Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak - Samantha Motion: Masks seem here to stay, but we can learn to live with them

Samantha Motion
By Samantha Motion
Regional Content Leader·Bay of Plenty Times·
10 Sep, 2021 11:03 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

September 10 2021 There are 11 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand - all in the Auckland region. There are 27 people currently in hospital, including four in ICU.

OPINION

Long before Covid-19, face masks were a part of daily life for everyday people in cities worldwide.

They were worn in the streets as a guard against air pollution, and on crowded public transport to protect against airborne illnesses.

New Zealanders could see those smoggy scenes and enjoy our particular brand of patriotic smugness. That would never be life here.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We have pockets of high-density living but open space is never far away and there is plenty of it.

How times have changed.

In Covid-19 alert level 2, we are encouraged to wear a mask almost everywhere outside our homes and in many public spaces. Certainly, anywhere we are near other people outside our bubbles.

Mask advice has evolved over the course of the pandemic. In the first lockdown, we were all much more worried about the virus lingering on surfaces, but 2021 has been all about masks thanks to extra-transmissible Delta.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In some countries where Delta outbreaks struck early, there was some flip-flopping over when and where one was needed.

Being late to the Delta party New Zealand has been able to roll out new rules with more consistency, in line with the increased transmission risks.

Discover more

New Zealand|education

Mask or pass? Students decide as schools return

09 Sep 11:54 AM

Pain for Tauranga as Auckland lockdown extended

13 Sep 08:00 AM

'It's too much': Wedding venue to close after Covid level 2 pressure

16 Sep 06:00 PM

Still, epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker called the move to mandatory masks for businesses open to the public at level 4 a historic moment for New Zealand and a huge shift in policy.

Even at alert level 1, we must legally wear a face covering on public transport and flights, and they are encouraged in crowded indoor places.

Some people don't like masks, and I have a certain level of sympathy for them because a lot of us aren't used to this, and they can be uncomfortable.

That sympathy extends to tolerance of a bit of grumbling. It doesn't extend to anyone giving an essential or other worker a hard time when they try to enforce the rules.

Some facts must be faced here. Masks are part of life in New Zealand now.

It's reasonable to predict they probably will be, in ebbs and flows, for some time. They are part of a package of defences against an ever-mutating virus, a respiratory pathogen.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I don't like wearing my mask. If I had to wear one because of air pollution in New Zealand, I'd be outraged, marching on Parliament. But the pandemic is different.

I accept the ample evidence that a mask can help protect me from catching Covid, and from spreading those dastardly Delta droplets to other people. I accept it's just part of the kit now, may as well find a comfy one.

Thinking about my mask as a regular item of clothing and not a disposable, fear-driven pandemic accessory is helping me get used to its place in my life and in New Zealand life.

Maybe one day masks will be like an umbrella in the boot - handy just in case, only used when needed.

Maybe they will be like a watch – a useful accessory some might choose to wear daily.

At times of heightened risk, our masks may be as necessary to protect our lungs as our shoes are to protect our feet.

Kiwis are notorious for shunning shoes, but only a toddler would get angry when asked to wear a pair.

Time to grow up, mask up.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Fibre outage top of South Island, Tasman residents evacuating, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:07 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 06:06 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Fibre outage top of South Island, Tasman residents evacuating, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage top of South Island, Tasman residents evacuating, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:07 PM

Rain started falling at the top of the country before dawn.

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 06:06 PM
Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM
NZ e-bike brand shines at Eurobike global showcase

NZ e-bike brand shines at Eurobike global showcase

02 Jul 03:13 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP