Thanks to the onslaught of the obviously highly contagious coronavirus, people are now living their lives in an entirely changed and unusual environment, where isolation is the new norm.
COVID-19 – The Good
All major grocery stores here in Australia have suspended normal deliveries but one major grocery store, namely Woolworths, has introduced a system whereby any elderly or disabled folk are still eligible to receive home deliveries. An extremely thoughtful innovation.
I’ve been critical of our Government over the handling of this pandemic, mainly that they have been largely reactive rather than proactive– waiting until a situation evolves before implementing measures, rather than anticipating these situations and implementing measures to prevent them from happening in the first place. Rather like shutting the stable door after the horse has already bolted. That said, these are extremely unusual and unique circumstances, with no historical precedents to go by and, at least, they have been doing their best. Our Government has, in fact, put in place several very sensible and helpful measures.
These are the times when the infrastructure of family and friends comes into its own and I feel so much empathy for those unfortunate souls who find themselves alone and lonely in these dire circumstances. I implore everyone to reach out, either over the phone or via email/text message, to any elderly folk among their circle of acquaintances, and especially any folk they know who are alone.
COVID-19 – The Bad
It has recently come to light here that, well after the start of the outbreak and just before serious restrictions were legally imposed, a large group of people gathered from all over Australia to attend a 50th birthday party at a well-known restaurant/bar on the Gold Coast. As it has turned out, at least one of these people was infected with the coronavirus. Following the party, this group then dispersed, traveling back to their respective home towns all over Australia potentially carrying the coronavirus with them. All this, despite constant warnings to the contrary. To make matters worse, four of the restaurant’s staff members, who were obviously on duty the night of the party, contracted the disease and continued to work on for several more days potentially infecting even more people.
Wow, just wow. Sometimes I despair at the thoughtlessness, irresponsibility, selfishness, and just downright stupidity of some people. For goodness sake, what part of stay at home are they not understanding?
COVID-19 – The Downright Ugly
It has also come to notice that, after news of the outbreak first broke, some Asian Australians have been accumulating huge amounts of local products — predominantly toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and baby formula — packing it all up in containers and shipping it back to their home countries. Some even paying a bounty on these products to third-parties who have collected on their behalf. This is not only a disgustingly grubby act but also totally anti-Australian. Even if they are Australian citizens, we should revoke their citizenship and send them packing. Unfortunately, this would not be legal under our current laws. So, change the law! The people who have done this obviously don’t give a damn about Australia or Australians and do not deserve to be here.
Of course, it’s not only Asian Australians who need a wrap over the knuckles– the rampant panic buying and hoarding of goods that has been going on by all people have shown an ugly side of the human race that does them no credit at all. The selfishness and self-centered attitude of these people is difficult to believe, or indeed, comprehend. These scumbag hoarders generally have much more than they will ever need while many elderly and/or infirm Australians are in dire need. Shame, shame, shame. There can be, indeed, a very ugly side to humanity.
On a positive note– ISIS has announced that it’s reluctantly laying off suicide bombers due to the lack of crowds. Haha.
Seriously, it seems to me that the most dangerous aspect of COVID-19 is its extreme contagiousness. Staying home and self-isolating is the most effective way we, the people, can help contain the spread and subsequently reduce the numbers of infected and potentially tragic outcomes.
Stay home, stay safe, and stay well mes amis.
Cheers… Jim
—
“Safer at home” should be easy to understand!!! At the looks of my little community, I sometimes wonder, whom is not understanding.
My Wife did a Walmart run this morning, for our basic needs, and for some things for some of her family members, who fall into the the critical category, when it comes to getting covid 19.
Any other time, our only social contact, is by internet or phone.
Our big hotspot is the New Orleans area, which is only a little over 350 miles. I heard on the news where space is running short for all the dead. Stay safe Mr Jim.
Totally agree with you on the Asian Australians. This has been going on for so long now and well before coronavirus was here. Creating shortages of baby formula and other goods so they can send back to their first home often re-selling at a profit. They have come here for a better life than they had in China but are happy to betray this Country that allowed them citizenship in times of crisis. If fact many of them haven’t actually given up their Chinese citizenship and are only holding permanent resident visas so cancelling their Australian citizenship would not be a problem as serious offenders could still be sent back to China.
No wonder the Hong Kong people after finding out Mainland Chinese were hoovering up their baby formula and other products there quickly labelled them “locusts”.
Well said Reg.
Nice one Jim.
My take on the situation if it was possible would be to ask all the Covid-19 rule-breakers if they were loyal, true-blue, flag-honouring, Oi, Oi, Oi, Australians who love their country.
I saw on the news this morning that the NRL would begin playing games on May 28, so much for the six month lock-down, and loyal Aussies.
Stay safe, Hillier Clan.
Jonno
Hey Jonno,
IMHO, the NRL is dreaming. Chanel 9 has since intervened and stated that a May resumption is unlikely. The NRL hierarchy is in panic mode because they failed to put money away for a rainy day and are in real danger of going broke, so they are desperate to restart the competition asap.
Best to you and yours mate.
Dear Jim
A couple of corrections. The restaurant party was at Sails Restaurant, Noosa, not on the Gold Coast. And Coles now also has priority home delivery for older folk.
Best wishes
Dianne
Hey Dianne,
You are correct, it was on the Sunny Coast and not the Gold Coast. Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, Coles has now started a priority home delivery service too. However, that was since this article was written. Sometimes it takes a little while between submitting an article and publication. This was one of those occasions.
Cheers mate… Jim
Thank you Jim. I guessed that the lack of mention of Coles was due to the timing of when the article was written.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
Best wishes
Dianne
It’s all good Dianne. Now, thanks to your comment, readers will know that Coles also has a priority delivery service in place. 🙂
Maybe the Ausie government isn’t as bad as the UK ones – the prioritizing here led to us (personally) being told to self-isolate but not being on the shielding list unable to get deliveries…..
There’s even a ‘joke’ about a man who failed to self isolate and continued to shake hands causing further strain on our NHS…… There is a picture of Boris Johnson used as background.
The best joke is the one about the American policy of leaving the shutdown to individual states – It’s like having a pissing corner in a swimming pool…..
All the best and good luck!
P.S. At least you are allowed to make comments about individuals sending stuff to friends and family abroad – here the PC brigade would have been screaming their heads off and you’d have probably been prosecuted.
Hi Jon in UK,
It is a great country, Australia, and especially at this VIRUS time when I could still be living in the UK, which by your comment would have Aussies screaming all types of abuse at the government, and at Easter when the roads, beaches, theme parks and other outdoor attractions would have been teeming with people.
Stay safe and keep well,
JonInOz