Australia needs hope the endless hamster wheel of lockdowns, QR codes, business shutdowns and mask wearing will eventually end, Bill Shorten declares.
The former opposition leader spoke for the vast majority of Australians exhausted by the coronavirus pandemic s endless bad news and no light in the tunnel.
Mr Shorten challenged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to be a hope merchant and stop the constant doom and gloom, and provide a workable timeline.
He stressed that at some point restrictions had to end and Australia had to start living with the virus - and people had to be told when that would happen.
Inner west dwelling prices jump | Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay starweekly.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from starweekly.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Advertisement
Victoria’s Delta outbreak is being fuelled by people under 40 who have been unable to secure a vaccination and are infecting others before contact tracers reach them.
The state’s lockdown is threatening to extend beyond five days, with 19 new local cases recorded on Saturday, taking the total number of infected people in the latest outbreak to 43.
More than 10,000 close contacts are isolating across Victoria.
A closed Myer store in the deserted Bourke Street Mall on Saturday.
Credit:Justin McManus
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned Victorians on Saturday to be ready for what could emerge over the next few days. “We just need to brace ourselves for any possibility,” he said.
Advertisement
It was the hellish evening temperatures that finally caused the authorities to start busing the homeless into heat shelters where they had access to fans, air-conditioning and water.
Three hours from sundown last Saturday the temperature in Las Vegas peaked at 47.2 degrees, equalling a record set in 2017. By dawn, the temperature had bottomed out at a stifling 34 degrees and begun to rise again.
Firefighters monitor the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, in Doyle, California last week.
Credit:AP
One person was treated for burns after walking on a pavement and the homeless were bussed from an outdoor shelter to indoor cooling centres in response.
Advertisement
Eighteen of Victoria’s latest COVID-19 cases were infectious in the community for an average of 1.7 days, vindicating the state government’s “go hard, go early” lockdown strategy, but health authorities have refused to rule out an extension of the five-day snap lockdown.
Victoria recorded 19 new local cases of coronavirus on Saturday, as new sites at popular tourist spot Phillip Island, a Richmond gym and a Docklands office building swelled the list of high-risk exposure sites to 165.
Health Minister Martin Foley told reporters on Saturday morning that the results were a “vindication for the going hard and going early strategy”.