The New Zealand government was late and lax in its response to Covid-19, shortcomings in MIQ facilities has let the disease through the border too many times and there are still too many unanswered questions about when and how most of us will be vaccinated.
That said, the number of people who contracted the disease and number of deaths was relatively low and, closed border aside, life is back to as close to normal as it could be for most of us with a freedom to move and congregate that few other countries can enjoy.
This has led some people to question how serious Covid-19 is.
The BBC’s stories from doctors and nurses at St George’s Hospital tell just how bad it can be.
From nurses talking about crying when they get home to doctors asking people to stop “bending” the rules because it’s leading to people in their 20s, 30s and 40s dying, these are the staff of St George’s Hospital.
The interviews in the video from the Covid-19 healthcare coalface give first-hand answers to the question of how bad the spread could be.
Anyone who still thinks the disease isn’t serious need only look at the rapid spread and high number of deaths in India, Brazil, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea which are now on the list of very high risk countries from which travellers can no longer enter New Zealand.
Some have called this racist.
It’s not. The decision had nothing at all to do with race, it is simply and clearly based on the spread of Covid-19 in those countries and the risk travellers from those countries would pose if they came here.
Posted by homepaddock 
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