Why this is actually bad news
Dec. 23rd, 2021 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msconduct
As I wrote in a previous post, I wasn't sure whether when Delta arrived in New Zealand we would manage to control it or whether we were standing on the edge of a cliff. Well, the numbers are in. Looks good, right? New Zealand has fairly comprehensively kicked Delta's butt. The maximum number of cases we had in a day barely topped 200 and has rapidly dropped off. The maximum number of people we ever had in hospital was around sixtyish, with only 4-6 of those in ICU. Sadly, we lost some people, but we've still managed to keep the total of deaths at 49, and that's for the entire pandemic. And now that we have the new "traffic light" system that kicked in when we were almost 90% of eligible pop vaccinated, if you're vaccinated you can pretty much live a normal life. Even better, under the new system the case numbers have continued to decrease. Win!
Except....
It wasn't easy getting here. Auckland in particular has just been through a harsh four-month lockdown, and I mean harsh, because our lockdowns are some of the toughest in the world. At the strictest level we are allowed to leave the house only to go to the supermarket and the pharmacy, and this time Auckland was stuck at this level for five weeks. I think it's fair to say Aucklanders are seriously over it and looking forward to enjoying the summer. And then what happens? Omicron.
Omicron is already here in New Zealand, although currently only in the quarantine hotels. Given how catching it is, however, it's surely only a matter of time before it gets out.
Sigh. I know we're very fortunate here not to have really been affected by the pandemic for months and months at a time. On the other hand, we've had to work harder for it than other countries have too. I really don't want to do this again so soon after the last humungous effort. And it's worse that it came along right when we had Delta on the run. I don't think it's too optimistic to say we had zero Covid almost in our grasp again. Watching that slip away is really going to hurt.
