Luke Kirkness: What else can we eliminate?

Other problems will need the same effort of care we are giving the Covid-19 response. Photo / George Novak

OPINION:

There is something to be said about the way humanity has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand did a very good job at blocking out the destructive virus initially but in the latter half of 2020 and the start of this year, our progress fell by the wayside.

The Government has enjoyed the praise of countries the world over for its response but also disdain home and abroad at our vaccination response.

On the whole, the planet appears to have responded well to Covid-19.

In China, hospitals were seemingly built overnight to help care for their alarming number of cases at the start of the pandemic many months ago.

Our Government followed a trend set out in parts of the world like Taiwan and shut its borders. Both countries had lower Covid-19 death rates than countries that didn't lockdown.

Health experts put their heads together and multiple vaccines have been created to fight the virus, though in New Zealand officials have elected for Pfizer only.

Now wearing a face-covering in public is part of everyday life, as is using the Covid-19 tracer app and social distancing in our part of the world.

Vaccination rates are starting to climb around the world and is opening up again — we're behind the eight ball but we are making progress, hopefully, before the Delta outbreak spreads too much further.

Sure, it is easy to pick holes in the response but an incredible amount has been achieved in the short 21 months or so since the virus spread across the globe.

It makes you wonder, what else could humanity achieve by putting the same levels of energy, time, money and infrastructure into other issues?

New Zealand is in the grips of a housing crisis, with average prices skyrocketing all over the country and a lack of newbuilds to sustain the market.

It's also hoped this nation will be cigarette-free by 2025, just four years and one month away. Nearly 85 per cent of the country is already reportedly smoke-free already.

Other problems facing New Zealand include: obesity rates, our annual road death toll, unemployment, economic inequality, the list goes on and on.

There are also those impacted by the virus who lost their livelihoods, businesses, and in some cases family members to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, on a global scale, one of the biggest issues is global warming which has taken a back seat to the pandemic — rightly so — but we need to shift our attention back.

Soon the time will come where New Zealand and the rest of the world will have moved away from the pandemic.

Our focus will need shifting too so why don't we get a head start?