Our Covid masks are off, but we are not equal to the world
Masks might be off, but New Zealand’s public health response to Covid-19 could remain a wart in the side of our economy for years to come.
To be clear, I’m talking about the strategy which came after our initial success and Covid-19 was here to stay.
Let me explain why I’m worried. It was summed up this week by two polarised views. One pushed for a continued prevention strategy and the other baulked at it.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles expressed the need for invisible public health measures that continue to work in the background of our daily lives: Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) need to stay and be free. We must teach people how to test properly. We should encourage voluntary testing before going to restaurants or gatherings. We should continue isolating when positive and pay people as it encourages reporting. We need continued use of CO2 monitors in closed spaces, air purifiers where ventilation is difficult and ventilation ratings on commercial premises.
That was promptly followed by a tweet from another commentator, Matthew Hooton, saying: “Reads like the writings of a complete fanatic. RATs every time we go to a restaurant, show or visit someone. Ventilation ratings in all commercial premises to keep us safe. Permanently, apparently.”
I can see his perspective. If you’ve lived in New Zealand for the whole pandemic, it must seem like she’s speaking a foreign language.
Yet if we published the “complete fanatic” quote in a British newspaper, they’d die laughing. Because it’s what Brits did; tested before going to restaurants, shows, work parties and granny’s house. Yup, all voluntarily. They were doing it throughout 2021 and into the 2022 winter when infections were high.
Kiwis didn’t, because our public health policy didn’t educate us to, or deliver the means to do it. It’s not really our fault, on reflection.
The ability of the UK to get pharmacists thrusting seven-packs of free tests at the population is a spectacle to behold. So is the online ordering system where they arrive in the letter box and every member of the household can order a seven-pack, over and over.
Brits never had to flash a vaccine passport for a coffee, but instead got educated that vaccinated people get Covid-19 (a lot of Covid-19) so pre-testing for gatherings and constant personal monitoring was the public health strategy.
UK school testing was twice a week. Should it be required again, it’s second nature to every child.
I went to a boozy lunch of club-cyclists during this time. Two had to pull out due to pre-testing. At another function, an extraordinary 80 out of 500 withdrew after their pre-event RAT turned positive. On Christmas morning every family member tested and on New Year’s Eve we did a RAT before going to a friend’s house. These are voluntary requests. They’re not bulletproof, but the spread of infection and economic damage is reduced.
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive educated employers on their legal duties over ventilation and strongly encouraged the use of carbon dioxide monitors. It’s still considered a legal obligation of their risk assessment.
As the British summer winds down, there are currently no free tests available, no school testing and masks are fairly rare. People aren’t pre-testing before going to gatherings. But the government could flick the switch quickly and the public are fully trained. Prevention is in their psyche, but it’s not in ours.
Wiles’s argument was a financial one. Regular pre-testing and monitoring reduces illness and the costs to the economy. We just missed that boat.
In New Zealand our level of personal responsibility only kicks in once we know we are ill. It’s now very hard to change that in people’s heads.
It puts us behind other countries in our preparedness for future variants and the next inevitable wave. It also exposes our economy, education and health system to financial risk.
The price of illness and productivity to employers, missed schooling and taxpayers funding less visible secondary conditions is immense. Long-Covid, heart attacks, strokes and higher incidence of dementia in those who have been infected, deliver an economic whiplash.
Many people will be shaking their heads at Siouxie Wiles. A feeling of freedom awaits along with the triumph of finally catching up to the rest of the world and being mask-free.
But is she really a fanatic? Outside New Zealand her comments would never be viewed this way. Other countries have dropped these measures over summer, but they’re well-prepared to pull the trigger if it’s needed in a new emergency. We should at least discuss the seasonal implementation of measures we failed to take the first time around.
The mask is a red-herring. Public health policy and messaging needs an overhaul. We’ll all be punished financially if we don’t.
Janine Starks is the author of www.moneytips.nz and can be contacted at moneytips.nz@gmail.com. She is a financial commentator with expertise in banking, personal finance and funds management. Opinions are a personal view and general in nature. They are not a recommendation for any individual to buy or sell a financial product. Readers should always seek specific independent financial advice appropriate to their own circumstances.