Melbourne; known for its diversity, jaw-dropping street art, and breathtaking lane ways. Normally, these popular tourist attractions would be jam packed, but ever since August 4, 2020, Melbourne has undergone stage 4 lock down after reaching a whopping 723 COVID-19 cases in one day, along with 21 deaths.
What did this mean for Melbournians? To prevent any risks, all students were required to go back to online learning, no more than one person would be allowed to go grocery shopping in each household, which must be done within 5 km, and a curfew running from 8 pm-5 am. The lock down issued by state premier Daniel Andrews was intended to go on for 6 weeks, meaning that these restrictions would begin to ease on September 13th. Looking at the statistics, cases have gone down from a daily 300, to only 70, reassuring us citizens that Melbourne will be full of colour and life again, but will this decrease continue any longer? As of late August and early September, sights of protesters against the stage 4 lock down have begun to appear near the streets of Dandenong, wearing Anonymous masks.
Due to the sudden rise of these protesters, policemen have been out and about stopping them from continuing on. With this situation becoming a physical dispute between these policemen and the citizens who believe that it is their freedom of rights to not abide state’s law, this only makes matters worse for Melbourne and its potential escape from the ongoing lock down.
On August 31, only three men were arrested for going against law’s order, while also receiving more fines than the $10,000 one if one was to break the stage 4 lock down procedures. Although this was only 5 days ago, police today have arrested fifteen protesters along the Shrine of Remembrance, as well as Albert Park, where one even fought back the arrest. What makes matters worse is the spread of these protesters, as they have also been appearing in Sydney as well. Although it may sound alarming the amount of people who have been arrested, it does not compare to the whopping three hundred protesters who showed up at the shrine, where none of them followed any health regulations.
Reasons for these people to protest against the stage 4 lock down included some believing that COVID-19 does not exist, and that they have the right to be free. A woman, who refused to follow a policeman’s order to wear a mask said to them; “There's no epidemic — it's just a pretext to keep us in lock down." (abc.net). With this belief in mind, they have refused to wear any masks, or keep a 1.5 metre distance away from each other, believing that they are 100% healthy, and are not at risk of anything.
So how do these protests affect Victoria in general? Although cases are gradually decreasing, it does not mean that the state is completely safe. Rumours spreading across social media state that the lock down may continue for another 6 weeks, or even for the rest of the year. None of these statements have been confirmed by Daniel Andrews yet, but that does not mean that they will not happen, considering there are people shouting “freedom” amongst the streets of what was used to be the most liveable city.
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