Covid Watch

What a relief and not before time that we’re waving goodbye to the traffic light system. Big raps to the Government for getting their heads around that.

We’ve moved on, and so should they. It was apparent yesterday when Grant Robertson said to Mike Hosking that they’ll ‘still take Covid seriously’ that they were laying the ground work for the naysayers, the panickers, those who’d freak out, that they were ‘still taking it seriously’, even though they were heaving the system out. 

I don’t know if that reassured mask lovers or not. I do think it’s a crock they’ve kept the mask rule for pharmacies, that seems a waste of time, I was talking to a pharmacist yesterday whose sick to death of wearing a mask all day, seems unfair they’ve been captured by that rule.

The greatest irony of the whole spiel from the PM though had to be when she said, “we take back control.” Ironic when this entire exercise has been about them having control.

Then there’s the public holiday announcement. I really feel for small business here. Yesterday I got a message from a busy hairdressing salon.. hairdressers of course knocked for six during lockdowns and some barely just clawing their way back. This business owner wrote to me saying they’re finally back on their feet and booked 4 to 5 weeks ahead for hair appointments. She said they would lose at least $2,500 in revenue on a closed day. 

She said Inland Revenue had put her on a payment plan this year to pay off her small business loan that she received during lockdown, and that she was under pressure to pay it all back.  

She pointed out they had no choice during the lockdown and had to take the loan if they were going to keep the business going. This year , she says, they’ve dealt with not only paying back that small business loan, but have had an extra five days sick leave added, another public holiday added, minimum wage increased, staff off with ten and then seven days isolating and pay topped up. 

It’s been a mission and punishing for small business owners, in fact for all business owners. She said when she heard the announcement of another day off , she burst into tears. She was ringing the IRD to ask them to stop the direct debits for her loan as this extra day off would kill her business she said.

So I really feel for people like her. Business NZ’s Kirk Hope said a day off should be voluntary but another public holiday shouldn’t be imposed on people.

Treasury estimate the cost of the extra public holiday will be $450 million, which some argue is unfair in a cost of living crisis.

But surely the biggest win, especially for those who protested against it, is the removal of mandates. All government mandates end in two weeks’ time, and not before time in my view. That’s been a brutal, and in many cases cruel, part of this process, and not something we should forget lightly. It destroyed people’s livelihoods and created immense division.

So I won’t miss the mandates, the masks, the drawn out orange light, the daily reporting of Covid cases, the lot.

I’m pleased to see it all go. Good riddance.

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The masks are gone for all but a few sectors, but where do they all go?

A new free recycling initiative is being launched by our biggest mask manufacturer to try and make sure our masks don't all end up in landfill.

It's being done by Meo and co-founder Kenneth Leong joined Mike Hosking.

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The Tourism Minister says any remaining restrictions won't keep people from visiting.

Vaccine requirements for international travellers and the need to wear a mask in most places are gone.

Despite the easing of restrictions, travellers still have to fill out a travel declaration form.

Stuart Nash told Mike Hosking it's not a big deal.

He says it's something which happens around the world and isn't too cumbersome.

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Praise for an easing of restrictions from our retail sector.

Covid-19 restrictions have been scrapped almost completely, with only aged care facilities and hospitals still requiring masks.

Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford says it takes away a lot of tension and confusion around exemptions that retail workers had to deal with.

He told Kate Hawkesby he doesn't expect many retailers to ask their customers to mask up.

Harford says many workers were on the receiving end of verbal abuse and even violence after asking people to mask up.

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So today is D-day on the traffic light system and whether it continues for us or not.

Let’s hope not. I’m optimistic – but the caveat is, this Government likes control.

This system was all about control, and to ditch it is to lose that.

Problem is, and part of the reason I think they’ll ditch it, is that we’ve all ditched it anyway.

Sick of masks and controls and traffic lights and restrictions, coupled with seeing

Covid in the community for what it really is these days, which is a non-event, we’ve voted with our feet, or our faces.

I was out and about at the weekend both in town and in the country, and you can count on one hand whose still wearing masks.

Those of us with school aged children who’ve been buying an endless supply of masks for our kids to wear to school are sick of buying them, the kids are sick of wearing them, and as summer approaches and the weather heats up, they’re actually finding it unbearable to wear them. Teachers too.

So we know most of us won’t miss them.

But will the Government miss the control? Big yes.

They’ll also.. if they’re still applying their ‘abundance of caution’ approach, perhaps want the system, or some version of it, in place should things go awry.

Once our vaccinations start waning, once colder weather swoops back round.

But I take heart from the fact that even their very own epidemiological stalwarts like Michael Baker have popped up and said the traffic light system is outdated and of no use anymore. 

And, on top of that, a very reliable source from inside the Koru lounge last week informed me that not even former Covid Minister himself Chris Hipkins was wearing one. Packed Koru lounge, cheek by jowl as usual, no food in front of him, he wasn’t eating, just sitting there, maskless.

So if even the pin up politicians for mask use are not even bothering when they’re in Auckland Airport’s Koru lounge, then maybe that’s a sign that it’s over.

Potentially he may just have been swept up in the vibe of Aucklanders..which that  is they’re over them. Perhaps he keeps it on when he’s in Wellington where there’s a more obedient vibe.

Either way, they’ll make a decision today that either gives us back our freedoms , that we so rightly deserve, or they’ll cling to control. It won’t be a decision made on what’s best for our health or the health system, they’ll have polled on it and it’ll be a political decision based on popularity. 

And you’ll know it’s a political decision when they use the words, “this is not a political decision”.. because they’ll be looking to deflect that criticism.

But if they’re smart they’ll know the decision’s already been made for them.

We’re not doing it anymore, we’re sick of it, bar a handful of people still subscribed to the fear mantra. But most of us know what risk looks like and how to weigh it up, and less than a thousand cases a day is not a risk, it’s not an outbreak, and it’s not crashing the health system.

So the only right decision today is ditch the lights, ditch the masks. It’s time to move on.

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The Deputy Prime Minister is promising transparency around Covid-19 protocol.

The decision about whether to do away with our traffic light system will be announced at 4pm after a cabinet meeting. 

Grant Robertson told Mike Hosking we will have complete clarity around the rules by the end of the day.

He says while the virus can be unpredictable, New Zealanders need to know what's expected of them.

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National says our Covid-19 traffic light system is no longer needed.

Jacinda Ardern will announce Cabinet's decision on whether to do away with it at 4pm.

National Party Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says compliance with mask wearing is waning.

He told Kate Hawkesby he reckons the timing is right.

Bishop says now that cases are falling and we're past the winter peak, it's time to move on.

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Epidemiologist Dr Michael Baker joined the Weekend Collective to discuss the potential changes to the traffic light framework, whether we should still be wearing masks and more. 

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I asked a simple question of Megan Woods yesterday on the programme. Does this Government apologise for anything?

She went on to not apologise. She referenced Carmel Sepuloni, who also hadn't apologised. And by days end, no one seems to have apologised for the Northland cock up.

Not the Prime Minister, who referred questions to Chris Hipkins in yet another sign that she has basically checked out and essentially just lives for the overseas trips.

And Hipkins himself busily suggested that there was nothing new here, despite the fact most of us thought it was all new. He also said that when it came to an apology he didn’t want to get into the “ins and outs” of it.

Every time something like this happens it is further evidence, as if we needed it, that a full blown, no holds barred inquiry is needed to look at just what this country has been put through.

It appears increasingly as evidence presents itself that whether it's a lockdown that didn’t need to happen, a vaccinated person who died, a business that closed, a wage subsidy that wasn’t paid back, a traffic light system that made no sense, a Kiwi that was locked out, the kids that didn’t go to school or the mental  health issues that pervade virtually every town and city in this country.

Added to the fact that economically we have been in recession and if not recession just a plain mess, that we might like to ask quite loudly, whether all of the obsession about the team of 5 million the lockdown mentality and the fear that was pedalled has served us at all well.

The inquiry, if in fact it's ever held, is now quite frightening. The papers that get released that tell increasingly scandalous stories of ineptitude and incompetence. Think about it, a whole region locked down and three days earlier, they knew the paperwork was wrong.

And even now, when the game is up, the mistake is made public. They don't want to get into the "ins and outs" of it.

Where is the humility? Where is the acceptance that everyone makes mistakes? And when you do make a mistake, the least you can do is say sorry.

What do you gain by trying to BS your way out of these things? What do you gain by not getting into the "ins and outs" of it? What do you grain by shunting off the questions to your Minister, because as a leader you take responsibility for nothing?

Woods see Sepuloni. Ardern see Hipkins. Sepuloni no apology and Hipkins doesn’t want to get into the "ins and outs" of it.

Open, honest, and transparent, eh? The biggest fraud of the decade.

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The green light could be given to get rid of the traffic light framework.

Our newsroom understands Cabinet will be deciding on a recommendation to scrap the framework altogether, rather than tweaking the settings or moving to green.

If it goes ahead, it will come into effect as soon as next Wednesday.

Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford told Mike Hosking he supports axing it, including getting rid of mask mandates.

He says nobody is enforcing the rule and it creates clash points with customers so the sooner they can move on, the better.

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