Editorial: Last Covid 19 restrictions gone, protection now up to us

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins smiles as he announces an end to all Covid-19 restrictions during the post-Cabinet press conference on Monday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

EDITORIAL

Two years ago – August 17, 2021, to be precise – New Zealand plunged into a weeks-long lockdown, an ignominious end to our world-acclaimed virus-free life in level 1.

The Delta variant had arrived, posing very different challenges to earlier strains of Covid-19, with its rapid transmission, infectiousness, and higher risk of needing hospital care. People who were not vaccinated were most at risk of severe illness.

Our dream of elimination was dashed and the reality of life and death with Covid-19 sank in fast.

New Zealand’s “hard and fast” response to the pandemic, on border restrictions at least, had bought us time to vaccinate and protect some of our most vulnerable. But we now know Covid-19 could evolve faster than the world could react, and the virus would pervade every corner of the globe.

Fortunately, the combination of vaccines and the diminishing strength of the viral mutations cushioned territories such as ours from the massive mortality we witnessed in other parts of the world.

The week, the Government announced dropping the last of its Covid restrictions, even though reported cases and hospitalisations are trending back up. It has certainly not gone; there were 5372 new cases reported last week and 2736 reinfections. Three deaths last week were attributed to Covid.

Illustration / Rod Emmerson

A Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington study estimates 300,000 New Zealanders will be affected by long Covid.

However, most Covid-19 rules were dropped a year ago, including the vaccine mandates, as the virus infected all corners of the country and New Zealanders moved to the inevitability of living with it.

In April, Cabinet reviewed the seven-day isolation rule and mandatory mask-wearing in most healthcare settings and decided to keep them until the end of August to help ease the pressure on hospitals during the onset of winter.

At the post-Cabinet press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced that the last masking mandate and isolation requirements would be lifted at midnight that night.

All that remains is a recommendation to isolate for five days if you’ve tested positive, similar advice to other infectious diseases.

Yesterday then, Aotearoa awoke to a truly post-pandemic situation - something barely comprehensible two years ago. While it is a time to be grateful, there is a key difference in where New Zealand finds itself.

Many other nations that, because of having more challenging borders or leadership less inclined to shutter the country, have long since managed the constant threat of Covid illness.

New Zealand, on the other hand, has been wrapped in Government-mandated restrictions and massive support packages in attempts to compensate.

With the last of the public health framework dismantled, we as individuals have at last been left to figure out our own protection for ourselves.

It’s now up to each of us to make the decisions that mean the difference between living with Covid and dying from it. Being up to date with vaccination is still essential.