Chile. Yet the virus still got out of control in both countries.

I also wonder how practical all this is. I mean we are safer from getting infected in the outdoors and a lot of people, from armed police to food delivery people and social workers seem to be going into those towers that would not normally be there. Do they have to isolate when they leave?

Why are people donating money when they're going to receive all they need and get paid for it?

Probably a good wake-up call for others, too

In what respect?

A wake up call of "comply or we will lock you in your home's and place men with guns outside so you can't leave"

I'm usually a rule follower but that would make me thing, actually, fuck you and everything you stand for. You're not protecting me, you don't care about my welfare so why should I care about anyone elses. It wouldn't make me comply.

People on cruise ships had worse than this. At least these people are in their own homes

This kind of comment shows the two tier attitude re, Covid when it comes to rich and poor. And also shows that personal responsibility is only expected from the poor.

People CHOSE to go on those cruises and also did so AFTER Covid was already known about and had been well publicised. Where was THIER personal responsibility To quote a pp its Covid 19 NINETEEN!