Aussie Government Sparks Fury Over 'Graphic' And Confronting Covid-19 Ad

The Australian government has copped backlash for publishing a confronting and graphic advertisement about the symptoms of coronavirus.

As Greater Sydney comes to grips with a second major lockdown since the pandemic began, authorities have been warning everyone to heed the stay-at-home orders.

The number of cases has been rising dramatically each day and officials have revealed people as young as teenagers have been admitted to ICU to help them battle the virus.

To further drive home the requirement to stay at home to stay safe, an ad has been published for Sydney residents and it's making viewers feel very uncomfortable.

It shows a woman in hospital with a ventilator and her very audible gaps for air make for a difficult watch.

Since the video was uploaded, people have asked for it to be taken down because it's too grim (even though it's meant to shock people into realising this could be their reality if they catch Covid-19).

Adjunct Professor UNSW Strategic Health Policy Consultant Bill Bowtell said on Twitter: "This ad should be immediately taken off air.

"Today in Sydney a young girl with Covid - about the same age as the actor in the ad - is on a ventilator fighting for her life. This insensitive ad can only distress her family and friends. It is misconceived in every way."

ICU specialist Tom Solano added: "As an ICU specialist please know that we'd never deliberately let you suffer like that. We'd try to get increased support before it got that bad."

People also criticised the government for trying to scare them into staying at home when they are the ones who have stuffed up the vaccine rollout.

One user wrote: "Scaring young people that can't get vaccines is not helpful."

Another added: "And the first thing my 21 year old living in Sydney will ask me if he sees that ad is 'Mum when can I get vaccinated'...and I still can't give him that answer."

While there was a lot of outrage on social media about the ad, there were many people who thought it was good to remind people just how bad it can get if a pandemic is allowed to run rampant.

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said the whole point of the video is to shock.

"There will be a new advertisement running from the Australian government tonight. It is quite graphic. We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney. And it will be running in Sydney," Prof Kelly said. "It's meant to be graphic, it's meant to push that message home."

Authorities have warned the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better as it will take several days before the lockdown measures affect the spread of the virus.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie