"We are right on the border of losing control."  
That’s what epidemiologist Rod Jackson has been saying ahead of Cabinet deciding what to do with vaccine passes, vaccine mandates, traffic light settings … all of that stuff. 
And he wants to see all current public health measures kept in place until the current Omicron outbreak is over. He’s talking another two-to-four weeks. 
So, if Rod Jackson had his way, we’d be at Red for up to another month, we’d still have to flash the vaccine passes at restaurants and other venues, and we’d still have to wear a mask pretty much anywhere and everywhere. 
I think he’s pushing that one uphill. Because, as we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks, the Government – like any government that’s come before it and any government that will follow it, whatever colour it is – will pull out all the tricks if it gets a whiff that it’s going out of favour. 
The problem Jacinda Ardern and her ministers have, though, is if you look at the traffic light system, you see that one of the conditions of us being at Red is a hospital system under pressure. 
And I don’t think anyone could argue that the hospital system is currently under the most pressure it’s ever been since the pandemic began. Hovering around 1,000 COVID patients in hospital every day at the moment – with a lot more people in ICU than we’ve seen a lot of the time. Here in Canterbury, some of the smaller hospitals closed because they don’t have enough staff to run them – because so many are isolating either because they’ve got Omicron or they’re a household contact.  
What has changed, though, since the traffic light system was brought in, is the arrival of Omicron – and the vast majority of people with Covid at the moment are isolating for seven days at home and then pretty much getting back to life as normal. 
So maybe this week, we’ll see a tweaked traffic light system – because I think the original version is no longer relevant. We will find out on Wednesday. Cabinet is meeting today but not telling us anything until Wednesday. You don’t have to be in hospital to be drip-fed these days, do you? 
Now, what I think is the most pressing need this week, is “clarity” from the Government and knowing what we are expected to do and how we are expected to behave from here on in. 
I’ll give you an example. I heard about a school-aged child who tested positive for Covid on Friday but, over the weekend, instead of isolating – this kid’s mother had them going all over town as per normal. Playgrounds, shops, you name it. 
Now is that just a case of someone being stupid, and not knowing what to do? Or someone who’s had a gutful of the whole thing and doesn’t want to be a part of the team of five million anymore? 
And does it really matter? Does it really matter that this child’s mother completely ignored the requirement for her child and the rest of the family to isolate? 
Most of us will probably think it does matter, because we feel it’s the right thing to do. But is it still the right thing to do? 
This is what we need to hear from the Government this week. 
And this is what I think the Government’s going to be grappling with. 
It needs to come up with a plan that tells the people with no clue what they should be doing but, at the same time, convinces the others who have just had enough and want to get on with Covid being part of normal life, not to be complete idiots and not throw all caution to the wind. 
That’s a pretty tall order. And it’s what former Health Minister Peter Dunne was talking about when he spoke on Newstalk ZB today. 
He said it’s going to be interesting to see how far the Government leans towards what it thinks is the right thing to do, and what it thinks the public wants to hear. 
He says it’s going to be a very difficult balancing act – and he’s not wrong there. 
But “clarity” has to be one of the main things to come from the...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.