Police go house to house to check people are obeying.
Less than 18 months ago, if we'd have been told that Australia, of all countries, would be under de facto martial law we would have thought the idea impossible. But that is exactly what has occurred. Australians have been placed under martial law.
Authorities in Australia have called in the military to occupy parts of Sydney and enforce the country’s latest draconian COVID-19 lockdown.
Thousands of military personnel have been drafted in to patrol the country’s largest city despite coronavirus cases remaining in the low hundreds per day, far lower than other developed nations like the UK that have lifted some of the restrictions.
It is unclear why troops have been deployed but it is not beyond possibility troops will be used to police protesters, hundreds of thousands of whom hit the streets of major cities last weekend to demonstrate against the measures.
People in New South Wales are basically under the most draconian form of lockdown where they are only allowed to leave home for work, exercise and food and are not permitted to venture more than 3 miles from where they live.
Police are going house-to-house to check that residents are obeying the rules, and also using helicopters blaring the message: “This is public health order – do not break rules – you will be found and fines issued.”
On Saturday thousands of police officers also swarmed Sydney, setting up roadblocks in a massive show of force to avoid a repeat of last week’s violent anti-lockdown protests, and Authorities have outlined even tighter restrictions for some worst-affected suburbs, including mandatory testing and mask-wearing indoors and outdoors.
The country is still pursuing a bizarre and unattainable ‘zero COVID’ policy which has led to entire towns and cities being locked down after the discovery of just a single infection.
A sign of things to come?