Middle NZ: We have done well - let's keep it up

It's hard to social distance on packed beaches such as Hollywood Beach in South Florida. Photo / File

COMMENT
While the spread of Covid-19 appears to be out of control in many countries around the world, we down under are so far doing okay.

I was thinking about how well we have done and why. Is it because we Kiwis do as we are told better than other nations?

Does that make us sheep — one following the other?

No I think actually it makes us sensible and caring.

We did as we were asked because we didn't want to get sick ourselves and we didn't want our loved ones to get sick. We all made huge sacrifices - some of us much bigger than others.

Loved ones dying alone and being buried alone. Heartbreaking.

Watching some of the news reports on television of people in America, and loads of other countries for that matter including Australia, completely ignoring lockdown rules and partying on as usual made me question our own rules.

Had we made all these sacrifices for nothing?

Now I thank goodness we did.

Spain did really well, but unfortunately for them the lockdown came too late for many of their elderly and immune compromised citizens. I don't think the world knew what it was dealing with at that stage and they paid a heavy price.

Then off course there were the Americans that took to the streets protesting about being in lockdown.

Certainly we had people in New Zealand the defied the rules. But they were few and far between.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.

Everyone has an opinion about Covid. Donald Trump changes his mind daily. He thinks wearing a mask makes him look weak.

He thinks they have huge numbers of cases because they are doing the most testing. He says young people are getting it and they will all recover.

The trouble is that the young people go home to their parents and grandparents and they are the ones that don't recover. They go to the supermarket where elderly shop. If you look at the statistics it's not just the elderly that are dying.

We are not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. The Government has already outlined a plan for community transmission saying it may be that they lockdown certain suburbs or cities as Australia has done with Victoria.

They have also put aside $14 billion from the Covid-19 fund in case there is a second wave.

I have heard people say it's no worse than the flu — however, I don't recall seeing hospitals all over the world struggling to cope with flu victims and as in Brazil — mass graves.

It is serious and we all need to continue to be vigilant with hygiene and contact tracing. A second wave would be a disaster for our small country.

I think every one of us has tried so hard right from the offset not just to keep the virus at bay but also to help our economy recover.

Buy local campaigns up and down the country have helped our small businesses survive.
We are exploring our own backyard in droves — and why wouldn't we — what a spectacular backyard we have. Some of the best scenery in the world, delicious home grown produce, crafts, clothing — you name it.

So keep up the good work New Zealand — and if you have symptoms, get tested.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.