Australia may finally put an end to its “Covid Zero” policy. Residents tired of an endless lockdown policy driven by CCP propaganda can thank the nation’s truckers. A viral video went out last week announcing that truck drivers in the nation were willing to shut down the country to end the authoritarian behavior of the government.
The trucker in the video says: “It’s on. The truckies are doing it. We need you and everyone else’s support to watch this video, hand it up and let everyone in Australia know that the truckies are gonna shut down the country. What that means is you need to go shopping now, get what you can for the next week or two, load your fridge, freezers. The truckies are coming, and they’re going to pull this country down, and we’re all going to do it together and remove the s**t government.”
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He continues: “The vets are in. The truckies are in. I’m in. I am willing to go to jail to save my country and my children. If you want to do this, we got to do it together as one.”
The trucker also criticized vaccinations, but the threat was clear: Supply chains for essential goods will come to a screeching halt if the truck drivers put their big rigs in park (language warning):
Australia: The truck drivers of Australia are planning to shut down the country in order to bring down the dictators… They are telling you to stock up on food for a couple of weeks . Let’s see how this plays out.. #NoMoreLockdowns #AustraliaHasFallen pic.twitter.com/8ptCFgc4IY
— Gillian McKeith (@GillianMcKeith) August 22, 2021
Frustration with Covid tests and layoffs due to repeated lockdowns had truck drivers threatening to stop delivery for three to four weeks. This movement coincided with a labor dispute at a large trucking firm. It also followed viral videos of police using tear gas and rubber bullets on anti-lockdown protestors. News that a rural council in New South Wales shot rescue dogs rather than letting shelter workers come to pick them up also broke.
Related: REVOLTING: Aussies Shooting Rescue Dogs Dead in Anti-COVID Effort
Perhaps the viral video made the Australian leaders look in the mirror and see Xi Jinping staring back at them. Or maybe they were terrified of the toilet paper shortages that plagued the country earlier in the pandemic. Whatever the reason, Prime Minister Scott Morrison emerged on August 23 to let Australians know the government had a change of heart.
Australia had a policy of “circuit breakers” that required lockdowns whenever cases were detected. They believed this could stop the spread and eradicate the virus. The Delta variant proved this strategy was not going to work, as lockdowns were ordered all over the country when testing found cases of the variant. Positive tests rose despite the draconian stay-at-home orders and militant enforcement.
Morrison said the government developed a national plan “to live with the virus” in a video address. “That is our goal, to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it,” Morrison said. He asserted that actions taken to contain COVID-19 to date had saved 30,000 lives and preserved 1,000,000 livelihoods. It is not clear how the government tabulated these figures.
He went on to say that 70% of the country was now eligible to be vaccinated. He said that at 80% vaccination, the nation would have to move forward. Morrison added that the country must also change its mindset. Once it reaches the vaccination mark, cases will no longer be the governing metric. Instead, the health system will focus on severe illness and hospitalization. “And we will live with this virus as we live with other infectious diseases,” Morrison emphasized.
Related: Massive Unrest as Australia Adopts China’s Authoritarian ‘COVID-Zero’ Approach
While the United States never had a stated “Covid Zero” policy, that goal is the only way to explain many of the actions we see our health authorities and political leaders taking. Even though no local government in the U.S. has killed puppies yet, many have decided we are not supposed to learn how to live with COVID-19.
Perhaps it is time to stop testing people with no symptoms and every hospitalized patient. Tell people to stay home if they do not feel well, seek testing if they are symptomatic, and seek the available outpatient treatment if they are high-risk and test positive. According to the CDC,173,520,211 Americans are fully vaccinated.
According to the agency’s disease burden estimates, approximately 166 million have recovered. As Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina said recently, repeated COVID-19 exposure will reduce disease severity. It is time to end the panic porn of breathless counting of cases and focus on outcomes. The risk stratification for severe illness and death is known. It is past the time to act as if we know it.
Australia, which appeared to have lost its mind just last week, came to its senses because truckies decided they had had enough. What will it take for our national leaders to relent and tell Americans it is time to change our mindset?
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