World 11.7 million USA 3 million Mexico 250K+
Qatar is the 21st country to record over 100,000 cases of COVID-19. The US now has over three million recorded COVID-19 infections and eight US states have more than 100,000 cases.
Overnight Sunday here in Victoria another 127 COVID-19 infections were added to the tally, plus another 191 were recorded in the past 24 hours. There are virus hot spots erupting everywhere across Melbourne. A few weeks ago we were almost free of coronavirus, but now it’s out of control and very scary. Daniel Andrews announced this afternoon that metropolitan Melbourne plus Mitchell shire will go back into Stage Three shutdown as from tomorrow night for a total of six weeks.
The tragedy unfolding in the housing commission towers in Melbourne is highlighting the dire needs of disadvantaged people in the community. Dr Norman Swan is advocating the removal of people who test positive in these towers to a secure quarantined location, but apparently this is not part of the government’s plan. Personally, though I know nothing at all about the specifics of controlling this viral menace, I tend to agree with Dr Swan.
A story by Bianca Hall in The Age at the weekend has exposed the harsh reality faced by even more vulnerable members of the community. You may recall that when this pandemic began, about 4000 homeless people across Melbourne were given shelter in hotel accommodation paid for by the State Government. Around 2000 of them, including children, are still there. Funding for this scheme is due to expire at the end of this month. Unless the plan is extended, or a more permanent solution is found, these people will find themselves back out on the streets in the middle of winter, during a major resurgence of this virus. This virus has exposed the public housing crisis and widespread homelessness in one of our largest and most prosperous cities. I truly hope the government provides them with long term shelter and security.