My wounded Melbourne

I am a proud Melbournian. My great-grandfather came here in the late 1800’s. (You might remember a couple of the family stories I shared last year. “The cable tram” and “Grandpa Mason”.) I have lived here all my life. One of my treasured joys was to wander through the lanes and alleys of Melbourne, and it is one thing I have really missed through the long lockdown. (And just in case you feel like having a binge on my posts about Melbourne, go for it!)

Melbourne has been crowned the Most Liveable City for quite a few years. Not lately though. And one of our main (unofficial!) exports has been baristas, sending them out to all parts to give the world decent coffees.

But this week Melbourne has hit global headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

Let’s start with the most serious. You may have seen footage of (mostly) men rioting around the Shrine of Remembrance. They had been out on the streets for a couple of days, including holding up and terrifying traffic on the Westgate Bridge, the main bridge over the Yarra River to the west of Melbourne.

It began as a protest against mandatory vaccinations on building sites and a closure of building sites for two weeks. I don’t support anti-vaccination or anti-mask demands, and to gather in large numbers is plain stupidity. It seems that the protests were quickly taken over by extreme right groups who leeched onto the anger over lockdowns and vaccinations. As a consequence footage of the protests have given succour to the extreme right wing around the world.

That is not my Melbourne. We are a proud multi-cultural city, with a long history of supporting progressive issues.

That this can happen is partly a product of the second news item about Melbourne. Apparently we now have the dubious record of the city with most days in lockdown. We have spent 235 days in lockdown, just overtaking Buenos Aires. That’s not continuous days, but fairly close, and it’s not over yet. I think all of us feel every one of those days.

Of course there is frustration, there is anger. Small businesses have been shut down for most of that time, parents have been home schooling, we can’t see the people we love. A tragic consequence is that mental health problems have really escalated. However, most of us recognise that lockdown is a necessary measure to give us time to get vaccination rates high enough to not overwhelm the health system. Most of us are not out on the streets. In fact there are way more people getting vaccinated than protesting.

So, let me say again ~ my Melbourne is there getting tested and vaccinated and helping out those who need an extra hand, not on the steps of the Shrine.

The other Melbourne news you may have seen is that we had an earthquake this week. Again, that is not the Melbourne I know. We don’t do earthquakes! Occasionally we have little tremors, but not 5.9 quakes! Fortunately there was little damage done.

I was about to hop in the shower when I heard an odd noise and then felt the house move on its stumps. I dressed quickly (no one wants to see a naked me out on the street!) and checked things with the Fella. All good, no damage and our neighbours were okay too.

The ongoing effect is that it has given us something other than lockdown/riots/covid/vaccinations to talk about!

And the last indignity that Melbourne has had to suffer this week is having the AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final played in Perth. Melbourne is the heartland of Aussie Rules football, and the Grand Final has been played at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) for always. Well, until last year, when it had to be played in Brisbane. An empty MCG is a sad sight.

What’s more, there are two Melbourne teams playing ~ the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne (yes, there is a team called Melbourne.) In 2016 the Bulldogs won their first final since 1954; Melbourne won their last in 1964. Both are well due for a win. If the decorations in the streets around my house are any guide support is pretty even.

For me? Well the Fella has barracked for the Doggies ever since he arrived in Australia in the 1950s, so I will be cheering them on. But really, I don’t mind. Many members of my family are keen Melbourne supporters, so I will be happy to see them win. As we all say “As long as the game is a good one”!

So come tomorrow night most Melbournians will be in front of the telly, forgetting about lockdowns and riots and earthquakes, engrossed in a game that has a very Melbourne feel. And thinking that maybe next year the Grand Final will be back where it belongs and we will be celebrating out in the streets.

Well, here I go again….Lockdown #2

The northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, have seen a disturbing number of COVID-19 cases over the last week or so, most of them coming from community transmission. Compared to many other places the numbers are still low ~ in the 60s and 70s each day ~ but still enough to know that it must be brought under control. We can see from other countries how easily low numbers can increase to numbers that overwhelm.

So the Victorian Government has declared that 10 postcodes (zip codes) are to go into lockdown. My postcode is one of them. And I am perfectly fine with this. Action needs to be taken now, and we know that isolation works at suppressing transmission.

It is interesting to think about why Melbourne has been affected, as the other states have either very low or no new cases. This is my interpretation of the information I have gleaned from the authorities…..

International arrivals, ie returning citizens, are quarantined in hotels for 14 days. Quite a few of these arrivals seem to have come with the virus. In Victoria security at these quarantine hotels was farmed out to a private security firm, while in other states it is the job of the state police. I suspect that some of the security guards caught the virus from returned travellers. That was compounded by breaches of hygiene protocols by these security guards. Sharing a cigarette lighter has come up a few times, as well as crowded tea rooms and lack of protective equipment. So, a couple of the security people caught the virus, and inadvertently took the virus to their families.

At this time restrictions were being eased and families could gather in groups of 20. We love our families, and I can imagine how exciting it was for these families to see Grandma or Grandpa or cousins for the first time for ages. It is hard (but necessary) to maintain that 1.5 metres in a loving family gathering. So the virus was shared around. Then it moved to other family groups, and so it spread.

Now we have too much spread and these 10 ‘hotspots’ have to go into isolation.

We can only go out for the usual four reasons:

• shopping for food and essential supplies
• exercise
• care and caregiving (this includes medical)
• work and education if you can’t do it from home

It all feels very familiar.

And comforting in a weird way. As restrictions were gradually being lifted I felt a little confused. Not confused about what I could and couldn’t do, that always seemed clear to me. Rather I was confused about assessing the level of risk. Should I go to the hairdresser? I answered myself “No”. Should I go back to pilates? Probably not. Would lunch at a restaurant with friends be okay? Yes, as there were only 3 of us, and I knew they had been very cautious. I assumed the restaurant had the right protocols in place. Each venture out needed to be weighed. Now any dilemma has been removed ‘cos there is no option to go out!

The other thing that strikes me about this lockdown is that my level of anxiety is lower. Were you like me back in mid-March, or whenever your lockdown began, worrying about all manner of things? Will the rubbish still be collected? Will supply chains hold up? What happens if our electricity supply can’t cope? Would I have enough food? I even remember wondering if the parklands would be maintained. And I didn’t even have the worry of job losses or loan repayments or how to keep a business afloat.

I know what this quarantine period will look like, and that I can deal with it. I am confident that things will hold up, that the rubbish will be collected and the lights will stay on. And I know that there are others, like my wonderful family, on the ‘outside’ who are there cheering me on.

We are still at the beginning of this pandemic, and numbers in many countries are frighteningly high. So uncertainty is our new normal, our Covid normal for quite a while. We know what we have to do ~ practise excellent hand and respiratory hygiene, socially distance (at least 1.5m, please), wear a mask and don’t go out if you are feeling unwell. And if you do have to go back into lockdown, please do it.

On the practical side, the exhibition where I had two pieces hanging has been put on hold. The Incinerator Gallery has been caught up in all of this. Disappointing, but that’s how these things go.

Let me finish on my lovely librarian. You know how I love my library, and how happy I was to have it open, even though I couldn’t browse. I went in yesterday, before the lockdown, to confirm that they had to close. The librarian asked me if he could select a bundle of books for me to borrow. So between us ~ me standing behind the desk and him at the shelves asking if I like this author or that style ~ I borrowed a stack of books. I wouldn’t have chosen some of them myself, but I will certainly give them a go.

So, between my art and my book supply I feel that I am well equipped for another month at home.

Stay well.