Is it just me or does or is everyone glad they are not running the country?

Aint everyone glad they aren’t running the country

Is it just me or does or is everyone glad they are not running the country?

As we go to print, Australia is not in full lockdown.  Plenty of people are calling for it but the PM is standing firm.

For the moment, we can shop, buy takeaway or go for a walk, even get our hair done, providing we keep a ‘social distance.’

In the UK, they are a step ahead.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has banned public gatherings of more than two people and ordered people to stay home except for limited grocery shopping, outdoor exercise with one other person from their household, medical treatment or to travel for essential services.

In the UK schools and retail shops are shut as well as restaurants, public houses and coffee shops.  Police have been authorised to use force to send people back to their homes if they flout the laws.

In New Zealand, the house you slept in two nights ago is where you must stay until further notice, the whole country is shut down except for supermarkets, pharmacies and health appointments.

India is on a 21 day lock down.  Public transport has been suspended with only grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies, petrol stations, telecoms, postal services and restaurants that deliver food allowed open.

Interestingly, if you knowingly infect another person with Corona Virus in India, either deliberately or simply by refusing to self-isolate, you face up to two years in prison.

In Italy people need to download a form and commit to a timetable to leave their house for essentials such as work, health-related issues or to go to the supermarket.

If you are caught out of the house without authority, you can be fined three thousand euro and face three months in jail.

If people really want to get serious, the country of Jordan implemented the strictest Covid 19 restrictions in the world and might be reaping the rewards.

Jordan forced everyone inside, even shutting down grocery stores and pharmacies.

The government commandeered city buses and delivered bread and other essentials directly to neighbourhoods.  People who were sick or needed medicine had to call the national guard to explain their need and either be supplied with medication or escorted to hospital.

Jordan has one of the highest smoking rates in the world and I think the public buses were even delivering ciggies.

But five days into the lockdown, after more than 2000 arrests for breaches of curfew, the government has relaxed the rules, mainly because households were running out of food and medicine.

The people of Jordan are very angry at the king but Jordan only has less than 200 cases of Corona Virus and no deaths to date.

History will judge the Australian response and only time will tell how our economy fares, but leadership tests don’t come any tougher.

Caroline xx