We must change the she'll-be-right attitude, writes Kiri Gillespie. Photo / Getty Images
We must change the she'll-be-right attitude, writes Kiri Gillespie. Photo / Getty Images
COMMENT:
When I learned a family infected with Covid-19 travelled to Rotorua while symptomatic I, like so many others, was angry.
Why would someone obviously sick travel to another town and spread their germs?
Then I got to thinking: I know people like this. I've worked and lived with them.It's a very Kiwi thing to do. The whole she'll-be-right attitude often surfaces as some of us attempt to charge on despite feeling under the weather.
Once it was even considered admirable and a sign of resilience. But for the sake of this country's entire wellbeing this behaviour must stop.
The world is struggling in the vice-like grip of Covid-19, which has already killed more than 20 million people. In New Zealand, our Covid death toll is 22. These are people who have lost their lives and left devastated families and friends behind.
But we smashed Covid the first time round. We celebrated when we got to a point where we were able to enjoy freedom within our borders again under level 1.
All that changed this week and it seems to me Covid-19 isn't the only big problem in our country - complacency is also a major issue.
Whether the South Auckland family continued on their Rotorua holiday last weekend because they had forgotten about Covid-19, didn't want to let the kids down, or did not have refundable accommodation, we may never know.
Hundreds of Rotorua residents wait for a Covid-19 test at the Rotorua International Stadium pop-up centre. Photo / Ben Fraser
It probably doesn't matter now anyway. The damage is done, but it drives home the fact our world has changed. In a Covid-19 world, one person or family's behaviour can have catastrophic consequences.
There are believed to be at least 30 Covid-19 cases linked to that family. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield suggest we should expect more.
I was concerned as well as relieved when the list of places that family had visited during their Rotorua stay was released.
I'm originally from Rotorua. I was there last weekend. I have family there, my roots are there. It is a easy trip over the hill from where I live in Tauranga.
Thankfully, the list confirmed we had not been at the same places as the family, but what about many other people?
By Friday afternoon, more than a thousand people had lined up to visit the testing sites on Vaughan Rd and potentially even more lined up at the Rotorua International Stadium, those numbers are yet to be released.
Now it's what a person does once they have the symptoms, or know they had a positive Covid test result, that really matters.
I commend people self-isolating and getting tested. They're doing the right thing.
There has been a mad rush of Rotorua residents to the community based Covid assessment centre on Vaughan Rd. Photo / Ben Fraser
But people who ignore symptoms and carry on as normal, just as some members of the infected family had done, are not only selfish, they're downright dangerous to our health and financial wellbeing.
This week's new lockdown measures will cost the economy about $440 million per week, according to ASB. The weekly cost of a full level 4 lockdown is estimated at $1.6 billion.
These are frightening figures. We simply can't afford that.
No one is going to thank anyone for going to work, or out and about, while sick.
What could be considered sniffles and a sore throat by one person could become a death rattle for another - and our economy.
It's time to think of the big picture. It's time for people to drop the casual attitude to circulating in public if they have these types of symptoms. They need to stay home.
We all have to do our part to stamp out Covid-19 again. It's time for some people to change their behaviour.
