It's been a long four months.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has upended out lives, impacted our work, our home life and our relationships with loved ones.
Distance has become the norm - social and physical.
We locked down in our homes, emerging only for essentials like exercise and food shopping (loo roll stockpiles are still being used up).
We stayed away from loved ones, hunkered down and Zoomed up.
We took up hobbies, endlessly binge-watched television shows, learnt to make sourdough bread and home schooled our children.
OTHER NEWS:
At the 100 day mark since Victoria went into a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak we release the details of our survey on how the changes have impacted people in the Wimmera.
For the past week you have been answering our survey. We thank everybody who took the time to answer it.
Here are the results.
Q1 - Do you live in the Wimmera
In total 82 per cent of those who answered said they live in the area with a further 14 per cent saying they grew up in the area and the remainder, just 4 per cent, were from outside the area.
Q2 Did you get stood down from work?
It was largely good news for those who took part in the survey, with 72 per cent saying they had retained their job. A total of 15 per cent were stood down and a further 10 per cent had their hours reduced.
Your comments
"Hospitality worker, club I worked at was forced to close."
"Will have job back once restrictions are back to normal."
"The CEO continued to refuse to increase my hours and yet employed his son as a casual instead."
"Worked from home for 7 weeks , totally isolated , just my dog and I, has left me suffering anxiety."
OTHER NEWS: Morning fog blankets the Wimmera
Q3 Were you given the option to work from home?
Despite the almost global expectation that if you could work from home, you would work from home, 55 per cent of those surveyed were not given that option. By contrast 45 per cent said they had the chance to keep working from home. Six per cent said they were stood down, so the option didn't apply.
Your comments
"This job has always been wfh. Entire company moved to wfh."
"Advised not to work due to my age as I work as a nurse."
Q4 If you answered yes to the previous question, did you enjoy working from home?
This was a very close call. The "yeas"' were at 53 per cent while the "nays" were 47 per cent, saying they missed the interaction of an office environment. So it looks like many people will be looking forward to the time they can return to the office.
Your comments
"Totally by myself, was scared and anxious"
"We had the option to work from home or office i chose office or time off work as there was no way I was getting work done with young kids at home."
"My workload increased significantly and I found a good routine and rhythm (both positive) but as time goes on, my motivation and drive is starting to struggle. I miss the "normalcy" of attending a workplace to work, not simply a room of my home."
"Working 65 hours per fortnight, trying to help a Year 9 & 10 with their school work and studying myself? I nearly lost my mind. It was so tough. I could feel myself on the edge."
"Home schooling a special needs child and full time work is impossible!"
Q5 Did the lockdown have a negative impact on your mental health?
The curbs as part of the pandemic have left 54 per cent of survey respondents feeling their mental health had been impacted. The rest - 46 per cent - felt they had weathered this time.
Your comments:
"Cabin fever. Shorter temper"
"I live alone and for some weeks, I didn't see anyone in person unless I went for a walk or grocery shopping."
"Not really as I managed to find ways to stay occupied, learning songs, writing music, making videos and exercise."
"Yes and still does and now restrictions going backwards has me at breaking point."
"Only at times. There were some weeks where home schooling 2 children, working 4 days from home with my husband stuck in another state for work was really tough. On the upside the kids and I had so much more quality time together."
"I had my first baby in March. It has been awfully tough! For a first time parent the lack of support and face to face consultations has been really challenging. Also missing out on so many things a first time parent should do and family not meeting our baby is heartbreaking!"
"Shopping in Horsham on the Sunday of the Long Weekend is what had a negative effect on my mental health. First trip to Horsham in 3 months due to lockdown and the invincible and blasé attitude of shoppers created anxiety and I'm never an anxious person. Gobsmacking lack of awareness. No sanitation, no gloves, no masks. I took all and sanitised and changed gloves after each shop, left my mask in my pocket. ... Unbelievable conduct."
Q6 Do you think the state government did a good job in responding to the world-wide pandemic?
The Andrews government gets a resounding vote of confidence, with 77 per cent of people saying it has done a good job. Just 23 per cent felt like the State's leaders had fallen short.
Your comments
"Treating regional the same as metro businesses can't remain shut or on restrictions."
"Bit slow to start and the protest being allowed was terrible."
"Borders should have been closed a lot quicker, no planes in etc, Ruby Pprincess was a fiasco. Ankle bracelets should be put on people who are isolating, door deliveries for food and meds."
"But I think the time has come to ease restrictions for rural and regional areas, while also managing movement from rural/regional areas into Melbourne where the risk appears higher with reported outbreaks."
"I am not a fan of Dan the man but he's stepped up for this one. We need to step up as well."
"Should have had reacted quicker. Not strict enough enforcing restrictions hence look at were we are today... back to square one."
Q7 Do you think the federal government did a good job in responding to the pandemic?
The federal response had a higher rate of approval than Daniel Andrews's team, by a margin of just 2 per cent, coming in at 79 per cent. So by and large the measures taken appear to have been approved of - including the lockdown.
Your comments:
"Clear calm sensible"
"The response was reasonable, if not a little slow off the mark to start. Room for improvement for certain."
"Undecided - financial support is important but how are we going to pay for this, and for how long, into the future? The lack of consistency between federal and state has caused confusion."
"Timing was about right. The closure of the borders was good but why it took so long to get everyone home (or confirmed to stay where they are) puzzled me. Should have had a much tighter timeline on this. Say a month."
"They were too slow and the states had to push them to act."
Q8 Do you think it was a good idea for children to return to school?
Most thought it was a good idea. Sixty-six per cent of people thought it was right that children went back to the classroom. The rest, 44 per cent felt they should have stayed at home.
Your comments:
"Look at the schools in Melb at the moment."
"Juggling work and school was quite challenging. Negative impacts on work, school performance and quite often stressful - it was a very busy time."
"Should have done it earlier. In COVID infected councils there should be additional rules that the families had no contact with people over 60."
"My daughter boards in Ballarat & was unable to return to the boarding house. She had had to stay with family friends & this has created some issues & not turned out well. She has enjoyed being back at school but the stress of having to find somewhere for for to stay for 3 weeks that's safe & reliable is exceptionally challenging."
"To soon and not enough known about this covid19."
"Parents need to get back to work, and essential workers needed their children to be cared for."