THE time has come for Daniel Andrews to follow our nation’s leader and reopen Victorian schools.
We have been patient and done the right things, but now it seems the Victorian Premier is digging in on the school issue, almost in spite of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s recommendations. It feels Labor v Liberal all of a sudden, it feels political again.
At a time when our country has been unified in its fight against coronavirus, and politicians have worked together for the greater good, we don’t now need them to send mixed messages to a vulnerable and frustrated society.
My daughter goes to primary school and we couldn’t fault the teachers or the school for their efforts and communication through this time.
But staying at home is hurting the kids a lot. They miss their friends, they miss being able to play and their love of school and enthusiasm for learning is diminishing by the day.
So when our PM is saying it is safe for them to return to school, why does Andrews keep shutting them out?
In Mildura, we have had zero new coronavirus cases for weeks on end and businesses have decided for themselves to start reopening, even for a few hours at a time.
They can’t remain in hibernation forever.
It’s why when Victoria’s state of emergency ends on Monday, the Premier must move to ease social distancing measures.
We need to be allowed to get on with our lives, albeit one step at a time.
Those who are in high-risk groups will need to take extra precautions while most of us who are young and healthy (and yes, I’m including myself in that cohort) need to be able to get out and about.
Many of us are becoming more concerned about our country’s financial viability, our kids’ future and our collective mental wellbeing than about catching COVID-19, which is why our leaders need to strike the right balance to ensure we all remain vigilant long-term.
Yes, we all worry about our own parents and our elderly, but we also worry about their mental wellbeing in all of this.
Our country has made some great steps in preparing for a major outbreak of this killer bug. Our health system is now well equipped to cope, our tracing is high-quality and we are all pretty well versed in good hygiene and reasonably good social distancing practices.
By and large, Australians have listened to our chief health officers and will continue to do so.
But as Scott Morrison said, we need to be able to climb out from under our doonas.
If it means parents have to stay in their car at school drop-off, but our kids can go back to class, then we will follow the rules.
If it means keeping our distance when out shopping, we will follow the rules.
Victorians have given Daniel Andrews until May 11 to do this testing blitz, but he needs to trust us now.
It’s time to ring the bell, Dan. Let parents get back to work, let kids get on with being kids.
