I am immensely grateful to all the workers who continue to supply services to our community. Of course, there are the medical staff who are either in the midst of Covid chaos or gearing up for it. But I am referring especially today to those outside the emergency services and medical system who serve us.
The water in our suburb has been disrupted, and the Council has dispatched a team to fix it. It will be restored within a few hours, and we are getting regular updates. Thanks to that team.
Our garbage will be collected tomorrow as it has been every Tuesday. Thanks to the collectors.
Our supermarkets and pharmacies are staffed, and resupplied, by people who must be worried about being exposed to the disease and yet they work tirelessly - often needing to deal with grumpy and angry customers who take their frustrations out on lowly front-line staff. Thanks to them.
To those people who have found a way to keep their factories and farms open, so we can have food and goods in our shops, and to the delivery drivers who have transported them, thank you.
To those delivering supplies and food parcels to the poorest communities in the country, thank you.
To the police and security personnel who have protected us and worked hard to help people feel secure (I know there have been some instances where a few have been heavy handed, but most have been remarkable), thank you.
The list goes on and on. And it will now start to get longer as more and more industries begin to open again; each one helping us to regain a sense of normality, and yet each one putting more people at risk.
We are all going to remain at risk until a vaccine is found. Thank you to all everyone who is nevertheless working so hard to ensure our basic needs have been met, and to everyone who will be first among those who help us start to put society back together again.