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 Jo Raphael: Aucklanders who escape lockdown are putting us at risk

Rotorua Daily Post
3 Mar, 2021 08:00 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.

Case L, the sister of a Papatoetoe High School student, wasn't isolating at home and went to work at KFC Botany three days before she tested positive for the virus. PM Jacinda Ardern said about 15 texts and phone calls were made to the family.

OPINION

It's okay to be angry.

Go ahead, feel your feelings - don't bottle them up.

It's what we've been told, in order to keep our mental health and wellbeing stable.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We've run the gamut of emotions since the country was plunged into yet another lockdown last weekend.

Even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed her frustration at the situation and at the people involved but was at pains to emphasise that they are dealing with young people and language barriers.

One of the people at the centre of the Papatoetoe cluster who went into her workplace has hit back, saying the PM should apologise for vilifying her.

She says her sister, who was considered a casual-plus contact, received a text message saying she needed to isolate but family members did not. She went to work at KFC on Tuesday February 23 and tested positive on Friday February 26.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While I agree that there needs to be clear communication from the ministry over who needs to isolate and who doesn't, a certain amount of personal responsibility needs to come in to play.

If a person I lived with was told to isolate, but I wasn't, then I would query that information and self-isolate anyway, as a precaution, despite the advice given. Better safe than sorry.

Discover more

Jo Raphael: Our child poverty shame is letting us down

28 Feb 07:00 PM

Jo Raphael: Let's remove all barriers to Covid vaccinations

14 Feb 08:00 PM

Jo Raphael: More focus needed on school upgrades

11 Feb 08:00 PM

Jo Raphael: Outdated fashion trend is tying us to the past

10 Feb 09:00 PM

Surely someone who works in a place that handles food would also think to be extra cautious about the possibility of spreading the virus.

Also in the spotlight this week were Aucklanders who, after the Saturday evening lockdown announcement, packed up and headed to other parts of the country under level 2 restrictions.

Auckland is under level 3 restrictions. Photo / File
Auckland is under level 3 restrictions. Photo / File

While they technically did not do anything wrong, in my opinion, morally is another story.

The level 3 restriction for Auckland was imminent and those who escaped and didn't take level 3 with them have potentially put the rest of us at risk, and that angers me.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff said it best: "Those who live in Auckland and who deliberately beat the deadline to get out of it clearly didn't give any consideration as to why the restrictions were being put into place ... Frankly, it's not smart and it's not in the spirit of acting responsibly to protect the community."

While it doesn't help to turn on each other at times like these, we must acknowledge our feelings and move on.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Anger, in my view, is entirely the appropriate emotion to feel here.

Save

    Share this article

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

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 06:07 PM
Premium
OpinionUpdated

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

18 Jun 06:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 06:07 PM

The aspiring new owners say they have 30 years' experience in hospitality.

Premium
Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM
'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

18 Jun 06:00 PM
Police warn gangs after major drug operation

Police warn gangs after major drug operation

18 Jun 06:04 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

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