Melbourne Lockdown 2.0 - what it's like and what it means

 Are lockdowns working? It undoubtedly works to reduce infections and yet, the impact on mental health right now and into the future is being sorely neglected. What will happen for the many renters who are amassing a due debt once the eviction protection laws end? What will happen once the government funding for the jobless is cut off in March? No genuine long-term plans are being provided to alleviate these anxieties. It is costing, and it will cost, lives. While I heartily welcome the mandatory masks in public, I am one of the many Melburnians living under a dark gloomy curtain of fear and frustration at present.

Media has labelled this second Victorian clamp down on public life "Lockdown 2.0". Kicking off on July 9th, it has required a return to our apartments and houses to shelter ourselves away, preventing transmission of coronavirus. There's been positive and negative elements to Lockdown 2.0.

This time around, there haven't been major shortages of toilet paper, canned goods and painkillers. The first lockdown saw mass influxes of Melburnians descend on their supermarkets and chemists in the early hours to clear the shelves. There seems to be greater respect for social distancing too. I assume this is due to the confrontational nature of seeing everyone else in facial masks. It's a stark reminder that this is a life-and-death matter.

The worst part of Lockdown 2.0 is that hopes were dashed. Individuals, families, businesses and our city as a whole had seen a light on the horizon - a return, however gradual, to our lives where cafes, parks, dining out, going to galleries and sporting events would be possible after months of absence from our lives. We would see friends, colleagues and neighbours in the streets and be able to again talk to each other and to strangers - granted, at a distance.

Hunkered down in my apartment with my cavoodle, plotting our daily walks, I'd developed a passion for beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. I knew the novelty factor of this would soon wear off though and I, like everyone, had been anticipating an emergence from the online shopping chrysalis. In preparation for marching out of Lockdown 1.0, I've got a wardrobe of new ankle socks, yoga pants and makeup. I was ready to emerge months ago, and I'm even more prepared now. That said, life is not on hold at all. We are here for a short time when you consider the age of the universe and that the tree your dog pees on has likely been here a century before you showed up. We are here for a short time, and every day matters  whether you see anyone else or accomplish anything measurable or not. 

I have continued to write, to teach via Zoom and to keep to my daily routine of walking my dog, reading newspapers, magazines and websites to stay inspired and excited by what people are doing and thinking. I am very fortunate to live by the beach. Looking out at the ocean is the ultimate reminder to me that we are connected to everywhere else on this planet. To be too insular in our views, assuming the world is as small as our neighbourhood or city, is to rob ourselves of the beauty of being a global citizen. This is temporary and now that we know what it feels like to have our freedoms curtailed, hopefully it makes us appreciate them all the more when they are returned.

I know I'm doing this, and my city is doing this, so that - God forbid - we don't see Lockdown 3.0.