Zizi Sparks: Covid 19 face mask suggestion should be taken seriously

COMMENT

This week the Government was accused of scaremongering when telling people to add masks to their emergency supply kits in the case of further Covid-19 outbreak.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said things could change very quickly when it came to Covid-19 despite the fact there is no current community outbreak.

The fact things can change quickly when it comes to Covid-19 is in the pandemic's short history books.

On January 22 there were fewer than 600 cases worldwide. A week later, on January 29, there were almost 8000 cases. The numbers kept climbing.

Less than eight months later there are 18.9 million cases worldwide. While cases in New Zealand have levelled out and it's easy to feel closed off, the threat of Covid-19 is still very real.

And I'm willing to bet most people don't have masks in their emergency supply kits and many don't even have a kit.

We've had a holiday from Covid-19 but the threat of it coming back is more real than it has been.

Every week, hundreds of Kiwis return to New Zealand. They are placed in managed isolation where most of them play by the rules.

But there are others who put themselves and the country at risk by trying to escape, or in Rotorua this week, trying to get into managed isolation.

It only takes one person with Covid-19 to come into contact with a vulnerable person to spread the virus and potentially pass it to others they come into contact with at work, the supermarket, gym or on public transport. It would take us back to square one.

The Government is taking it seriously, this week also announcing it would trial a Covid Card in Rotorua on the back of ramped up messaging around New Zealanders needing to use the Covid Tracer app, in case there's a second wave or community transmission.

The public needs to take it seriously too and heed the advice the Government is giving based on updated WHO guidance.

So add a mask to your emergency kit, or get one started.

Because a second lockdown, a second attempt to beat the virus will mean lost jobs, closed businesses and more deaths.

And that is a threat that can't be masked.