As reported in the Trends Journal last week, the once-bustling city of Melbourne was locked down because the state of Victoria had 735 new coronavirus cases.
To date, in a country of some 6.3 million people, 334 have died of the virus or 0.0053 percent of the population.
Nationally, 421 people in a country of 25.5 million or 0.0016 percent of the population reportedly have died of COVID-19.
Yet, while the political leaders saw fit to lock down the entire city, last week, it was revealed they have been totally neglectful in protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19: the elderly in nursing homes with pre-existing health issues.
This 10 August headline in the area’s newspaper The New Daily made it clear: “No plan for COVID in aged-care homes – shocking royal commission evidence.”
The data has been clear for months that between 40 and 50 percent of the people worldwide dying from COVID live in elder care facilities.
The Australian government is now being accused of “catastrophic failure” after the country’s Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety revealed a complete lack of planning to deal with COVID in nursing homes by the federal government under Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Also, on 10 August, it was reported the federal government’s aged care regulator waited five days before informing health authorities of an outbreak at St. Basil’s Home for the Aged in Melbourne, which recorded 20 deaths from the virus.
Julie Collins, a member of Australia’s opposition Labor Party stated, “At almost every step of the growing outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes, the Morrison Government has been behind the eight ball with tragic consequences. Why was the Government not better prepared for outbreaks that would impact our nation’s most vulnerable?”
The Minister for Aged Care and health department officials have refused to publicly release a list of elder care facilities battling the virus in the state of Victoria because the homes were concerned with “reputational issues.”
In response to the government’s failure to protect elder care residents, Peter Rozen, senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety said, “The regulator did not have an appropriate aged care sector COVID-19 response plan. Given that it was widely understood that recipients of aged care services were a high-risk group, this seems surprising.”
Australian Prime Minister Morrison blamed it on “a breakdown in that communication. And that’s not good.”
On Sunday, it was reported 25 people died of the virus in Victoria. Keeping with the trend, without discussing if they came from elder care homes or were suffering underlying medical conditions, Premier Daniel Andrews noted the deaths included “a man in his 60s, three men and four women in their 70s, four men and six women in their 80s, and three men and four women in their 90s.”
TRENDPOST: Again and again, it’s the same story. Rather than protecting the most vulnerable groups, politicians instead lock down entire nations, states, and cities, throwing millions out of work, destroying businesses, causing untold depression from social isolation, pushing crime rates higher, and preventing a return to any semblance of normal life.
