Coronavirus Update #26

As you know, New Zealand has joined the rest of the world and decided to let covid run its course. For many Kiwis I think this was more of an abstract idea and no one really thought it would affect them, but here we are, at the beginning of an omicron wave. And people are surprised that covid is starting to infect people they’re connected to. My inner southern lady can only say, “bless your hearts.”

Yesterday there were 2846 cases with over 1,800 in Auckland. This is our largest daily number ever, and it is most likely artificially low because of testing backlogs (more on that later). The positivity rate is over 11% with cases doubling every three to four days. There are over 18,000 active cases in the community. Here in Auckland, where the bulk of the cases are, about half of the schools are currently dealing with covid positive students and staff. In other words: we’re in the midst of our first real covid outbreak.

Recent polls show that Kiwis are split about 54/46 between altering their daily lives and carrying on as normal because of covid. Other polls show that about half of New Zealand thinks our current “red” setting and restrictions are appropriate for omicron while a quarter think it is too much and a quarter think it’s not enough. These polls show in numbers what is palatable: New Zealand is splitting into camps. It’s not nearly as bad as it is in the United States, but the division between the two sides is everywhere and people are definitely choosing allegiances. It is a familiar and deeply uncomfortable feeling as an American expat. The most obvious embodiment of this clash is in Wellington where anti-mandate protestors have been camping in front of parliament for over two weeks. (To be clear, this is NOTHING like the January 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. The tone is not nearly as militant, but the Wellington protestors are trying their best to be a Kiwi version of the Ottawa or DC protests.)

So what’s it like for us?

We’ve gone more or less into hermit-mode. Thee kids go to school, but schools aren’t being upfront with cases within them, so we are losing a lot of trust in the establishments that were once exceedingly transparent. I understand that their goal is to be as normal as possible, but it seems like they are doing the absolute bare minimum to keep kids safe and there is very little communication with parents anymore about covid. Unfortunately, in a school setting, wearing masks means that kids aren’t considered contacts and no further action is required. (But for some reason, sitting on a bus or plane masked does make you a close contact if an infected person was present. This disparity makes no sense to me.) Parents now share what they’ve heard with each other in giant games of telephone, and we all know how those end… with a lot of rumours, speculation, and exaggerations.

As cases have increased, so has the demand for testing. Unfortunately, rapid antigen tests have just been made available - and only at some testing locations. Jon decided to get tested on Monday as he was feeling unwell all weekend. After a two and a half hour wait, he was given a RAT to take home. The long wait to get a RAT is much shorter than waiting for PCR results which are currently around a five day turnaround. The lack of quick testing is going to be more and more problematic. People aren’t going to wait in line for a home test and people aren’t going to want to isolate for five days waiting for a PCR test. I think a lot of people just won’t get tested because they don’t want to repercussions of waiting or of having a known positive test. It would really make sense to sell tests over the counter so people would be more inclined to take them. (Though at this point, the government has made such a stink over rationing them that there is no way there wouldn’t be hoarding problems if we started this now.) Jon’s test was negative, but after that one painful experience getting the RAT, he’s not inclined to go back and get another one for our daughter who has come home with (fingers crossed) a cold that half her class has passed around already. (Update: On Tuesday the wait time for PCR results was over five days so we decided to brave the line for another RAT. We showed up just before three o’clock in the afternoon and were home, test in hand, by 3:45. So maybe not as bad as I previously stated?)

We will continue to hunker down, wear our masks religiously, go through copious amounts of hand sanitiser, and try to avoid getting covid. Realistically I know as soon as it takes hold in the schools, we’re all getting it. To say that I’m disappointed that they haven’t looked into any of the best practices around the world is an understatement. New Zealand had a huge advantage by keeping covid out as long as we did, and it feels like the country as a whole wasted much of that valuable planning time (vaccines not withstanding). It feels like New Zealanders were more like ostriches with covid: they put their collective heads in the sand and pretended that it would never happen here, to them.

I could only shake my head and laugh when my hairdresser asked me how long I thought covid would be around for - another month, maybe? He - and many New Zealanders - still doesn’t understand that its here now. It’s not going away, and people getting sick is the new normal. It will ebb and flow and not be terrible for most people, but we’re never going back to pre-covid times.

Stay healthy!