On High St in central Auckland, foot traffic is again disappointing lows after alert level 3 Covid-19 restrictions were extended for the region. Photo / Greg Bowker
On High St in central Auckland, foot traffic is again disappointing lows after alert level 3 Covid-19 restrictions were extended for the region. Photo / Greg Bowker
COMMENT
There comes a period in many ordeals when the motivation sags, determination wilts and the sheer scale of what must be endured seems all too much.
Many of us may be there now.
Some might be struggling to find the positives after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered the unwelcomenews on Monday of an extension to the Covid-19 coronavirus alert level 3 in Auckland, and level 2 across the rest of the country.
Even then, the easing to level 2 on Monday will be less of a reprieve than many hoped, with new limits to gatherings of 10 people and mandatory mask-wearing on all forms of public transport.
Businesses that were anticipating being open in Auckland this week, and those outside the region reliant on city travellers and custom, are understandably crushed by the ongoing closures.
However, the reality of our situation must be kept front of mind. There are now more than 120 active cases in the existing cluster. If Auckland had not gone into level 3 on August 12, that number would have blown out exponentially. It still could.
University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank notes "there are, almost certainly, unidentified cases in the community with the potential to spark new outbreaks if we relax too soon".
It is tough. Victoria University clinical psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland said he could sense "a collective downturn in mood" after the August 12 return to restrictions and this week's extension "could further erode our collective sense of hope".
On reflection, the first move into level 2 restrictions on March 21 - which was raised to a nationwide level 4 on March 25 - was a time when the vast majority of us rallied to Ardern's call. Her much-admired communication skills reassuringly outlined the plan and enticed the nation into "saving lives, thousands of lives".
New Zealand flattened the curve and then we smashed it. We basked in acclaim from around the world as admirers asked to adopt our Prime Minister.
And then Covid-19 came back.
On Monday, Ardern admitted the renewed clampdown "feels hard right now, that's because it is". It is a harder pill to swallow because many of us believed we had completed the course of medication and were cleared. Unfortunately, pandemics do not work to such prescriptive methods.
Sadly, we are now wiser to this wily contagion. It takes real, personal and consistent sacrifice to drive out. For many of us, this will be the challenge of our lifetime. The weight of that knowledge is wearying.
All that said, we are the same people today who placed stuffed toys in our windows to cheer the children while out on their local walks in March and April. We are the same people who stepped aside for parents with prams to pass, safely distanced, on the pavements. We are the same souls who stood at our gates pre-dawn on Anzac Day to remember the sacrifices of previous generations. We are the same. And we can do this.
