So far, the lockdown seems to have contained the virus within the original cluster, so points to the Government and director general of health for that. But it hasn't been a great week for the Prime Minister and the director general.
They must have known from last time people would demand to be tested once Covid was in the community but there weren't nearly enough testing stations and the poor staff were simply overwhelmed.
It was also revealed this week that 63 per cent of frontline border security and quarantine staff have yet to be tested for Covid.
It seems farcical that with all this banging on about saying yes to the test, we're not screening the very people who are in contact with freshly returned Kiwis.
Add that to the misinformation about PPE gear and the flu vaccines and you'd have to say that there have been some major stuff-ups from the Government and the health department. But dare to say that, should you have the temerity to so much as murmur a criticism of the PM and the faithful turn on you.
Rich from Waiheke said I should be shot and hung from a lamp post for daring to criticise the Government. True, I'd have company dangling there, as he wanted my ZB colleagues Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allen shot and hanged too - but really, that was small comfort.
When did we all get so binary and, in some cases, bats*** crazy? Those who worship at the Church of St Jacinda and the Holy Bloomfield are blind to any wrongs or failings of their demigods.
You simply cannot have a free and frank exchange of views with some people – it's like the Springbok tour all over again. If you dare to suggest the Government has made mistakes, the acolytes cast you into the camp of the conspiracy theorists who are alive and well and fomenting their madness all across social media. They – the acolytes and the tinfoil hat-wearers – are blind to reason and rationale.
When I express incredulity that border security staff aren't being routinely tested, that doesn't mean I think Ashley Bloomfield has the mark of the beast on his forehead.
When Sandra Goudie, the Thames Coromandel Mayor, said she was annoyed the PM announced a lockdown but put police on the borders only 15 hours after the announcement, thus allowing Aucklanders to flee to their baches for the duration of the lockdown, that doesn't mean she believes the PM is an evil person with a hidden agenda to turn New Zealand into a communist country.
When Professor Des Gorman says the Government has been too reactive and too partisan when dealing with Covid, he's not saying the virus is being introduced back into the community by government agents. He's expressing a considered opinion that has some merit.
When did people get so rabid and lacking in nuance? Covid hasn't just robbed us of our freedoms; it's robbed us of our senses.
• Kerre McIvor Mornings, Newstalk ZB, weekdays 9am-noon
