Life In Coronavirus Lockdown: Stage 4 Restrictions

COVID-19 cases in Australia (Source: The Age)

 

As cases continued to rise in Victoria, metropolitan Melbourne ended up going into Stage 4 lockdown on 2 August 2020 for six weeks. These restrictions meant that a curfew was put into place from 8pm - 5am, and you needed to stay within a 5km radius of your home when shopping for essentials or exercising outside for one hour per day (allowed with one other person). All but the most essential services and retailers were closed, and you had to have a worker permit from your employer if you couldn't work from home. Schools throughout the state went back to remote learning and the rest of Victoria went into Stage 3 restrictions (including mandatory face masks/coverings).

 

Thankfully the restrictions have been working, and the second wave is trending downward. Over the last few days Victoria has started to get under 100 new cases per day, the lowest numbers since early July. As of today there have been 25,746 cases and 652 deaths due to COVID-19 in Australia, with the vast majority of recent cases occurring in Victoria in the health and aged care sectors. Borders between states and territories remain closed, and while Queensland and New South Wales have had some small outbreaks, they have been able to contract trace and keep clusters under control.

For me Stage 4 hasn't changed things too much since I was already mainly staying at home except to go grocery shopping once a week. I have accumulated an assortment of reusable cloth face masks to wear for when I head outside. At work I am currently contributing to the COVID-19 effort for the next few weeks by working on school closures and reopenings in a jobshare arrangement where I am on from Wednesday - Saturday and have Sunday - Tuesday off. I've also been focused on the wildfires back home in the Bay Area as my cousin is current evacuated from her home (whieh thankfully is still standing) and my brother was on an evacuation warning before that fire became under control.

As things improve in Victoria attention is turning to the easing of restrictions and how we will begin to reopen. Premier Dan Andrews has flagged that he will be making announcements about a roadmap out of restrictions on Sunday, 6 September. The new case numbers and levels of community transmission this week will determine if Stage 4 restrictions will extend beyond 13 September. It's good that there is some light at the end of the tunnel as we head into spring and may be able to get out and see people again.