A report in the Central Western Daily has the deputy mayor of Orange calling for their city not to be tied to ours when it comes to the current COVID-19 crisis.
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Cr Glenn Taylor said Orange shouldn't be linked to Dubbo when it comes to deciding when the COVID-19 lockdown rules can be lifted and rather than looking at health districts the government should be looking instead at regional cities separately.
But should we be?
We're all part of the same Western Local Area Health District, which means the front line workers fighting this virus are all working together across the region.
Just because Orange doesn't have the same case numbers as Dubbo at the moment, doesn't mean they are immune to the effects of the virus and potential outbreaks.
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They actually have more cases of COVID-19 than some other areas regional cities across the state, who are all currently under the same lockdown rules.
Regional NSW has been separated from Sydney these past weeks, but now the public health orders apply to everyone in the state.
What has happened in Dubbo could have easily happened in Orange - if one person stopped in at the right place, that city too could be facing the same increasing cases as we are right here.
Aren't we all being asked to get vaccinated, wash hands, social distance and under current health orders, stay at home?
If we really take a look at cities that don't even have any cases, one must ask why they are even in lockdown at all?
We took a look at the figures, and there isn't that much of a different. The Dubbo LGA has about 10,000 more people than Orange. So far we have 26.3 per cent fully vaccinated and 69 per cent who have received their first dose, as at August 30.
In Orange there are 39 per cent fully vaccinated and 69 per cent who have had their first dose.
The message all along has been that we need to work together. We would like to think if the tables were turned, our leaders wouldn't be calling for the same split.
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