Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Jo Raphael: Covid is here, the urgency is real

It's important to follow public health advice now that Covid has come knocking, writes Jo Raphael. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

There is light at the end of the tunnel for Auckland, with the Government having announced a date for residents of our largest city to be allowed to leave and visit the rest of Aotearoa.

However, for the rest of us here in the regions, reality is hitting home – hard - with six Covid-positive cases announced yesterday for the Bay of Plenty – making the official tally seven, including Thursday's single case.

In the Lakes region, two more cases were announced bringing the total to 17.

It feels like the leaks are springing up too quickly for us to poke our fingers in.

Covid is well and truly here – giving us a taste of what Auckland and Waikato have been going through the past few weeks and months although, of course, we have not been in lockdown.

It is just a matter of time before we start to see more cases pop up around the region, and indeed, the country.

The urgency is real now and that's why it's so important we listen to public health advice.

December 15 is D-Day – meaning since August 17, when the whole country was plunged into lockdown level 4, Auckland will have been under lockdown of some form for 120 days.

That's 17 or so weeks.

Seventeen weeks without inter-regional travel, seeing loved ones, having to work from home for those lucky enough to have a type of job that allows it.

Seventeen weeks of staring at the same four walls. It's something I can't imagine, yet our Auckland whānau have had to do it. People in parts of the Waikato have also had to endure restrictions after cases emerged.

Covid-19 is real and it can be deadly so we thank our Auckland and Waikato brothers and sisters who have done the hard work and kept us safe.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced this week people will be able to travel to or from Auckland from December 15. Auckland will move to the new traffic light system from December 1. Waikato is now at level 2.

Meanwhile, at the end of the month Cabinet will meet to decide when the traffic light system will replace the current alert level system.

It's not clear which regions will join Auckland at "red".

As of November 18 Lakes DHB's vaccination rates are at 75 per cent double-dosed, while BOP DHB's rates are just ahead at 76.6 per cent, meaning there could be a bit of a way for us to go before our region can begin to enjoy freedoms offered by the traffic light system at "green".

While it will take some work, I think we will get there.

The focus needs to be on our Māori and Pasifika communities, our young ones and encouraging people who are vaccine-hesitant to talk to their healthcare providers about getting vaccinated.

While mid-December beckons with its promises of warmer weather and reuniting families, we still need to be cautious, mask up, keep our distances, scan in and vaccinate.