Covid Lockdown in Cairns …
… seemed inevitable that it would happen sometime … and will likely happen again … a coronavirus pandemic lockdown in Cairns. Our tropical city has led a charmed life since last years initial lockdown in March and April … and we’ve watched as lockdowns have been instituted regularly around the rest of the country.
It took a mariner who had contracted the virus on an offshore ship before travelling back to Cairns and passing it on to a taxi driver to change all that and spark a (thankfully only) three day total lockdown.
These are just a few of the many images I made for Australian Associated Press (AAP) this week. More of my lockdown pics may be found on the AAP site here. (I also spent time covering the lockdown for News Ltd and you may have seen some of those in the local media.)
From top we have … 9 year old Lexie Barlow is tested by QML staff for covid-19 at a testing centre on the Cairns Esplanade … the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon empty and closed for the lockdown duration … masked indigenous children Isiah Bligh and Jakian Costello play in the rain during the Yarrabah lockdown … with occupancy down to seventeen percent a housekeeper patrols the empty corridors of the Cairns Hilton Hotel … Cairns residents queue for covid-19 testing at a QML test centre on the Esplanade … a girl exercises on the Cairns Esplanade during the lockdown.
Cairns has been fortunate since the pandemic began early in 2020 … and fingers crossed these are the last images of a local lockdown.
Images © Brian Cassey and AAP
October 7th, 2018
It is horrific that in the 21st century there remains the mindset that anyone can be accused of sorcery and equally so that others are then justified in torturing, maiming and killing the alleged offenders – innocent people going about their daily lives. What gets into people that they can act this way and claim that it is normal / acceptable? And what happens with those who simply stand by and watch, doing nothing? We have many issues to address as a collective around this issue as it is now and its historical antecedents.