Coker and Henderson plead with Melburnians to stay home

THE message to Melburnians to stay away from their holiday homes during the capital’s coronavirus lockdown has bipartisan support, with Geelong’s federal Labor and Liberal representatives endorsing it.
Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire returned to stage 3 restrictions on July 9, with residents only allowed to leave home for necessarily goods and services, work, medical care or exercise for six weeks.
There have been anecdotal reports of people in Melbourne heading to towns such as Torquay and Lorne to wait out the lockdown.
Corangamite Labor federal member Libby Coker said there was “an influx of people fleeing to their beach houses” on the evening of July 8 to avoid the incoming Stage 3 restrictions.
“My office has been inundated with calls and emails from Corangamite residents who are concerned about an influx of people of staying in their accommodation at a time of when health authorities are telling them to ‘GO HOME and STAY AT HOME’. I agree with them.”
She said there were “hundreds, if not thousands, of people” not on school holidays but “simply intending to set up at their secondary home for the next six weeks of lockdown at the beach”.
“It’s creating anxiety in the community. People are fearful of the spread of the virus and feel that they are doing the right thing and others are not.”
Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said the Greater Geelong region was “now in a race against time to stop the imposition of lockdown restrictions” now in effect in metropolitan Melbourne.
She said the recent spike in active cases across Greater Geelong meant “we cannot take anything for granted”, and “each person has a personal responsibility to protect themselves, to protect loved ones and the wider community”.
“The coronavirus is incredibly infectious and potentially lethal.
“Please remain incredibly vigilant. Otherwise, regional Victoria could face a second wave of active cases and these same tougher restrictions. It’s that serious.”