Aaron Mahon, pictured with wife Hongxia, say New Zealand's lockdown should be tougher. Photo / Supplied
Aaron Mahon, pictured with wife Hongxia, say New Zealand's lockdown should be tougher. Photo / Supplied
Compared to Wuhan, where authorities broke down a relative's front door and took him away, lockdown New Zealand-style doesn't seem too much of a burden for the Mahon family, of Hamilton.
The Kiwi version could be tougher, says Aaron Mahon who, with his wife, Hongxia and their 5-year old daughter Taylor, was among the first in the world to be locked down when the capital city of Hubei province in Central China closed its doors on January 23 in response to Covid-19.
In Wuhan, the Mahons were confined to their 80sq m apartment until they were among 193 people evacuated on February 5 on an Air New Zealand flight chartered by the New Zealand government.
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Passengers cheered when the plane touched down in Auckland.
His father-in-law was among them, removed after his partner was diagnosed with the virus.
"They virtually broke down the door. That's the way they were getting ahead of it up there."
Mahon said he "totally" supported New Zealand's move to Level 4 lockdown and, while not advocating such extreme measures as China, says we could go further.
"Whack it on the head. If anything it could have been done earlier and be enforced harder."
Shoppers, for example, could be required to book visits to supermarkets rather than turn up and queue.
The family moved to China in 2018 with a plan to live there for two years so their daughter could experience the culture and learn the language.
Taylor Mahon was evacuated from Wuhan with her parents in February. Photo / Supplied
Sixteen months on, with Taylor fluent in Chinese and "pretty good at writing in Chinese", they were about to return early to New Zealand when Covid-19 took off in the city of 11 million people on the banks of the Yangtze River and residents were confined to their homes.
Mahon said they were fortunate. One person who turned up for the relief flight was stopped from boarding because they were unwell and about 60 people who registered for the evacuation flight did not arrive at the airport or give notice.
But no one became ill either during the flight or during 14 days in quarantine at a navy base on Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
"There were no cases among us. We were quite lucky with how it went."
He has since found a job in the motor trade in sales and marketing and though the family are again in lockdown, he says it's a doddle compared to Wuhan.
"We're not in a foreign country being dictated to … we're in our own house, we've got a yard outside, I've got my dogs.
"It's different. It's a nice different. It's more pleasant than it was over there where we were dealing with the unknown."
