Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Samantha Motion: Coronavirus has arrived, but it's the spread of false information that worries me

Samantha Motion
By Samantha Motion
Regional Content Leader·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 Mar, 2020 01:01 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

A person in Rotorua has tested positive for Covid-19. Photo / Getty Images

A person in Rotorua has tested positive for Covid-19. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT
How strange to think a month ago we had never heard the phrase ''social distancing''.

Now we hear it, see it, do it every day.

Learning the lexicon of this pandemic - self-isolation, Covid-19, coronavirus, community spread, contact trace, flatten the curve - is just one way we all have to adjust to these weird and unfamiliar times.

From here, the adjustment will only get steeper.

Yesterday, the Government announced the first case of Covid-19 had been confirmed in our region, specifically in Rotorua.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The patient is a tourist who arrived from France on March 13. According to the Lakes District Health Board, he was tested in Waikato then went straight into self-isolation in accommodation in Rotorua.

So, it's here. We take that information and move into the next stage of our response, as a region.

As I see it, New Zealand is doing a better job than most countries of slowing the spread of this disease and we now have a local role to play in helping.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While I don't think the virus can be stopped in a hurry, I do have high hopes that we will be able to flatten the curve and ensure our medical and support services can keep up.

I have found the public health advice about how to reduce the risk to ourselves and others to be both clear and achievable.

Discover more

'It was stressful not knowing if I'd be able to get back in the country'

22 Mar 04:00 PM

Coronavirus: How the city has responded

20 Mar 06:28 PM

Opinion: Be kind to people working in retail, including travel agents

22 Mar 08:00 PM

Hygiene and distance. We can do that, and we must.

The curve we going to have more of a struggle manage, however, is the exponential growth in the rumour mill.

It's bonkers out there.

From the internet conspiracy theories to people fanning the fires of panic in every corner of Facebook to the trailing whispers of supermarkets shutdowns and plots to suppress the true spread of the virus.

It's this utter lack of respect for the power of information that presents the biggest threat our ability to get through this.

More than ever, we need to be able to distinguish between the information that can be trusted and acted upon, and that which lacks evidence at best and even a shred of truth at worst.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Stick to trusted sources and apply critical thinking to what you read, and let's keep the tide of false information at bay.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

08 Jul 10:50 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP