Postcard From Lockdown 2: Back In The Habit

[indigohex3]

Hi everyone, and welcome to the sequel to last year's "Postcard From Lockdown" (a sequel no one asked for). In case you are wondering, starting at 23:59 tonight, all of Victoria will go back into lockdown for at least the next five days (until next Wednesday at the earliest). Since my last post, several new variations of coronavirus has emerged, including the UK strain and the South African strain, with the UK strain becoming more prevalent here in Victoria. In the last couple of days, there has been an outbreak of what looks like the UK strain spread at the Holiday Inn near Melbourne Airport in Tullamarine, which was being used for quarantine, and there are around 13 active cases linked to this cluster.

It looks like this is more likely to be a circuit-breaker to slow down the spread, and as our Premier (Daniel Andrews) said, the UK strain spreads much more quickly than other strains, hence this lockdown. If you want to know about the conditions for this circuit-breaker, please click on the following link (https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/210212 - Table of restrictions.pdf). And sadly, like last time, there will be far-right wingers protesting against this lockdown, claiming that it will take away their rights and freedom, yet these protesters don't care about the rights and freedoms of other people (where were these anti-lockdown protesters when the housing towers tenants were in lockdown last year?).

Today, I went to the pharmacy (drug store for the North Americans following this thread) to get some medication, and I just went for a walk (after the press conference from Daniel Andrews).

I was planning to visit Ararat sometime next week to do some research for a book I am writing about the relationship between Australia and North East Asia, but this visit is now on the backburner due to the latest lockdown (and starting at 23:59 tonight, I will not be able to travel more than 5 kilometres from home) so I hope to do it not long after the end of this lockdown. I will also be studying Korean, and as mentioned in the previous thread, I hope to teach English in South Korea one day.

Until tomorrow.

 

[indigohex3]

END OF DAY 1
Today seemed like a long day for me. I went for a couple of walks today (while staying within 5 kilometres from home). I am currently listening to the radio, and over the next couple of days, I will be getting my name out there by writing an article on LinkedIn (under my real name) on my specialty, which is international politics with a focus on East Asia (inspired by something I just attended via Zoom).

Tonight on the news, I was disgusted by many people who are blaming Daniel Andrews for the latest lockdown. Excuse me, but if you read the Constitution, quarantine is a competency of the Federal Government and not State Government, so Scott Morrison is to blame for the latest problem here in Victoria (and Scotty from Marketing's offloading of quarantine is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). And remember the deaths in aged care? Most of the deaths that occurred in aged care were in facilities that were PRIVATISED by John Howard in the 1990s and 2000s, and was therefore the competency of the Federal Government.

And last night was the return of the anti-lockdown protesters, protesting against the lockdown (which is slated for five days). While I am for free speech, I will be practicing my free speech here. Where were these anti-lockdown protesters last year when the housing towers (which house refugees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and families fleeing domestic violence) in Flemington were in lockdown? Answer: Missing in action. The anti-lockdowners only protested when THEY (the anti-lockdowners) were in lockdown and not when people in these housing towers were in lockdown and as mentioned in the previous blog from last year, many of these anti-lockdown protesters were in fact pro-lockdown when the housing towers in places like Flemington were in lockdown.

I feel that many of these anti-lockdown protesters are just plain selfish, only caring for themselves and stuff everyone else (this is a family website, so I won't swear, but I would be swearing like a sailor in regards to these selfish people if this was aimed at a more mature audience).

Until tomorrow.

 

[indigohex3]

END OF DAY 2
Well, it is the end of Day 2 of the snap lockdown here in Melbourne. Today is of course Valentine's Day, the day of love. And on the news last night, there were people throwing out food that they were to serve if restaurants were to be opened this weekend (but ultimately closed due to the snap lockdown), which I found to be plain selfish as there are people who can't afford food, and yet these businesses threw out perfectly good food instead of giving to the needy. But fortunately, there were businesses who sold the food instead of throwing the food out.

And today, there were religious people flouting lockdown saying they listen to God and not man. Last year, there was a case in South Korea of something similar occurring involving a similar religious sect, and look what happened, there was a major outbreak of coronavirus there.

There are concerns that the current lockdown may last longer than 5 days, but I am prepared for the long run, as I have something to do (I might do a podcast and write articles to keep myself sane, as well as learning Korean).

I went for a couple of walks today, and mostly listened to the radio. I just watched Episode 3 of Enslaved (hosted by Samuel L. Jackson) on ABC TV Plus. Earlier I watched The Amazing Race Australia on 10 and a new team entered (making it fifteen teams that ran this year, a record for The Amazing Race anywhere in the world).

Until tomorrow.

 

[indigohex3]

END OF DAY 3
Today was the first weekday of the circuit-breaker lockdown, and sadly there was an anti-lockdown protest in Oakleigh (in Melbourne's south-east) today in which people who WERE NOT from Oakleigh protested against lockdown near a shopping strip. And our former Premier Jeff Kennett (and the opposition leader Michael O'Brien) attacked Daniel Andrew's quarantine policies. As I have mentioned before in this thread, and I think Kennett and O'Brien knows this, is that quarantine is a competency of the Federal Government, which means that the Federal Government is responsible for quarantine, not the states. And remember the deaths in aged care? Well, they were in aged care facilities that were privatised by John Howard, and therefore is a competency of the Federal Government. But apparently, we are not allowed to criticise the Liberal Party (which are the main conservative party here in Australia).

And you may remember in yesterday's post, I mentioned a church running a revival against the rules of lockdown. Well, the leader of this revival received a fine and the attendees to this revival were given a warning.

And sadly, there are more businesses here in Melbourne resorting to throwing perfectly good food out instead of giving it to the needy, but some are fortunately selling their food to their customers - or even donating food to charity - instead of throwing away food like some selfish business owners.

There is a possibility that we may be in lockdown for slightly more than 5 days, which I am okay with. I believe that we need to take a conservative (not political viewpoint, but the type of) approach to ending lockdown, not a populist approach as Michael O'Brien and many in the media want to take. If we are not ready to come out of lockdown, then we shouldn't come out of lockdown, even though I would like to get out of lockdown after the five days is finished. But remember, politics is not a popularity contest and difficult decisions must be made, but sadly it has become more of a popularity contest in recent decades with the party that has the most popular policy (not necessarily the best policy) winning government. Hopefully, what we are going through will mean that people will vote for better policies, not popular policies or three or four-word slogans (like Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan).

Until tomorrow.

 

[indigohex3]

END OF DAY 4
Today was Day 4 of the five-day circuit-breaking lockdown, and from the look of, it will end at 2359 tomorrow. Two new cases today, both linked to the Holiday Inn, and issues at the one in the city with a sprinkler flooding several floors (Victoria eyes return to freedom, with just two new COVID cases). Tomorrow will be the big day, and it is highly likely lockdown will end, but we don't know what will happen next.

Not much happened today, went to get some phone credit for my phone and applied to work picking fruit in the country to earn some money as it will be a while before international borders reopen, and hopefully I will be teaching English in Korea in the next couple of years. I also click and collected a microphone to do some podcasting. I also wrote an article for my LinkedIn page, so this mean I could have a backup plan. Always have a backup plan people.

I have just watched The Amazing Race Australia on 10, and spoiler alert, new stowaway team joins at the start of the next leg on Sunday night.

Until tomorrow.

NOTE: Apologies for the lack of formatting due to the problems with the forums at time of writing.

 

[indigohex3]

END OF DAY 5
Well, lockdown will end in just a few hours, and with that, the 5km limit will be lifted at 2359 tonight (meaning that I am planning to head out to Ararat for research). And also, with a few exceptions, Victoria will return to pre-February 12 (you can view the full document at https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/210217 - Full list of restrictions.pdf). Earlier, I viewed a webinar via Zoom, and I will be viewing another one tomorrow.

And while we will be going out of lockdown in a bit over 3 hours from now, I feel that I have the confidence to develop my future as a result. But, there is a possibility that we could once again go into lockdown if it gets worse, but I am prepared if it happens. I may have even found a vocation in the future as a researcher in international relations. Sometimes, events such as this makes you assess your life and wonder what is the best for yourself, as well as a community (at all levels, from local to global).

This concludes the blog.