Luke Kirkness: Flu isolation mandate stems from lack of trust in people following health advice

We can be trusted to do the right thing when we're sick, it's time to move on. Photo / 123RF

OPINION:

They say old habits die hard, and that's why I think Professor Michael Baker recommends mandating isolation for people who caught the flu.

He called for the Government to look at legislating stay-at-home orders for the flu, treating the illness the same as Covid.

Not everyone was on board, with one Tauranga cafe co-owner saying such a mandate would be "smacking us in the face once again".

But maybe Baker has spotted something in the nation's public health response.

In the Bay of Plenty, there's been a recent gastro outbreak as well as the flu, and much of the country is the same.

Some people have been forced to take leave with the flu too, and cases have filled up GP clinics and clogged hospital emergency departments.

Covid's not going anywhere soon either, with nationwide daily community cases averaging 6825 over the seven days to Saturday - up more than 2000 from the previous week.

At the same time, some people have become pretty complacent about Covid and the precautions to keep it at bay.

Mask use has crashed in places such as supermarkets and retail, while things like social distancing are basically non-existent.

I'll hazard a guess that plenty of people aren't staying home either when they're ill.

Continuing to work and doing other things like grocery shopping while ill was the way of the world for lots of workers and employers before the pandemic and I fear that bad habit is returning.

Mix that in with the fact more than 1.3 million Kiwis have had the virus and the number is bound to be higher, potentially leaving them with three months or so of immunity and possibly affecting their awareness.

I wonder if this is why Baker came out with those comments because common sense isn't all that common.

Brew Bar and Croucher Brewing co-owner Paul Croucher highlighted the issue well too, saying society was "just not willing to be mandated at the moment".

"It's a little bit frustrating because those mandates are set to protect the greater good."

No one should need to be told to stay at home, and plenty of comments on social media say so, but the rise in Covid and flu cases might suggest they do.

If someone doesn't care to follow public health precautions any more, that's up to them but that's a very self-centred way of looking at things when we should be looking out for one another.

No one likes being sick and plenty of us are sick of the mandates, but they're there for a reason, as is the public health advice we're taught as children.

Ultimately, people need to take responsibility for keeping themselves and others safe if they want to try to avoid the health and financial costs that come with being sick.