As 480 residents woke today to the harsh reality of spending the next nine days under strict quarantine, at least one family openly wondered how they would cope.
Key points:
- Eight of nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne are out of hard lockdown
- Residents in the remaining tower at 33 Alfred Street will remain under strict quarantine for nine more days
- They are allowed out of their homes for medical treatment and supervised daily exercise
The public housing tower at 33 Alfred Street in North Melbourne is the only one that must remain in hard lockdown to finish 14 days of quarantine.
The complex had 53 cases of coronavirus as of Thursday, with Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warning 25 per cent of all the 480 residents were likely to contract COVID-19.
Lana Sheya is afraid her family could be among that 25 per cent.
The 28-year-old lives in an apartment on the third floor with her mum, dad, and 17-year-old sister.
About 7:30pm last night, a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was slipped under the family's door.
"You've been issued with a Detention Direction from the Deputy Chief Health Officer of Victoria," the letter read.
"You must not leave your home.
"You must not allow others to enter your home."
The apartment isn't a big place: with three-bedrooms, one bathroom and a small combined kitchen and lounge area it's easy to understand why Lana says the family are already "on each other's nerves".
The anger and nervousness Lana felt last weekend when she first found out about the lockdown have not gone away.
"If they can quarantine thousands of people coming off international flights why can't they house the positive cases here and let us go free?"
The State Government has offered anyone who has tested positive to coronavirus in the towers to move to hotel quarantine, but it's not mandatory.
Lana's entire family have tested negative, something Lana is desperate to maintain for the sake of her mum, who has asthma.
"Why couldn't they at least take my mum away and maybe she can go to my other sister's place away from here," she said.
Lana said no one in the family had received a welfare check from the DHHS and while she had heard there were people downstairs providing mental health check-ups, she would rather stay in the apartment to lower the risk of transmission.
The few times she has gone downstairs, the police have been there, staring, she said.
Lana is also concerned about her 17-year-old sister Layssa, who is in Year 12 studying VCE.
"She's really anxious and doesn't know what's happening. She was just starting to get back into a normal routine.
"We've emailed her coordinator to see how her schoolwork can be brought to her. But they still haven't let us know."
Washing is another hurdle.
The communal laundry in the tower is closed as of today for nine days.
"Someone said there might be laundry services but I don't think we will be comfortable doing that," Lana said.
The rules of the strict quarantine are also vague, she said.
Everyone is allowed outside for supervised exercise, but Lana doesn't know if infected people are allowed out too.
"What if I mix with someone who has it or they touch the handrail going down the stairs?
But her biggest concern is about what happens when it's all over.
"Are we going to be provided counsellors? So many people will walk out with some sort of trauma."
Culturally diverse counselling organised by community leader
Ahmed Dini is a community leader who lives in the Canning Street tower.
He has organised a "culturally appropriate counselling hotline" to launch today, with people from Melbourne's African community calling residents in all nine towers to check up on how they're coping.
While Ahmed was happy to be free, the feeling was bittersweet because his parents are living at 33 Alfred Street.
"The celebration lasted for about five seconds," he told ABC Drive on Thursday.
The community leader said he was encouraging people who tested positive to move to hotel quarantine or make sure they did not leave their apartment for any reason.
"We don't want any of [the healthy residents] to come into contact with the virus," he said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTEwL21lbGJvdXJuZXMtbGFzdC1wdWJsaWMtaG91c2luZy10b3dlci1pbi1oYXJkLWxvY2tkb3duLzEyNDQxMTIw0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNDQxMTIw?oc=5
2020-07-09 21:01:00Z
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