Full Transcript
Pete:
The coronavirus – creeping onto the world’s scene only a few short months ago-
British Newscaster (male):
-hundred dead, thousands infected across multiple continents. But how did the coronavirus spread so quickly?
American Newscaster (male):
Now the growing concerns about the deadly coronavirus officially hitting the US, here’s what we know.
American Newscaster (female):
So that patient is a man in his 30s, he is in the hospital here behind me-
Pete:
-and then exploding into our day-to-day lives.
British Newscaster (female) 1:
Social distancing – it means no coming into contact with people unless you need to. So no more going to restaurants, parties, pubs, clubs. You can go out for a walk and buy essentials, but you need to stay at least two meters from everyone else. Imagine you’re holding a big broom.
Pete:
Every day we hear about the impact of corona and COVID-19 on – well, almost everyone. But how is it affecting disabled individuals?
British Newscaster (female) 2:
The British government are not providing an interpreter for people with hearing loss at their daily conferences.
British Newscaster (female) 3:
The problems, the challenges that blind people are facing when it comes to COVID-19 safety measures-
Pete:
Today on Blind Abilities we explore just how blind and visually impaired individuals have experienced and adapted to corona and COVID-19 around the world. From Asia and Australia-
Chee Chau:
This is Chee Chau, from Malaysia.
Elise Lonsdale:
My name is Elise Lonsdale, and I’m from Northern Australia.
Pete:
-from the United Kingdom, to Trinidad and Tobago-
Steve Wicketts:
Hi, my name’s Steve, and I’m from England.
Marlon Parieaho:
Hey everyone, it’s me, Marlon Parieaho, from Trinidad and Tobago.
Pete:
-and Canada-
Nick D’Ambrosio:
Hi, my name is Nick D’Ambrosio, and I’m from Montreal, Canada.
Pete:
-and the United States.
Lori Thompson:
Hi, my name is Lori Thompson, I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is in the United States.
Brooklyn Rodden Kelly:
I’m Brooklyn, and I’m from Sacramento, California.
Brian Fischler:
Greetings everyone! Brian Fischler, from New York City.
Sherry Molengraft:
Hello, I’m Sherry Molengraft, from Jacksonville, Florida.
Pete:
And now join us with today’s guest, Elise Lonsdale, as he shares his unique perspective on COVID-19. Elise’s observations come from early on, as the pandemic was first developing in Australia.
Elise Lonsdale:
Hello, my name is Elise Lonsdale, and I’m from Northern Australia.
Australian Newscaster:
Breaking news, we’re taking you live to Canberra for a COVID-19 update with the prime minister.
Australian Prime Minister:
To ensure that we’re only doing what is necessary to protect the health of Australians-
Elise Lonsdale:
Victoria is the state in which I live. I’m legally blind with 10% vision, and I run a business called Data Australasia supporting people who are blind and have low vision to better work with their Apple devices, Windows, and other pieces of computing equipment and access technology. It’s because of that business that allows me to continue to work during the corona, or COVID-19 lockdowns that we’re experiencing here in Australia, because much of my work has gone online. So, rather than going out to visit clients, much of what I do now is either over Team Viewer, or JAWS Tandem, or other online mechanisms that allow me to assist people over the net. One of the best things I’ve done recently is converted my business as well as other organizations’ businesses to working by Zoom Cloud Meeting, which of course ticks a lot of boxes from an accessibility point of view.
Australia has the landmass of roughly the continental United States, that is the southern 48, but it is far less populated. It’s divided into six states and two territories. Each of the states have a Premiere, and the territories have what we call a Chief Minister. They are the state governments, similar to your governors in the United States, etc. They each have their own parliaments, and they exist because they were once self-governing colonies of Britain. Our federal government overlays over the top of that, and is responsible for services such as the armed forces, social security, broadcasting, licenses, that sort of stuff, but most of the day-to-day running is done by the states – for example, hospital care, traffic management, health care, that sort of stuff is done by the states, although the federal people run our Medicare system, so it’s a little bit of a joint effort, which means it’s the states that have to enforce the laws that are brought down in the time of crisis.
Each state has declared a state of emergency, or at least our state has, which therefore gives them extraordinary powers under the various acts of parliament, some of which could even be termed as non-constitutional, like, for example, closing state borders.
The federal government, together with the six state Premieres, two territory Chief Ministers, a bunch of ministers and chief bureaucrats, like, for example, the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy etc., have formed a national cabinet. Now, originally the national cabinet came on the news saying how united they were, I’m starting to see several leaks, but basically what they did was we went to a stage one lockdown, which was, you know, we had to stay 1.5 meters away from everybody, we closed down the hotels, cinemas, we kept the food courts in shopping malls open, but when we went to stage three – stage two lasted about two days, I might add – when we went to stage three, all of the food courts got shut down as well.
Shops are open, particularly supermarkets, essential services really – shops can choose to close, and that has sadly been a harsh reality of these lockdowns. For example, one day 18,000 people went from work to welfare. People who are running businesses – shops, clothing stores, menswear stores, ladies’ wear stores, you know, basically cosmetic stores etc. – had to shut down because they had to lay off their staff because they simply didn’t have enough foot traffic going past their businesses or they needed to- for example, shops like beauticians, hairdressers, funnily enough they’re still open, but people like tattooists, people who get close.
Medical services are running, but basically we’re advised not to go out unless we have to. And that’s pretty much standard around the country, the fines for doing so vary depending on the states you’re in – basically, you’re only in most states allowed to have one other person in your household, you can only go out if you’re caring for another person, you are seeking medical attention, if you have to go to work, or you can’t work remotely, and if you are going out for shopping and supplies. There’s been several people not obeying those laws, sadly, but at the same time there have been several unwarranted fines meted out by various local police forces. For example, a woman who was taking her 16-year-old daughter out to drive for a driving lesson, it wasn’t the driver who got fined, it was the young girl. That charge has since been withdrawn, there have been several others like it.
But we’re coping, we’re looking forward to coming out stage by stage, the government want to introduce an app, along the lines of the Singapore app, where by Bluetooth it will give you a number and use location services on your phone to track where you are, in order to tell you, allegedly, where other people with corona might be. I have severe difficulties based on privacy and civil libertarian reasons, I don’t think the government should be requesting people to install apps, although it will apparently help to speed up the testing and localize any small outbreaks, which would be better than closing the whole country down. We’ve closed our international borders, and they will be expected to remain closed for some time.
That’s how corona or COVID-19, SARS-COV-2, whatever you’d prefer to call it, are affecting people here in Australia. Thank you.
Australian Newscaster:
-the Prime Minister.
Australian Prime Minister:
Well, I can say this: that had the virus kept growing at the same rate it was twelve days ago, we would now have more than ten and a half thousand cases. That is a tribute to the work that is being done by Australians in getting around and supporting the very sensible measures that are being put in place all around the country by the state and territory governments.
Pete:
This concludes our first episode in our series Around the World With COVID-19 From a Blindness Perspective. We’d like to thank Elise for his insights and perspective on how corona, or COVID-19, is impacting Australians down under. Stay tuned for more episodes in our series, and from all of us here at Blind Abilities, through these challenging times, to you, your family, and friends, stay well, stay informed, and stay strong. Thank you so much for listening, and have a great day.
Music] [Transition noise] –
When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
For more podcasts with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.
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