Zizi Sparks: Mandate changes shouldn't lose sight of commonsense

OPINION

It's taken two years but it seems the wider appetite for Covid-19 restrictions is waning.

With more than 120,000 active cases as of Monday, it's perhaps not surprising to regularly hear people say catching Covid is "inevitable". Where we are today is a far cry from even six months ago when I doubt the average Kiwi knew anyone who had caught Covid.

Now you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know anyone.

So as cases rise, people's urgency to comply with restrictions appears to be reducing.

With locations of interest no longer published online, QR code scanning has rapidly dropped, despite it being compulsory.

Newshub last week reported the latest provisional data from the Ministry of Health showed the number of daily scans fell to about 945,000 on March 14, the first time since September the daily totals have dropped below a million.

In December, more than three million daily scans were being regularly recorded.

I've even noticed a decrease in the need for vaccine passes.

Last Friday, I had a drink at a bar and walked in without it being checked.

The week before, I went to order takeaway coffees and left my phone, and therefore vaccine pass, in the car. When I explained to the person serving me, she shrugged and told me not to worry about it.

Cabinet met on Monday to decide the future of vaccine mandates, passes and the wider Covid-19 protection framework. These decisions are set to be announced today.

Experts say any changes should only come in after cases and hospitalisations had plateaued - which was likely in a few weeks.

I trust the Government will assess all of the information on hand about the potential impact of lifting restrictions. However, I do think it is time to ease the rules.

Kiwis should take some personal responsibility. Reporting yourself as a case is run on an honesty basis and it needs to be done.

If QR scanning rules are removed, we should still keep track of where we've been and who we've been with in the event that we catch Covid-19. If vaccine mandates are removed we should still be careful and keep up to date with vaccinations for peace of mind.

If mask mandates are replaced with recommendations, think long and hard about where we choose to go mask-less. And, like now, use your common sense and stay home and take a test when sick.

The Government should remove some mandates, but we need to keep commonsense.