A family from Aberdeen now living in Australia has warned against becoming complacent as Melbourne returns to strict lockdown measures following a new coronavirus outbreak.
The Websters, who emigrated down under 15 years ago, said they had been watching the rest of the world deal with the pandemic with the belief the state of Victoria and its capital Melbourne had handled the situation comparatively well.
But from midnight tonight, the metropolitan area of the city will go back into strict lockdown for six weeks as part of efforts to limit a new surge in cases before it spirals out of control.
Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus during one 24-hour period on July 6, its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.
A month prior on June 6, there were just four new cases recorded – the same number of new confirmed daily cases recorded in Scotland on Monday.
As part of the “stage three” lockdown measures, residents will only be allowed to leave the house for food shopping, care and caregiving, daily exercise, work and studying.
All pubs have shut, and restaurants will only be open for takeaway.
Alexander Webster, 28, and his father George, 63, are now facing the prospect of not seeing each other for a long time.
George, his wife, and Alexander’s little sister are staying at the family’s second home in Queensland, north of Victoria, while Alexander and his brother are staying in Melbourne.
The family believe the situation is a lesson their friends and relatives back home should learn from.
Mr Webster jun said: “We had it under relative control just weeks ago, but just lately it’s escalated out of control.
“We’ll only be allowed out for some minor exercise, going to the shops, and work if required.
“It’s really demoralising because only a few weeks ago we were at the pub celebrating, so this is really quite hard to stomach actually. Our confidence has really been hit hard across Melbourne.
“The point we’re going back to now, is where we were two months ago. It’s a really horrible feeling.”
During the Scottish Government’s coronavirus update yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged Scots not to “lull” themselves into thinking that Scotland is immune to the risk of future resurgences of Covid-19.
Mr Webster sen said: “I’m kind of trapped up here now and can’t get back down to Victoria, as Victoria is the pariah state.
“We’re now in a situation where all the other states and territories in Australia have very few active cases, but Victoria has several hundred, it’s just shocking how it’s exploded.
“I think people around the world, including in Scotland, need to remain very cautious, it’s a fight that’s never going to be won until we get a vaccine.”
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, told the Australian media: “There is simply no alternative other than thousands and thousands of cases, many, people in hospital and the inevitable tragedy that will come from that.
“We are in many respects in a more precarious, challenging and potentially tragic position now than we were some months ago.”