Treat your family with love, and they will thrive. Photo / 123RF
I was not surprised to see, in Saturday's paper, that since the country went into lockdown, there had been nearly 600 family violence cases in a single day late last month.
We are all facing a threat from a minuscule enemy which can cause great damage to humans everywhere, but surely home is, or should be, a shelter.
Adult humans should be able to provide a safe place and security for their families — they should be able to control their emotions and not damage the lives of their children.
Children learn all the time. If they are treated with violence, this is what they learn; treat them with love, and they will thrive. Don't let your emotions free to damage future generations. Adults have that power; let them use it.
Diane Percy, Sandringham.
Our Government has done a wonderful job of managing the pandemic. What is seriously lacking from the Government is their vision for exiting the lockdown. The business community and the economy needs to know how the Government plans to exit the lockdown. The Government needs to inform the public of their business plan to exit the lockdown.
Telling the public on April 20 is too late. You can't put the economy in lockdown and then expect it to be jumpstarted when the Government plan is made public. The coronavirus is here to stay until a vaccine is found. Do we ruin our economy in the meantime?
Mahendra Kumar, Otahuhu.
Why should I, a 75-year-old pedestrian, have to keep stepping into the road, potentially into the path of oncoming cyclists, in order to avoid other cyclists hurtling along the footpath? Come on, cyclists, show a little kindness. The roads are safe for you at the moment. Please leave the footpaths for pedestrians and to children on wheels.
CM Kelly, Devonport.
A lot of people have criticised our Government for sacrificing the economy against saving lives. America's decision to prioritise the economy is now biting them in the bum, as deaths and cases sky rocket. Their economy is suffering and so are its people.
Neil Hatfull, Warkworth.
After initially dismissing coronavirus as a one-day wonder that would not affect the United States, President Trump is now trying to put all the blame for the very poor response to the virus by the US on to China, which he says should be paying the US compensation after it is all over, and the World Health Organisation, which he claims allowed China to hide the seriousness of the impending pandemic.
Trump has completely overlooked the facts that the majority of Americans do not have health insurance any longer because they can't afford it, and the public hospitals they are forced to use are not much better than what Third World countries have. Coronavirus has shown to the world how unequal the distribution of wealth in the US is, with millions of low-paid workers forced to apply for unemployment benefit in the past two weeks. The workers in New Zealand are faring much better!
David Mairs, Glendowie.
Covid-19 is brutal. Foreign exchange earnings derived from new migrants, tourists, foreign students, all lost to the economy. An additional blow is the likely fall in house prices and the loss of that "feel good" factor, that sensation felt as house prices surged in recent years which contributed much to consumer spending, a new car, a trip abroad. The fallout from Covid-19 will be profound; we will pay a heavy price for our insatiable indulgence in overpriced housing.
Who will fill the vacuum to compensate for these losses? The productive sector, our exporters, manufacturers, farmers, horticulturists, foresters and those in the fishing industry. Our farmers, in recent times much maligned by some politicians but ever our mainstay, something which should not be forgotten.
PJ Edmondson, Tauranga.
NZ on Air, take a bow. TVNZ's screening of Go Further South started at 7.30am and finished at 7.30pm. It was a magnificent tour de force, with fabulous photography of Antarctica, and interesting stories to go with it. Well done to all involved.
Helen Boyd-Alspach, Dargaville.
My local pharmacy has moved their till to their entrance (barriered and protected). The customer stands outside breathing fresh air while the assistant quickly gets what's needed. Supermarkets attempt infection control but this is in vain when shoppers cluster and don't observe social distancing. I would much rather shop at the butchers, bakers and greengrocers, who can easily adopt the same practice as the pharmacy. It not only reduces shoppers' risk of exposure to pathogens but raises employment, thereby keeping many more away from the feared poverty line and associated inequities in education, health and life expectancy. The effect of high-level policy experienced at the coalface can be quite different to what was intended.
S Francis, Central Auckland.
I have just been talking to my son in Sydney and he told me that on Anzac Day, everyone was asked to go to their gates at 5.30pm with a lighted candle. Maybe we could do that here in New Zealand.
Julie Pearce, Matamata.
I agree with the letter from Miles Usher about a man dying of cancer who cannot have visits from family members to comfort him at the end of his life, except for one visit by one family member for 15 minutes. It is harsh and downright insensitive that the man could die alone.
Yet the number of people flouting the isolation rules and getting away with warnings makes me so angry. We would all like to do what we like regarding shopping, visiting friends and going to a cafe or beach, but we haven't been given the all-clear yet, and those who don't obey the rules are ignorant to the wellbeing of fellow New Zealanders.
The police stated they would be firm on people travelling to beach homes or visiting outside their bubble. Some people will travel during the night to try to get in undetected but we will turn them around and send them back, was the message. I then read they were on duty at 9am. Reminds me of the old saying, "It's no good shutting the gate once the horse has bolted".
P Salvador, Hobsonville.
Pāpāmoa Beach residents (albeit I suspect only a few) have complained about the number of beach strollers enjoying the fresh air on Good Friday and have suggested that many are out-of-towners. How would they know? If you look at the number on the beach at Mt Maunganui (two only) where all the holiday apartments are, that probably gives you a truer picture. My wife and I plus our dog (on a lead) were among those beach goers, as it's our local go-to spot, being only a 10-minute stroll from home. Best not to jump to conclusions when there's little evidence to support it.
Allan Gyde, Tauranga.
There was widespread outrage internationally last week when it was revealed that hedge fund honchos Crispin Odey and Jonathan Ruffer have made billions manoeuvring in the market turmoil triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet Saturday's Herald carried an article blithely headlined "How to make money from the sharemarket going down", basically encouraging people to do the same thing, if on a different scale.
Many will question the morality of a system that allows some to profit from a crisis which has seen essential workers on modest incomes doing heroic work, and which has reduced growing numbers of workers to relying on food banks to get by.
Terry Coggan, Mt Wellington.
So Auckland's leader is rightly worried over falling council income as a result of the epidemic.
One does not need a PhD from the London School of Economics to know to address this. Arkwright realised that if more money was going out of his OXO tin than was coming in, then no more boxes of chocolate for Nurse Gladys, and Granville could expect a cut in his wages.
Do we really need all the highly-paid and job-secure managers at council? There is no need to commission yet another report from outside consultants. There are plenty of competent managers retired or redundant from the real world of commerce who would be more than happy to address this on a pro bono basis.
Also, how about following the lead of many struggling companies by imposing salary reductions? Perhaps no change for those on under $70k. Maybe a 20 per cent cut on those up to $100k and 50 per cent on the rest.
Goff, many of the people who pay your salary have lost their jobs and are also likely to lose their homes. Show some leadership and act decisively!
David Weston, Maraetai Beach.
A jury is being asked to decide who was the aggressor, a home owner or a visitor.