Coronavirus Update #26

Surprise, surprise, covid is back in the community in New Zealand, and this time there is a very different feel about it. It started with a woman who had recently left the Pullman Hotel facility in Auckland testing positive less than a week after rejoining the community. A few days later, two more people who were recent Pullman guests also tested positive. Now there is a massive community testing campaign to see if there has been further spread or if we can put a fence around these individuals and their close contacts and keep going on with life. This time around, though, there is a different attitude from the public about what’s going on…

First, I think all of New Zealand decided to take the summer off from worrying about coronavirus. We all went out, travelled domestically, enjoyed the beaches and hikes, and relaxed. Unfortunately, this meant that we all slacked off when it came to using the Covid Tracer app, which, BTW, has a new bluetooth function that somehow communicates with other app users nearby and will alert you if you’ve been in contact with someone who later tests positive. The government tried to keep us all in line with fancy campaigns like this one for the music festivals over the summer:

and with updates to our testing program with pre-flight testing required for UK and US passengers in addition to day 0 testing, but, to be honest, we didn’t listen. It was much more fun to pretend like we were having a normal summer. This laid-back vibe (which is evident in the complete lack of mask wearing and everyone’s general out-and-aboutedness) is partly due to summer and partly due to the fact that there is a smugness that we’ve beaten this before and we’ll beat it again. If there’s something to worry about for real, the government will let us know.

Secondly, we all know that the new variant is much more contagious than the “old” coronavirus and we should be apprehensive about it. I think there is a general belief that if we do go back into lockdown, it will be a Level 4 lockdown - meaning no take out, no click-and-collect, nothing except the grocery store and chemists are open. I am hopeful that people will realize how effective this was the first two times and be just as compliant if we have another round of lockdowns, but I know that a lot of people are simply over it. However, in preparation for another possible lockdown, we’ve restocked the craft cabinet. I know the grocery stores will be find, but if I can’t get my hands on enough markers, paper, and printer ink, we’re going to have a problem.

Third, New Zealand is more and more critical of the government’s response despite the fact that our response is rated best in the world. It’s a bit of a paradox - people have faith that the government won’t lead us astray, but people are also complaining about how incompetent the response has been. There have been grumbling for months about how there has been no pre-flight test requirement to come to New Zealand while other countries have made that a travel requirement since practically the beginning of the pandemic. There have been rumours swirling about problems in the MIQ facilities for months. Are people mixing and mingling in the hotels? Even after the army was brought in to improve operations, there have still been issues which are clearly real since there are at least three - and possibly five - instances of people getting infected with the South African variant at the Pullman Hotel. And don’t get me started on the vaccine debate… the National Party, weak since it was smashed at the last election, is publicly questioning the Labor Party’s vaccine approach and asking why vaccines haven’t started up yet. (It appears to be a two part answer: first, the vaccines still have to pass Medsafe tests. There won’t be any emergency or provisional use grants here like in the US or Europe, and second, the 15 million or so vaccines ordered by New Zealand must physically get here.)

So while the news is cautiously optimistic about containing this Pullman leak, this was a wakeup call for all of us who don’t always act like there is a raging pandemic outside of our borders. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to start school next week and continue our bubble of normalcy. If not, the Kiwi team of five million has beat this before, and I hope we’ll realize that our short term sacrifices are worth the long term gains we’ve enjoyed. Fingers crossed this is my only coronavirus update for a long time.