LOCKDOWNS Focus on positives not just positive cases
I AM an expat Tasmanian who lives on the Sunshine Coast, where there are and have been zero cases of Covid-19. I come home to Tasmania 5-6 times a year to see family and visit my business colleagues, and the last two times I have arrived, the first people I have come into contact with me have been almost scared to shake hands and have even said “we are a bit wary of your type down here”!
So while Peter “locked in” Gutwein is protecting your borders and Annastacia Palaszczuk is doing the same for Queensland, why is it that all we hear is the devastating news about NSW and to a lesser degree Victoria. Have the politicians and media not thought about putting a positive spin on the states that have no cases so they can actually travel between one another to assist their lagging economies? Why not jump outside the narrow-minded political negativity and have tourism operators working together trying to fill planes to and from Queensland and Tasmania?
This might assist the economy by getting some tourist dollars, but also if local news advertised some form of positivity, like “guess what, Qld, WA, Tas all have zero cases”, it might also assist with people’s approach to visitors from safe areas as opposed to thinking they are going to get leprosy if they shake their hand.
Steve Miller Coolum Beach / Dodges Ferry
BORDERS IN ORDER
IT is not often I agree with the WA Premier but he is spot-on regarding the opening of borders, especially to NSW.
PM Scott Morrison and others are screaming to open borders and let the virus run once we have 70 per cent double-vax figures.
No.1: I thought the figure was to be 80 per cent.
No.2: Because of Mr Morrison’s crazy attitude that the vaccination was not a race, the rollout is so slow.
No.3: Opening borders, especially to the serial cause of the virus spread in NSW, is tantamount to suicide.
The federal government will have to implement further subsidies to people and businesses affected by lockdowns because it was our own Prime Minister’s lack of respect for the virus’s potential that put us in this position.
Wake up, Mr Morrison, and get with it by ramping up the vaccine rollout to an emergency standard and give us a chance of returning to normality Scott White
Sorell
SAFETY FIRST
THE best way to keep Tasmania’s economy open is to keep our border closed.
Tasmania’s border restrictions are good on both health and economic grounds. NSW and Victoria are experiencing protracted lockdowns and surging Covid infections. They have the
worst of both worlds while Tasmania has the opposite – no lockdowns and zero Covid.
Premier Peter Gutwein should ignore the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about learning to live with Covid, and protect Tasmania from the virus for as long as possible. We should aim for a vaccination rate of at least 90 per cent of the eligible population.
Tom Nilsson Eaglehawk Neck
CLEAR VISION NEEDED
IT’S all too easy to point the finger at the vaccine rollout and quarantine arrangements as the biggest failures in Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. To many of us, these appear real enough however, the most profound failure must surely be the communication.
This cacophonous space has allowed confusion, misinformation and conspiracy theories to spread more prolifically than the virus itself. The daily threads of social media chatter are a stark reflection of the contradictory messaging from governments, health experts and social commentators that have left us all confused and wondering how and when we’ll get out of this mess.
The Delta strain is now challenging the efficacy of our exit strategy from the pandemic and the effectiveness of lockdowns. The Victoria experience is showing us that regardless of the “go hard, go early” approach to lockdown, Delta continues to spread like a grass fire – one which cannot be singularly blamed on lockdown truancy.
What should be even more concerning than the spread of Delta are the calls by some state governments to continue lockdowns and border closures beyond the target vaccination rates in the nationally agreed exit strategy, chasing a Covid elimination pipedream that most epidemiologists agree is unsustainable and ultimately futile.
At this crucial time of growing lockdown fatigue for our interstate friends, skyrocketing mental health issues and business misery, what our country needs is what we haven’t had to date – a clear and unified cross-governmental communications strategy.
Dan Skuse Blackmans Bay
BLAME BEREJIKLIAN
SCOTT White is spot-on when he points the finger at NSW Premier Berejiklian for her lack of response in dealing with the initial Covid cases in her state. Her negligence has not only endangered my family members living in Sydney, but also those living in the ACT.
I have advised the NSW Premier that if any damage occurs to my family due to her negligence, I will be seeking legal advice regarding class actions against her government and herself. Bob Holderness-Roddam
Austins Ferry