Love him or hate him, this is exactly what this country needs.
Australians have spent the most part of this year watching state premiers give daily coronavirus updates on TV, with Victorian Premier Dan Andrews becoming a big part of our lives.
Now as Melbourne enters its first week of the strictest lockdown the country has seen thus far in the coronavirus pandemic, and regional Victoria gears up for Stage 3 restrictions from midnight tonight, Andrews has become the hot topic of conversation, with residents either praising or slamming his decisions.
One Facebook user has opted for the former, creating a viral Facebook event titled ‘Give Dan Andrews A Virtual Hug’ which has accumulated more than 100,000 Aussies within a matter of hours.
Specifically, at time of writing over 65,000 people have clicked attending to the event, while 67,000 people have flagged their interest in showing their virtual support for the premier.
In the event description, the host wrote:
“As we all know, Dan Andrews is looking exhausted and disheartened. This is an event where we can click “Attending/Going” as a virtual way to show him that he has the support of the Victorian people, and we appreciate his incredibly hard work in keeping us safe,” it read.
“Yes, he is not perfect, but as he has said in his own words, there is no ‘handbook’ for a global Pandemic.”
Wait, it gets better…
“Furthermore, I think we should all give Dr. Sutton a cuddle (however I’m not sure on whether the cuddle would be more beneficial for him or us) AND a very special shout out the the Auslan interpreters. You guys do incredible work each and every day. Legends, all of you.”
Love him or hate him, this is exactly what this country needs: humanity coming together (albeit online or in the comforts of their respective homes), spreading positive messages and uplifting each other, especially the battered souls around the world.
This follows the recent trending hashtag #IStandWithDan that took over Twitter on Sunday afternoon, partially in response to the hashtags #DictatorDan and #Shameful that arose as surging coronavirus cases saw the state placed back under Stage Four COVID restrictions over the weekend.
If you’d like to attend the event, you can find it here.
