Dear @cityofmelbourne @SallyCapp_
I am a doctor at the Royal #Melbourne ICU.

I worked 56 hours over four days in helping look after some of our state’s sickest patients.

At 10pm last night, I left work to find a fine on my car dashboard.

The day before lockdown, my bike was stolen from outside this hospital.

Public transport is off-limits to prevent exposure to the virus, and transmission to colleagues and patients.

Your “free permits” are long gone. There were too few to begin with. Many missed out.

In lockdown, who do you think is parking in the streets by the hospital?

It is the doctors, nurses, orderlies, pharmacists, physios, technicians, cleaners, cooks, ward clerks.

So when you send a parking inspector to Parkville, know that it is these people you are targeting.

We cannot work from home.

We come here, and we sweat it out under our gowns, our voices muffled under masks, learning to “smile with our eyes”.

We wash our hands obsessively, hoping desperately we do not become part of That Statistic.

We do not see our families for weeks.

It is not easy, but every single person in that building is working their butt off right now. It is inspiring.

We make sacrifices and turn up - day in, day out, to serve you.

So I guess @cityofmelbourne and @SallyCapp_, slapping fines on our cars is one hell of a thank you.