Opinion: Austria impose unwarranted segregated lockdown
Austria impose unwarranted segregated lockdown
For those who remember, it was March 2020 when “two weeks to flatten the curve” was the popular phrase dashed out by uninspiring world leaders to justify imposing a ‘temporary’ restrictions on our freedoms and fundamental rights.
Those opposed to this were branded as Covid deniers and conspiracy theorists.
However, rolling death counts and fear mongering in the mainstream media whipped up a storm of fear around a flu like virus (which we aren’t allowed to say is the flu) – where was the advertisement of deaths for every other illness?
Thankfully, after snatching away our freedoms for what feels like an eternity the UK government has restored our individual liberties despite having one of the highest infection rates in the world – at least for now our rights have some value.
Yet, what is happening in Austria is the antithesis of liberal democracy and an abuse of central governmental powers.
On Monday around two million people have been plunged into a lockdown for ten days if they are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 following a described “surge in cases.”
Statistically the infection rate is 800 cases per 100,000 and the vaccine rate is 65 per cent of the just under nine million population.
This may be the best case seen for the implementation of small governmental powers instead of a large overbearing administrations we have seen over the past year with unelected advisory bodies like Sage and the CDC ruling over us where dissent was clamped down on – despite the CDC themselves changing policy with the CDC advising no masks, then masks, then two masks going back to one and now even masks for vaccinated people.
Some may say on the surface Austria’s policy isn’t so bad but what many do not realise is unvaccinated people in Austria are already unable to visit restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas and now are expected to stay at home and failure to comply with the dictatorial regime leads to a fine of 1450 dollars for re-offending.
The Austrian elite have decided in a country with a population of just under nine million that averages 29 deaths a week that our rights need to be curtailed – apparently this is an appropriate response.
Where is there left to go? People who want the vaccine have had it, people who don’t haven’t – at what point do we move on?
We have already seen the effect of lockdowns: extreme poverty is up for the first time in 20 years, Oxfam reviewed government support in 126 low and middle income countries and found 97 per cent of the support given was inadequate, depression symptoms according to Healthline were three times higher during the Covid-19 lockdowns and globally Covid is expected to push unemployment over the 200 million mark by 2022.
Despite the multitude of the hideously insufferable effects of lockdown it seems some elite who can afford to be locked down just can’t help themselves after their initial power seizure.
Even worse is they believe segregating just under a quarter population on the basis of health for a disease with some researchers believing that Covid has a 0.4-3.6 per cent mortality rate.
I’m not saying the disease isn’t real or isn’t going to cause some people problems but to split a society on this and restrict fundamental rights is lamentable.
Just as I saw the outcry to the Austrian policy and think finally the Covid backlash may begin, it seems the global elite can’t allow it to happen.
The same policy Austria implemented is now being brought into Germany, Ireland are set to have a semi lockdown reinstating curfews and a new part of the Austrian policy is routine police checks for unvaccinated rebels.
What a horrifyingly totalitarian time it appears to be in Austria.
By Sam Rhodes
Feature Image: Unsplash
