Essential workers unload, sort and pack produce at Countdown's distribution centre in Mt Wellington. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Essential workers unload, sort and pack produce at Countdown's distribution centre in Mt Wellington. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
EDITORIAL:
Amid the Covid-19 uncertainty, fear, anxiety and sadness, one news story provided a welcome breath of fresh air for lockdown-weary New Zealanders this week.
Few in this country - and the UK and beyond - can have missed mention of the wonderful "nurse Jenny from Invercargill", credited for savingthe life of none other than the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
"Nurse Jenny" is 35-year-old Jenny McGee, born and raised in Invercargill but now resident in London and working in the intensive care department at St Thomas' Hospital - where the British PM was admitted with Covid-19 after his condition deteriorated.
Johnson, now out of hospital and recovering, sang the praises of the National Health Service, and the many staff involved in his care, but singled out McGee and Portuguese nurse Luis Pitarma, whom he said stood by his bedside for 48 hours and administered care "when things could have gone either way".
It was a much-needed reason to smile, to be uplifted, to feel proud. And like McGee, who has shunned interviews and gone straight back to work, it should also be a reason for us all to be humble.
Because we should be humbled by all those essential workers in New Zealand - and those Kiwis working overseas in vital roles, too.
Even as the Government considers the possibility of coming out of alert level 4 lockdown and we mull the details of life for businesses and individuals under alert level 3, it seems clear essential workers will remain exactly that for some time yet.
It is timely then to acknowledge those people once again for the work they are doing - not without considerable personal risk and sacrifice - to keep New Zealanders safe and to keep New Zealand running (albeit in a much-reduced capacity).
They are, of course, the nurses, doctors, rest-home carers, mobile testing health workers, pharmacists and lab technicians, providing front-line care and support, dispensing medicines and delivering urgent test results to help inform our country's all-of-government response.
Invercargill nurse Jenny McGee, who was credited with saving Boris Johnson's life. Photo / Supplied
They are our primary producers - our farmers and growers and shearers, our fruit and vege pickers and packers - helping to keep the nation fed and watered.
They are the truckies, delivering those foodstuffs and other vital items to keep the nation's supermarket shelves stocked, and the service station attendants keeping them and other essential workers on the road.
They are the supermarket workers - the checkout operators, shelf-stackers, trolley carters and online delivery staff - and the cleaners keeping up a rigorous hygiene schedule in food stores and healthcare settings.
They are the emergency services - police, ambulance staff and fire crews - whose every response to incidents puts them at risk through contact with others.
They are the public service workers - in the likes of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment - working round the clock to help develop and roll out those economic support packages and payments, and ensuring our health response is world-leading.
They are the postal service workers, newspaper delivery people, and others besides.
It is timely to consider all those things and the people we perhaps took for granted in a pre-coronavirus world- many of them in unglamorous and low-paid jobs or less-secure contracts.
Time too, perhaps, for a new appreciation of the value of the media, music, the arts, literature and our other entertainment avenues.
Time also to acknowledge the importance of family, friends, and other relationships, to reach out to those in need.
Time, overall, to celebrate all those unsung heroes, to remind ourselves what they are doing for us, and to remember the two simple things we can do for them in return: continue to follow the rules, and continue to be kind.
