Culture

Lockdown Critics Are Very Quiet Now That Victoria Has Eliminated COVID-19

"That’s odd, I could’ve sworn Tim Smith said this wasn’t possible."

by Rachael Conaghan  27 November 2020
daniel andrews victoria

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Just over three months ago, Victoria was straining under the weight of 7,880 coronavirus cases — today, they have eliminated it completely.

It’s been 28 days since they last saw a positive test, which meets the official criteria for eliminating the virus.

It’s a huge milestone, and one that people are rightfully celebrating now after months of strict lockdown that left people effectively housebound. It was a tough measure, and it worked — no thanks to the protests of anti-lockdown advocates, who argued from the beginning that shutting down the state was futile.

Oddly enough, those people are being very quiet today.

On Monday, the last active COVID-19 patient was discharged from hospital, marking the first day since February 29 that there were no active cases in Victoria.

While the massive success has people celebrating across the country, it’s also seen many people’s words come back to bite them.

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Melbourne-based LNP MP Tim Smith has been one of the most consistently outspoken critics, and he’s getting called out for it today.

Just over a month ago the Member for Kew called the state government’s target (which was a 14-day state-wide average of less than five new daily cases) “ridiculous and unreachable”.

“They must change these impossible targets, so we open up before Christmas,” he tweeted on October 12.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also been a critic, last month saying he was “profoundly disappointed” that Andrews chose not to lift restrictions earlier.

“At some point, you have to move forward and put your public health systems to work in a bid to reclaim the jobs that have been lost,” he said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also dug the boot in — in August he called Victoria’s response a “slow motion car crash” and said “I think Victorians are fed up” after figures showed almost one million of them were on JobKeeper.

Andrews has also been a punching bag for various media outlets who have pushed for the state to reopen because of the economy — Sky News’ Andrew Bolt being one vocal opponent.

As recently as last month he called Victoria’s lockdown a “fraud” and asked for Andrews to be sacked.

Despite never actually setting out to completely eliminate the virus — they followed a suppression plan through the pandemic — Victoria’s last COVID-19 patient was cleared of the virus and discharged on Monday.

Their upstairs neighbours in NSW have repeatedly maintained that eradicating the virus is “unrealistic“.

While COVID-19 has shown us that you can never be complacent, the apparent elimination of the virus is a huge win for the state after months of setbacks.

“This is far from over, even with this run of zero days, no active cases, very strong testing performance and people who are doing the right thing,” Premier Daniel Andrews said earlier this week.

“Until a vaccine arrives, this is going to be something that is with us for the foreseeable future.”

Victoria has recorded 20,345 positive COVID-19 cases and 819 deaths since the pandemic began.

If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of COVID-19 you should get tested. For more information or to check your symptoms visit health direct.