Mike Hosking talks to Chief executive of the New Zealand Ministry of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield on how the lockdown may have affected the spread of Covid-19.
When Adam Lefrancke finishes his shift working at Upper Hutt Pak'n Save he texts his mum to warn her he's on his way home so she can prepare the washing machine.
The makeshift decontamination station is already in place.
The 19-year-old loves his job and he wants to do his bit to help people through a difficult time.
But as his mum Jude Hawley puts it, Lefrancke is the only one from their household bubble going out into a world threatened by Covid-19 for eight hours every day.
"So we thought, the only way this virus is coming through the door would be through Adam, which obviously made him feel a bit stink, but we thought well, we have to protect him and we have to protect us."
19-year-old Adam Lefrancke loves his job and he wants to do his bit to help people through a difficult time. Photo / Supplied.
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Lefrancke's "decontamination" routine has become the family's new normal, even if his shift ends late at night.
When Lefrancke arrives home he enters through the garage, where there is a decontamination station with a jug, Dettol and disinfectant spray.
He wipes down everything including his keys, glasses, wallet, phone, key card, remote and anything else he has with him that he wants to take into the house.
Lefrancke's "decontamination" station in the garage. Photo / Supplied.
As part of their routine, Hawley has already opened the internal door to the laundry and lifted up the washing machine lid.
Lefrancke strips and dumps all his clothes in the wash and heads straight for the shower with his arms crossed so he doesn't touch anything on the way.
Hawley then closes the washing machine lid and sets it going, she closes the garage door using a switch, and shuts the internal door.
The regime gave them some peace of mind, Lefrancke said.
"It makes me feel better that I am clean but I just wonder, are we missing anything?
"Is there anything else that we could be doing that we're missing?"
The car trip to work takes about eight minutes and Lefrancke said he felt nervous every time.
"I jump in my car and on my way there I'm thinking about how to keep myself and my co-workers safe."
At work they have been given face masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and were practising two metre physical distancing, he said.
"We're doing enough, and we just hope that the public is doing the same to keep us safe."
Hawley said she recently watched a video on Facebook where a man described how to wash and sanitise grocery items after getting them home.
"He said it's like all of your groceries have got glitter on them and you have to get every speck off and that's what we have to do with Adam, he's coming in covered with glitter and we have to get every speck off."
She said she had received text messages from parents of Lefrancke's co-workers asking for advice on their own sanitisation regimes.
Hawley said she fully supported Lefrancke's work.
"They can't just bail out otherwise we'd have no supermarkets we'd all be in trouble then, someone's got to do it right?"
