Opinion

There’s Always One

there’s always one

The latest news from Victoria around the Covid-19 issue shows us that there’s always one person who is not going to do the right thing. The question is whether they get caught or not.

Well, this time they did get caught and a truck driver, who unknowingly picked up a Covid infection at the outbreak in the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Eastern Melbourne, was the one who spread the infection into Kilmore in Victoria, over 90km away, and on into Shepparton.

His mistake was, apparently, to eat in at a cafe, instead of getting a take away meal. Unfortunately, this error was compounded by not volunteering the information, upfront, that he had also gone to Shepparton on the same trip.

His error led to panic and widespread testing in both Kilmore and Shepparton, where a number of infections appeared. Fortunately, those outbreaks look like they are now under control and the virus does not appear to have spread further.

For these omissions the driver has been fined $1652 and is said to be genuinely remorseful about the problems caused.

The fact of the matter is that it’s not the case that there’s always one, there’s always a lot more than one. It’s just that only one got unlucky and then got caught.

This unfortunate set of circumstances should wake us all up and strengthen our resolve not to become complacent. This is the misdemeanour we are dealing with here. Picking up the infection was an accident, but not following the guidelines and eating in the cafe was what was done wrong. Not telling the whole story, just makes it worse.

The moral of this story must be that we are all responsible for our actions and need to act responsibly at all times, during this crisis. In fact, not just during this crisis, but as much as possible into the future. 

The pandemic has sharpened the consequences of our actions, and the consequences here could have been terrible. Thankfully they were not. 

However, it is a timely reminder for everyone to be mindful of unforeseen consequences. The trucking industry is dangerous enough without us increasing the risk by not following the rules.

there’s always one

Previous ArticleNext Article
Send this to a friend