Our businesses and mental health were beginning the recovery process from what has been a 12-month period like no other.
There was a sickening feeling of ‘here we go again’ when premier Dan Andrews made the announcement on that fateful Friday.
We'd seen him standing there before; and the memories, still fresh in our minds, were coming back to haunt us.
Many felt that it was unnecessary to put regional Victoria into the strictest lockdown it had seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 12 months ago.
There were no cases in regional Victoria, so why did it have to go into lockdown?
For Greater Shepparton businesses that did not have the option of being able to operate online, they had no choice but to cop the brunt of it — and it was particularly harsh being so close to Valentine’s Day.
From a health standpoint, the five-day lockdown has proven effective (for now) and locally transmitted cases reported since were close contacts who were already isolating at the time of their positive test result.
Last week the Victorian Government extended the state of emergency with the support of independents and minor parties.
There are thousands in Victoria who feel it’s totally unjustifiable to give the government such power.
Most people wear masks when required, stay 1.5 m away from others, get a COVID test when symptoms develop and squirt the hand sanitizer at every opportunity.
Vaccinations are being rolled out across the state, including here in Greater Shepparton, with the first recipients getting their jab this month.
When we start to see that light at the end of the tunnel, there’s anger directed toward those we put in charge and the question arises: why are they building more of this tunnel?
Can you blame them? No.
But it must be made clear, there was complacency after the first lockdown and look where it landed us.
Since the second lockdown — caused by hotel quarantine failure — there have been two outbreaks in Melbourne: the Black Rock cluster and the Holiday Inn incident.
When the second lockdown was winding down the one place in regional Victoria that copped an outbreak was Shepparton.
What it shows is that we cannot underestimate how the virus spreads and must remain vigilant. Luckily, we have been able to get through those outbreaks.
From a general observation, things are slowly returning to normal and that's because we’ve done it with flexibility.
You can have a meal at a restaurant, and it seems the only additional requirement compared to 12 months ago is a QR code.
Pretty much the only time a mask is required is when you're in a supermarket or shopping centre, on public transport or in an aged care facility.
At a local level Fryers St is quickly returning to the food hub of Shepparton it once was and it's a marvellous sight to see.
Hopefully it won't be long before our favourite events and festivals we've missed out on in 2020 return for this year.
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