As a provider of news and information, we at NZME - publisher of the Weekend Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB among others - have been deemed an essential service and we will do all in our power to keep you up to date with all the relevant news and information as the country settles into alert level 4 lockdown mode.
This includes the positive news. There is much to appreciate in this even more isolated than ever cluster of green South Pacific islands, especially during such afflicted times.
For example, a website set up to pay it forward to local hospitality businesses by buying vouchers online in the hope of keeping them afloat once lockdown has been lifted. SOS Cafe was set up by David Downs following Monday's lockdown announcement. Through the site, people can buy vouchers or gift cards for their local cafe and restaurant, which can be redeemed at a later date, "when this is all over". As some of this generation might say: That's Kiwi-as.
Acclaimed New Zealand artist Glenn Jones - who probably designed the cute Kiwiana illustrations on your shopping bags - has been providing daily drawings for children to colour in via his social media. Even social media appears to be slightly less mean-spirited after only a few days of level 4 home detention.
Kawerau baker Kelley Makela, trading as Strictly Sweet Cakes by Kelz, found herself with a glut of ingredients as the level 4 lockdown approached. Instead of a fire sale, she divided up all the supplies into bags and let the Kawerau community know they could come and take what they needed. This included flour, sugar, eggs, milk, crackers, gherkins, stuffed peppers, grapes and a pineapple. "I believe if you're in a position to help then you should," Makela said.
Such benevolence has long been a vaunted Kiwi trait, but less celebrated in recent decades. Perhaps, just perhaps, this vicious little virus has sparked a revival?
One prominent business leader this week said he felt there was a new phenomenon emerging. "As a nation we are pulling closer together mentally and emotionally," wrote Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett. "We have got the message that indeed we are all in this together - and together with the rest of the world.
"I see the renewal of the 'we', not another 'me too' and not the 'I' that has been a hallmark of this era, as we live through a time of crisis that very few of us have ever experienced or ever dreamed possible and remember we are humans, we are fragile."
Barnett conceded as an aside, after submitting his upbeat column, his organisation had been helping struggling businesses seek Government support during the current dire environment. "There are some sad stories out there but some happy ones too," he said.
There is also much to be grateful for. Our healthcare staff who have answered the call, often poorly resourced and undermanned, to do their best to maintain the wellbeing of our communities. As one Herald editorial said this week, these people walk into the path of the Covid-19 coronavirus each time they go to work.
We too at the Weekend Herald have marshalled resources to ensure continued news of the virus and updates on what we need to help look after ourselves, our families and loved ones. As we also said this week, we value your support - and, in return, vow to be the trusted source of news and information, as we have been since 1863.
We are also grateful to be here at this time - yes, it's a difficult time, but for that, all the more rewarding. History records are abundant with the feats of selflessness and heroism from past conflicts. The struggle to overcome this microorganism will not be remembered for panic-buying or quarantine breaches but for the acts of humanity which rose to the occasion.
The impending lockdown also initiated a run on garden centres and hardware stores, signalling a renaissance of the do-it-yourself, number-eight wire, ethos of the past - could this be Kiwi can-do on a comeback?
To accentuate the many positives among the important but unwelcome news, we have launched Go NZ! - a collection of heartening stories, much like the former Upbeat campaign readers may remember a year or two ago.
Go NZ! is our message to you today. Be kind, share what you don't need, look out for yourselves and each other. Kindness can be contagious. Spread well enough, it can overcome this threat.
Give it heaps, you great New Zealanders.
