The Premium Debate: Subscribers have a say on predictions Covid will soon reach Tauranga

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Covid-19 may be in the community as early as this week but Tauranga is as ready as it can be, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board said this weekend after positive cases were confirmed in Taupō and Rotorua, and the virus was detected in Tauranga wastewater.

This virus will spread and the entire country needs to get used to this idea. There is no stopping it. If you wanted to be vaccinated you could be. The vaccine is available equally to everyone. Our vaccination levels have hit high rates and by the end of this month, our country should open fully & we get back to living life. There can be no more roadblocks or clever ideas from this Government for further restrictions. Time to remove the shackles of control.
- Tony M

The inevitable spread is good news for Aucklanders, we can now all move to the traffic light together and drop the regional border. We shouldn't be punished a minute longer for other regions' low vaccination rates.
- Anna K

The reality is Covid's here. It was always coming. It appears only the Govt didn't realise hence our joke of a response. Don't freak, just be sensible. Get vaccinated. We can't wait for the lazy, silly, stubborn, the anti-establishment, the crystal huggers -they've had many chances. We now deserve to live our lives. I haven't seen my fully vaxxed young kids in two years. For some dumb reason the PM continues with MIQ, Covid is here? NZ we need to open up and stop worrying about monsters under beds before no one ever gets out of bed as there will be no jobs or future for them to wake up to.
- Mark C

The sooner we bite the bullet with the inevitable spread of this virus and accept it is here to stay the better off we will be and can resume a normal life. Enough of that pussyfooting from an out-of-its-depth government.
- Bernard M

When Covid hits Bay of Plenty hard it might wake people up in our community to get out there and get vaccinated. Don't they realise this is a serious virus and I don't want to be locked up at home because of others.
- Mike B

The BOPDHB CEO claims "both hospitals (Tauranga and Whakātane) are both pretty full at the moment. We've been going full pelt for a couple of weeks and the one thing we've started to do is pull back on remaining non-essential general business to ensure we've got the widest pool of people available to help with outbreaks."
Tauranga DHB doesn't need to pull back as they have barely been able to provide timely essential services most of this year. With the vaccine mandate coming into effect tomorrow I see this as a warning reflecting inept planning and scaremongering. No surprise.
- Keith T

I'm optimistic that with the very high rates of vaccination that we have in the country now, that this won't be as bad as some people fear. Sure it won't be a walk in the park, even at 90% fully vaccinated that still leaves at least 500,000 people vulnerable, but those who fall severely ill and need hospital and ICU level care may not reach the catastrophic numbers we have seen in countries overseas with much lower vaccination rates. And if we can spread those numbers out over the summer months the hospitals may cope better then they think. So plan for the worst, and hope for the best.
- David N

Would be interested to know what the testing rates are like in The Lakes and Bay of Plenty regions?
- Anna K

When will we stop testing, Covid is here, everyone should assume that is the case, get the jab or wait until you get Covid and possibly sick. We need to focus on getting people vaxxed, and then preparing for the increase in hospital admissions. Wasting money on testing is simply wasting money, use it for a better cause.
- Mike S

It's almost a case of 'be careful what you wish for' for the govt. The installation of fear into our minds at the onset of the 2020 lockdowns succeeded in that many NZers have lived and breathed fear of catching Covid. Unfortunately, this worked so successfully for the govt that we now face groups of hysterical people every time the daily numbers are released, all expecting further protection and pointing blame ... we are no more protected now once double-jabbed than we'll be at level 1. The focus now is on the unvaccinated and reassuring everyone else that Covid is here to stay.
- Alice F

Why is this such a surprise? A virus does not bend to the will of the government, not even the blind zealotry of this one. Within a year most areas will have it, within 5 most people will have come into contact with it. It's here to stay.
- Paul W

We hear much wailing and gnashing of teeth every day on these comment sites about how terribly the NZ govt has handled this. Can somebody PLEASE tell me the countries in the world where the government Covid response has been really good - resulting in minimal lockdowns, high vaccination rates and much lower death rates per capita than here?
- Glenn P

- Republished comments may be edited at the editor's discretion.