Northlanders can plan their summer ahead with certainty after the Government scrapped nearly all of its Covid restrictions. Photo / Tania Whyte
Northland has entered a renewed era of "certainty" after the Government abolished the Covid-19 restrictions that dominated our daily lives for nearly three years.
Locals swept up in the pandemic response share what they have to say about the new beginning
• The Covid-19 Protection Framework, also known as
the traffic light system, ended at 11.59pm on Monday.
• All mask-wearing requirements were removed, except in healthcare and aged care facilities.
• Only those who test positive for Covid-19 are required to isolate for seven days, household contacts no longer need to.
• All Government vaccine mandates will end on September 26. Employers can continue their own mandates.
• All vaccination requirements for incoming travellers and air crew were removed.
Northland's education leaders hope the repeal of vaccine mandates will see the return of roughly 200 staff who walked out the door when the no jab, no job policy was introduced.
At the time, former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the decision was underpinned by the need to protect vulnerable communities.
Te Tai Tokerau Principals' Association chairman Pat Newman thought the dropped mandates could help alleviate the current teacher shortage if former staff returned.
Even though the situation may be "raw" for some, the desperate need for staff may outweigh any other concerns, he said.
Newman also hoped students kept at home throughout the pandemic would re-enter the classroom.
The past year has seen Northland schools experience some of the lowest attendances on record. In term one, the region averaged 73 per cent attendance compared to 85 per cent nationally.
"It will be very nice now if we can all go through a healing process and get on with doing what we should be doing, which is helping the future of our kids," Newman said.
Keeping Northland's tamariki safe would be a team effort, he said, and additional safety precautions for vulnerable children may remain at the discretion of schools and parents.
"There's nothing that says that schools cannot ask children to wear a mask."
Dargaville High School Principal Michael Houghton felt the drop in restrictions wasn't untimely as he had seen a reduction in mask usage.
"The community, in general, seem to have kind of made that decision themselves," he said.
He was happy the pressure of managing Covid restrictions - such as students' household contacts and RATs - would now abate.
The most difficult aspect to manage according to Tikipunga High School principal Alec Solomon had been the unpredictability of illness.
"Sometimes you had numerous students absent and then full staff, and then the opposite was also true. You had numerous staff absent, and you had a full student body."
He welcomed the Government's decision as minimising any potential barrier to education was "great".
"But it also shows that as a country we're in a position now where we're kind of beating the curve where our numbers are dropping and immunisation numbers are high."
Solomon said that schools are safe and he would love to see students back in classrooms across the region.
Northlanders starved of entertainment for the past three years can look forward to a summer packed with music festivals, touring concerts, theatre and culinary events.
The announcement about the dismantled restrictions was met with joy and relief from the region's event promoters who have struggled to survive the years of uncertainty and last-minute cancellations.
Among the events set to return is the Bay of Islands Music Festival organised by Jackie Sanders, director of Jacman Entertainment.
The festival brought thousands of music-lovers to the Waitangi Sports Grounds, opposite the Treaty Grounds entrance, every January but had to be canned last summer.
"I'm hugely relieved that the spectre of Covid seems to be moving on and we can just focus again on bringing some fantastic events to Northland over summer," Sanders said.
It was too early to say who would be performing at this summer's festival but the lineup would feature top New Zealand artists "with a good summer vibe".
It would include more local arts, culture and food than in previous years.
She was planning a series of concerts at Carrington Estate, on the Karikari Peninsula, around Christmas and New Year, plus the Northland Food and Wine Festival at Carrington in mid-December. Pop-up gigs, touring bands, and more food and beverage events were also likely.
Sanders was planning to come back cautiously — not due to the threat of another Covid outbreak, but because of the rising cost of living and the impact on people's finances.
There was also a backlog of major events heading to New Zealand this summer so there was a lot competing for the dollars Kiwis had left for entertainment.
Sanders said she had lost 15 events due to Covid, many of them when Northland was stuck in the red traffic light setting longer than other parts of the country bar Auckland.
"Under the Covid Protection Framework the rug could be pulled from under your feet at any moment," she said.
However, for ongoing or long-planned events such as the Bay of Islands Music Festival, the Government covered some losses through its Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme.
"It was a complete lifesaver. We'll always refund our customers, but it could have had a severe financial impact on a company like mine."
Gerry Paul, general manager at Kerikeri performing arts venue The Turner Centre, said people had already moved on from the pandemic.
"But now it's official. This gives us the tick and the go-ahead. But really, people are already embracing the post-Covid world. People have been waiting for this opportunity."
That was illustrated by last week's production of Beauty and the Beast, which drew more than 2000 people to the Turner Centre over two weekends.
"At the moment we have more shows on sale than we've ever had. There's so much happening and really good stuff too. There's the Upsurge Festival next week, then we've got the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The box office is so busy."
Paul said people were still welcome to wear face masks.
"While the regulations have dropped, the virus hasn't gone away completely. We still encourage people to stay home if they're feeling sick, and if people are worried or their health is compromised, wearing a mask is probably a good idea."
Camp Waipu Cove manager Anton Trist said it was a relief to see the restrictions go but the business had not been badly affected by Covid rules.
"Last summer when there were restrictions in place we had our busiest summer ever. I don't think the restrictions are going to affect us too much."
He was expecting an increase in bookings from overseas tourists over the next few months but said campgrounds in most places were "booming" with domestic travellers.
Trist said he was not worried about the end of Covid rules, as the campground environment was "reasonably low-risk".
Trish Rolfe, owner/operator of Baylys Beach Holiday Park said she had noticed an increase in bookings and inquiries since the border opened, and visitors from overseas had already started to arrive.
"I'm getting people from Germany, Australia, Singapore."
The holiday park had managed over the last two and a half years of the pandemic through increased bookings from domestic travellers.
"New Zealanders have been really helpful. All the people that normally go overseas have been travelling around the country."
Rolfe said she would likely continue to wear a mask despite them no longer being a legal requirement.
"It's a bit hard for us because we're a husband and wife business and as we get busier we can't afford to be off."
Celebration was in the air at cafes, bars and restaurants around the region as staff opened for business for the first time in more than two years yesterday without masks or other Covid restrictions.
In February this year Tara Forsyth, owner of Feast Cafe on Kerikeri's Homestead Rd, told the Advocate turnover had plunged by 30-40 per cent and was still falling as Omicron first arrived in the Bay of Islands town.
With few customers, she was keeping staff busy with gardening or cleaning, but lockdowns, yo-yoing alert levels and vaccine rules were wearing everyone down.
Yesterday the mood couldn't have been more different. Tables were packed and unmasked staff were fizzing with joy.
"There's an absolute sense of relief. It's been a really good day. People are very happy and positive," Forsyth said.
"It's incredibly good for staff. People were reporting us to WorkSafe if they thought we weren't wearing masks. We don't have that hanging over our heads anymore. It's so nice being able to see people smile again."
The business opened in April 2021 and had only ever known lockdowns and restrictions.
"We've never had normal, uninterrupted trading. We've lost staff. We had the mandates. It's been such a rollercoaster. But now there's a real sense of positivity. I feel like people are making plans to move forward. We definitely are. We have events booked, we're helping out with preparations for the Kerikeri Street Party, and we're looking forward to summer."
Northland Chamber of Commerce President Tim Robinson said the removal of Covid restrictions was a shaft of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
''There's some relief there's been some sense return to the rules.''
Robinson said recently 60 to 70 per cent of retailers' customers weren't wearing masks and they couldn't enforce the rules over such a large proportion of customers.
So, it was positive that the rules had been dropped and the country was now in line with what is happening around the world, he said.
''We're all so desperate to have a good run up to Christmas, then over summer. A lot of businesses up here have been suffering.
"We have a lot of small businesses that don't have a lot of capital and they've been hit hard, so anything to help get people through the doors can only help," Robinson said.
Business Paihia Chairman Charles Parker said the Government decision was good news and could only benefit Bay businesses.
"It's time we returned to some normality like the rest of the world has been for several months now. I'm looking forward to welcoming visitors without any discrimination.''
A summer without restrictions is the boost businesses need after Omicron cut last season short, Parker said.
Northland's iwi and hāpu grabbed many headlines over the pandemic with their decisive actions driven by a desire to keep whānau safe.
"And we achieved that," Kataraina Rhind-Hetaraka (Te Whanau Moana me Te Rorohuri) said.
The Advocate spoke Rhind-Hetaraka in August last year when iwi closed the popular Department of Conservation campground in Maitai Bay, Karikari, to the public.
A big part of her whānau's tough decision to keep the beach closed at the time was to protect their children, too young to be vaccinated.
But the situation is more stable now, Rhind-Hetaraka said.
Vaccination rates are up, tamariki are thriving, the threat of Covid is waning. So much so, that the whānau reopened the campground nine months later in April this year.
"We took our stance and what we achieved what we set out to," Rhind-Hetaraka said.
The whānau will continue to be vigilant and do what they need to in order to keep one another safe but "not on the same scale" as in the past, she said.
The sentiment was shared by Tai Tokerau Border Control (TTBC), the group led by Hone Harawira who pushed for and manned the controversial but steadfast checkpoints at Northland's gateway.
TTBC co-ordinator Reuben Taipari described the diminished restrictions as a success that was always the group's end goal.
"I think the time we had to adjust to living with Covid has given us a really good start to us looking after ourselves with autonomy," he said.
Taipari said the aim of TTBC had been to "control the situation as best" as they could to buy the region time to prepare itself for Covid in the new normal beyond Government restrictions.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker believes that with the changes to the mandate, most people will scrap their mask and only wear it where required.
"I think we should have maintained the mask mandate in public transport," Baker said.
Buses are small, poorly ventilated spaces and facilitate the spread of the virus.
Outside of public transport, social gatherings remain a cause for concern in terms of transmission.
"We like social environments where we are indoors in a confined space and sit to eat and drink. That's the sort of environment that's so good for transmission," Baker said.
Schools also remain at risk of transmitting the virus.
Stopping the spread of Covid was a long-term challenge, Baker said.
"We should maintain the capacity to wear masks."
He said since the traffic lights system was abolished, New Zealand needed a new framework to assess the risk of the virus to the general public.
Even though numbers have been declining with less than 400 active cases in Northland currently, the infection numbers will go up again, Baker explained.
Those who wear high-quality masks like N95 that are well fitted are still protected against infection, even if people around them are not wearing protection.
"Hopefully people would be very supportive of those who chose to wear a mask. If your immune system is not intact, the vaccine doesn't help much and the virus could likely kill you.
"People shouldn't be rubbished for wearing a mask."
People can still be infectious up to 10 days after showing the first symptoms of Covid so wearing a mask in crowded public spaces could prevent transmission.
Rhonda Sherriff, NZ Aged Care Association clinical adviser also encouraged family and whānau visiting an aged care facility to wear masks.
Care staff are still mandated to wear PPE.
"We're looking after a very vulnerable cohort of people who are susceptible to infection," Sherriff said.
"Our role is to ensure our residents are protected in the best way we can."
According to Sherriff, masks could remain part of aged care for some time.
Harry Mackie, 65, retired from Tutukaka
"I think it's a good move especially since we've had it for a long time. It's certainly easier to breathe, especially when you've got glasses on. It's such a nuisance. It being a matter of personal choice is good."
Carolyn Schepens, 70, retired from Tikipunga
"I think it's crazy because Covid is still around but I am going to put a mask on when going to the supermarket or when I am in close proximity to public transport and the like."
Yvonne Clark, owner of Cuppacakes on John St in Whangārei
"It's been a long time coming. Anything that encourages businesses and helps people get into shopping by getting rid of masks would be welcome. People are completely fed up with masks. It's hard and people are confused because they have to wear a mask in some places but not in others."
Rachel Falope, owner of Crazy Deals on Cameron St in Whangārei
It's a good idea, especially when it's a decision that's based on the fact the number of Covid cases has been falling. It will give confidence for people to shop and I think wearing or not wearing a mask is a personal decision people will have to make, even during the flu season.
Sophia Thomas, kaiako (teacher), from Kaikohe
"As a kaiako, taking my mask off was quite daunting at first with winter bugs still going around, and bearing in mind my kaumatua and kuia. They're the most vulnerable. So I'll still wear it when I'm in a situation where I see people are sick. But it was a real barrier trying to teach te reo, and help students pronounce kupu (words), when you can't see their faces. Not having to wear a mask is definitely a good thing but it is still daunting."
Monique Ansems, retired, from Whangārei
"I'm happy it's over, totally. I couldn't get used to wearing a mask. It was difficult to wear, difficult to breathe, and my glasses kept fogging up. I did see the necessity but it went on too long. We were all over it."