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.

"Imprisonment is being confined in an institutional setting"

Im sure all the women whose domestic abuser partners have been prosecuted for false imprisonment will be gladdened of heart to read that.

@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).

The uk has has one of the highest compliances to the rules in europe. What you have just said is absolute nonsense

The uk has has one of the highest compliances to the rules in europe

What you are your sources for that assertion?

I personally think every country has its fair share of people who don't follow the rules and I've certainly seen enough comments on mumsnet to believe that the UK has that problem too. I do think though, that when lockdown is made obligatory you get less willing cooperation from people in general.

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"

That is not what happened.

The "men with guns" are the police.

@echt

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"

That is not what happened.

The "men with guns" are the police.

I'm not sure that makes it much better?

Asylum Seekers Resource Centre have partnered with the government (along with other charities) to provide additional help.
I think the best is being done in awful circumstances. Covid is not a cold and there is believed to be a super spreader in these towers.
www.facebook.com/AsylumSeekerResourceCentreASRC/?tn=kCH-R&eid=ARAlv4J3z7_3i75aTaVlVJNnEn0unYbtT1_-_WtnFSAWE3TwRBfDYhxMyDAKVkUN4PkX2T7QbE3X3-Iy&hc_ref=ARSUU5PrnlmajwJVqgujmfcOhYK3_jG9i_az3RmrFC0TyeYRMW5DiwhDReNFmbYgK2M&fref=nf

The narrative needs to change in Australia.

It is entirely appropriate that different states/suburbs/cities have different arrangements due to differing situations.

HOWEVER, I don't like hearing Victoria bagged out for this. We need to see what the rest of Australia can do to support Victoria/Melbourne through this. It is in all our interests that this gets sorted.

The quarantine hotels sound like a massive fuck up. But it has happened now. It needs sorted and we can get to blaming and finger pointed when the situation is under control.

It is shit for the residents of the towers, absolutely shit. But maybe we can make it less shit if we get our arses into gear. Massive increase in cases in those towers this morning.

I am watching Dan Andrew's presser right now. He looks fucking exhausted. I have no idea what the best way to deal with this is, I have to believe he is doing his best.

It is good that NSW/Victoria have agreed to close the border. Again, shit for a lot of people but what the fuck else can we do?

This whole situation is just a fucking shitstorm.

AMSSA in North Melbourne is collecting donations of cooking oil and baby formula today.

No one is watching this with glee - No one is happy for this situation. All states ( I am aware of) are throwing resources at this too. I know of the bigger states and ADF have given lab capabilities, contact tracers and nurses to help. NSW and VIC have been hosting returned travellers (because that's the population centres so makes sense) and largely doing a good job - the rest of the states have not had to share as much of this burden (but will now understandably shoulder more ).

Australians are good - if not bloody awesome at mobilising in a crisis. We have great communities and organisations across states that just stump up and help. These people are being cared for and thought of - yes, sometimes there is a practical lag in time and resources but they aren't being abandoned.

This spike is stressful and worrying but that is because once we control it we can focus back on being a covid free country. Globally this shitshow is not over... nor is our worst outbreak a patch on what the US and U.K. Will be facing in coming weeks.

Dan Andrews must be fucking exhausted.

Anecdata but i know 3 families well who have repatriated to Sydney in the past month. They were were in quarantine hotels, with the National Guard and a shit load of trucks etc outside. Yes, they are relatively wealthy but they were 4 or 5 to a one or two bed flat and completely understood that it was the requirement and did it.

A message of support to all of Australia - well done for the handling of this situation. It's all very well for UK posters to come on MN with their criticism, but you really have no idea of Australian life and the way Australians deal with situations, so please don't chip in with all your non helpful comments. We do things differently in this part of the world, so you stick to your issues and let those of us in the southern hemisphere deal with ours.

As far as I'm aware its border force and state health authorities and police dealing with quarantine hotels. Different states have different approaches ( I know SA throw a concert for q guests at the end of quarantine!)

I think a lot of UK commentary concerning Aus covid response neglect the issues revolving around protecting our indigenous communities and especially the elders (and the cultural preservation and protection issues). As well as dealing with the distribution of health resources over a enormously vast country ( and the complexities in minimising disparates in care). I think these are two key issues that are hard for outsider commentators to completely understand.

FruitTingleFrizzante

The worry about remote indigenous communities has kept me up at night. We need to both isolate them and ensure they have everything they need.

The thought of this bastard burning through those communities is utterly horrific. It is also worth noting that the 'towers' are full of some of the most at risk groups. We can't just let it rip and then have to say 'what could we have done'? That is bullshit. These are Australians, it makes me sick that they are being locked down against their will, but what is the alternative?

As someone mentioned up thread this is probably the end of Dan Andrew's career. I am sure he knows that, but I believe he is trying to do the right thing.

WE (as in Australia all of us) need to get this under control. We can see what is happening to the rest of the world and it cannot be allowed to happen here.

I couldn't agree more. This hard lock down is very difficult for the people involved, and they must be supported as well as we can. But it is the best chance we have got of getting the situation under control, so we can all go back to living as normal a life as possible, as soon as possible. I'd much rather be living here and be prepared to do a similar hard and short lock down, than take my chances in the UK.

@AllAussieAdventures I agree, its a sickening thought of this virus being allowed to spread through broader communities and homelands. It would be unforgivable and it's a responsibility that all Australians share because the risks extend further than the suburbs and CBDs of major cities. Sadly the people in the housing towers (as allaussie pointed out are vulnerable populations too) are taking it for the collective team at the moment. It's not good or desirable but we in Aus cannot allow what is playing out in place like Brazil and the US where indigenous populations are being essentially exterminated through indifference and lack of inaction/protection.

It's a much more complex issue than keeping people at home and not being able to go to the pub or down to the local Westfield. There is much more at risk.

Australia is not the United Kingdom.

We may (for now) remain part of the Commonwealth but our culture is now very different and we certainly no longer answer to the UK.

Our police carry guns as standard, it seems bizarre to me that the UK's do not, easily as bizarre as the lax gun laws of America.

What do the posters who think the lock downs are inappropriate think should happen instead? Actual large scale plans that take into account the demographics and geographics of not just these towers, suburbs of Melbourne, but the states and the potential 'bleed out' into the rest of Australia. Large areas of which are now no longer under any type of lockdown but almost back to normal.

How do YOU propose to protect the residents of the towers and the rest of us? Including (but not limited to) our Indigenous populations. I know it is standard on Mumsnet to consider all Australian's racist. But as FruitTingleFrizzante points out, I personally would like to avoid the annihilation of what is left of the aboriginal people as seen in Brazil etc.

I look forward to your responses.

Australia should do what makes sense there.

If you're wondering about alternatives, in the UK we similarly had an issue with spread in Leicester. The government used legal powers to keep certain businesses and schools closed, police patrols and requests to stay home. Health and Safety officials then started checks on factories that are believed to be responsible for the spread and are heavily threatening that one will be closed down for good. Nobody needed guns yet. We'll see if it works.

@HeIenaDove

"Imprisonment is being confined in an institutional setting"

Im sure all the women whose domestic abuser partners have been prosecuted for false imprisonment will be gladdened of heart to read that.

That’s why it’s call ‘false imprisonment’ not ‘imprisonment’.

Not the sharpest tool.

@echt

I'm not sure that makes it much better?

Because your "men with guns" makes it sound random; or gangsters.

If you object to police with guns, say so.

Or fuck off. Hang on.....

What? I do object to police with guns to be honest. Doesn't go well for America most of the time does it?

I don't agree with locking people in their homes either.

Why do I need to fuck off?

So what should be done in Melbourne then TrustTheGeneGenie?

I will actually 'give' you the guns. It might be better for the police actually in the buildings to be unarmed for this situation. Both for how this makes the residents feel and also so that the ante cannot be upped for when people inevitably try to break lockdown.

But what SHOULD be done? If there is another way that doesn't result in Australians being locked up then I am keen to hear it.

OK. But you are aware that the buildings have shared spaces right? Laundries, etc.

What is your plan for those who are asymptomatic but shedding the virus?

Bearing in mind that many of the people using those shared spaces are in 'at risk' groups or live with people using those shared spaces?

Like I said, it makes me sick to my stomach to see Australians locked up like this. It goes against every fibre of my 'wide brown land' being, I have had struggled with the idea that I cannot go wherever I want whenever I want as we have always enjoyed. I feel like I have had my wings clipped. So I can't imagine how horrifying this must be.

But I honestly can't come up with anything better that doesn't see the virus leak out. We didn't go for herd immunity. We have gone for suppression, this is what suppression looks like.

I think Australians probably are more aggressive than Brits, but I don't actually view aggression as an automatically negative trait.

I'm not uninformed there's no need to be so rude is there?

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I think they should just isolate if they're ill. Not close all buildings and stick armed police outside

All police are armed. There is no need to call them armed place. That is a instance of your being ill-informed.

Though if all Australians are so aggressive I guess they're happy with that

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