Dave Mollard's Change is Constant: My Covid optimism has gone

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper tackles All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown in the test match at Eden Park on August 7. Photo / New Zealand Herald

OPINION:

At the end of the last Bledisloe Cup match, after suffering a whipping by the boys in black, Wallabies captain and absolute warrior poet Michael Hooper was asked if the rushed preparation and forced team self-isolation due to the pandemic had an effect on his team's performance.

"No" he said, "everyone has a Covid story, so that is no excuse." Not only did my respect for the great Aussie battler go up another level, but it was also a reminder to me that we have all been affected by this virus.

As we wait for the daily tally of cases, we hope that today's total is less than yesterday's and tomorrow's is less than today's, until finally we can get on with our lives. It's important to remind ourselves these numbers are also people. They are brothers, sisters, friends, colleagues and children of a much bigger whānau.

They are suffering not just with self-isolation but also with the very real symptoms of this horrible disease. Symptoms that in most go away, but in a few carry on for months and in others end very sharply as their heartbeats its last beat.

For me, this lockdown is both better and worse than our last one. Better in that we have more toilet paper and flour but worse because I have lost the optimism I had last time. In 2020, I was sure the world would overcome this quickly and by now we would be almost back to normal.

Now I think what we define as normal will be very different to what it used to be. Normal is wearing a mask, normal is not hugging people, normal is scanning in anytime we pop into the supermarket. Normal could be getting a combination flu/Covid jab every year until we finally beat this beast into submission. Normal is not flying anywhere you want in the world at almost any time you want.

The greatest gift Covid has given us is an understanding we are all connected, that what happens in Newcastle, New York, New Guinea and New Delhi also affects what happens in New Zealand. Instead of living in bubbles in our minds, let's remember we are all in the same waka.

The only constant is change.

• Dave Mollard is a Palmerston North community worker and social commentator.