The Coming of the Warlords By John Steele

     This has not yet happened in Australia, but we need to keep our eyes open. In the US the pandemic has led to some US jurisdictions just releasing jailed suspects and inmates:
  https://nypost.com/2020/03/17/city-may-free-jailed-suspects-over-coronavirus/?

“The city is considering freeing jailed suspects over the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday — a move backed by the city Board of Correction and Manhattan and Brooklyn DAs. City officials are “evaluating right now people who might be particularly high-risk in terms of vulnerability to the virus,” de Blasio said at an afternoon press conference. The inmate group would presumably include the elderly and those suffering from diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease and compromised immune systems — all identified as leaving people vulnerable to the virus. Suspects deemed at low risk of committing new alleged criminal offenses also could be released, the mayor said. Authorities would “evaluate those numbers, the details, and determine if, case by case, any of those individuals should be taken out of our jail system,” he said. The city Board of Correction, which oversees the jails, said in a statement Tuesday that the Big Apple needs to follow the lead of Los Angeles and Ohio authorities who have already started to release inmates to try to prevent the spread of the deadly contagion. “The City must begin this process now,” the BOC said. “The City’s jails have particular challenges to preventing disease transmissions on a normal day and even more so during a public health crisis.”

     They are oh so harmless until committing a new wave of crimes.
  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/los-angeles-sheriff-releasing-inmates-urging-fewer-arrests-help-combat-n1161206

“The Los Angeles County sheriff has reduced the jail population by more than 600 people and is asking officers to cite and release offenders when possible to protect inmates from the coronavirus. As of Monday morning, the inmate population had been reduced from 17,076 to 16,459 since the end of February, in part by granting early release to those with less than 30 days on their sentences. "Our population within the jail is a vulnerable population just by virtue of who they are and where they're located," Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday at a news conference. "So, we're protecting that population from potential exposure." Arrests have dropped from around 300 a day to around 60 a day, the sheriff said Monday. The aggregate bond amount for people to be booked also went up from $25,000 to $50,000, with those under that amount being cited, he said. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus within the jail, but nine inmates are in isolation housing at a correctional treatment center, while 21 inmates are in quarantine at the Men's Central Jail and five are at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, he said. Staff at the correctional treatment center and the Medical Observation Specialty Housing unit are also checking the temperatures, looking for fevers, of anyone entering, Villanueva said.”

     These are some of the real worries beyond any microbiology, for the public policy measures are always more important. It seems to be a dangerous mixture created here, with economic decline, resource shortages, and plenty of criminals released. How will this go, do you think? No wonder Americans are buying up guns like there is no tomorrow, because, maybe there will not be. Hello Mad Max.
  https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/3/16/21181504/world-war-z-max-brooks-coronavirus-pandemic-interview