Editorial: Anzac Day dawns anew with limited services amid Covid Omicron outbreak

Residents of Hobsonville Pt in Auckland stand at their gates to mark Anzac Day in 2021. Photo / Dean Purcell, File

Editorial

EDITORIAL:

Who could forget the moving images of Anzac Day in 2020? Resolutely locked down to halt the spread of Covid-19, Kiwis emerged from their houses to stand at their gates to remember the sacrifices of war.

Standing together, yet apart, in the pre-dawn darkness. Puffs of silvery condensation from faces in the gloom. Stillness in commemoration, the fallen in our thoughts.

Last year in level 1 was more open, and this year, emerging from the Omicron wave, Returned and Services Associations around the country have cautiously reopened dawn and later memorials for Monday's commemorations. Most have scaled back events to avoid crowds potentially exposing, particularly, our oldest veterans to the virus.

The consensus seems to be: if you do not need to be at the service, then join the commemorations in your reflections at home.

The Herald will provide live coverage from just prior to dawn at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Major TV networks will screen dawn and national services from Wellington.

One significant milestone is it is 100 years since the first Poppy Appeal in New Zealand, held on April 24, 1922. We can also contribute to this from home at rsa.org.nz.

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou. We will remember them.