Judging by the post-Cabinet announcement on Monday by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, one might get the impression that Covid-19 must be over.
Sure, the country has moved on from those very dark days of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. For most, life has returned to something approaching normal.
But New Zealand, like nations around the world, is hollower, thanks to Covid, than before.
Many have lost loved ones to the virus, some are out of work and struggling financially, and the repercussions on the economy and the cost of living continue to be felt.
Covid and Covid mandates can also be blamed for the very sad loss of innocence within our communities, for the erosion of trust in science and in scientists, experts and the government, and for divisions in our society which have fuelled the malign rise of misinformation and disinformation.
With its easing of all remaining Covid restrictions, the Government appears, for the second time in a few days, to have launched a crowd-pleasing electioneering policy which may well turn out not to be the best thing for New Zealand.
We can’t help but think of what some do when they want to sell their houses.
A quick lick of paint here, maybe a bit of sealant there, some nice mats to cover the holes in the carpet, a few new curtains.
Anything to spruce the place up quickly and easily, and make it more attractive to potential buyers.
Put that in an election context.
Does it sound a little familiar?
We also can’t help but think that dropping legal requirements to both isolate at home and to wear masks in healthcare settings may just be asking for trouble.
True, Covid infection levels are relatively low at present, the lowest they have been since February last year.
But with the removal of rules, how long will it be before the numbers creep, or race, up again?
There are also concerns that less scrupulous employers may now become intolerant of employees’ sickness and demand they work while contagious or get a doctor’s note for absence.
The government is still asking people to isolate if they feel sick.
Only now there is no imperative to do so, and some will not think twice about carrying on with their usual routines if able.
It is easy to see why Labour might want to wash Covid right out of its hair.
After all, it’s so "yesterday" in terms of how this current government is associated with it.
While Labour was voted back in to power three years ago with a huge majority, largely because of the way then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her team handled the early months of the pandemic and kept New Zealanders safe, things have turned pear-shaped since.
Unpopular vaccination mandates split the country, leading to the lengthy occupation at Parliament and the riot in March 2022.
That strong desire to move on is understandable for all of us, not just politicians. But it is a fact that Covid still lurks out there, and is still mutating and making many people sick around the world.
As University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said after Monday’s announcement, Covid-19 remains our deadliest infectious disease, responsible for the deaths of 10 New Zealanders a week on average.
Only four months ago, Prof Baker warned that Covid might kill 1000 New Zealanders this year and hospitalise 10,000 people.
He expected twice as many deaths from Covid as from influenza.
In Robert Graves’ autobiographical book Goodbye To All That, he explores the loss of innocence from the horrors of World War 1.
New Zealand has lost a lot of its innocence due to Covid-19 and its many consequences.
Unfortunately, it’s not "Goodbye to Covid-19 and all that". Merely au revoir.
