COVID in NZ Part III: Stay Home, Stay Safe, Be Kind
This is Part III of a three-part piece. You can read Part I here and Part II here.
There were probably two media events that will be discussed and studied for some time into the future. The first caught New Zealand by surprise and was on the 25th of March. Jacinda Ardern had put her daughter Neve down to sleep and addressed the nation from her home, in a sweatshirt, on Facebook live in what has to be the closest thing I have witnessed to a modern version of the FDR style “fireside chat.” The “medium was the message” as it presented a leader comfortable, familiar and approachable in the middle of advancing to what would be a 7 week stay at home order announced to us as if by a good mate from back home right on our cell phones. She “jumped on line to check in” then explained the science of the pandemic, what to expect, the darker days ahead, and assured us it would get better and to be patient, to be kind. She asked us to check on our neighbors and thanked us for our effort. She tucked the nation in on the eve of one of the world’s first and most aggressive lockdowns of the Covid pandemic. She saw the predictions that crossed her desk a few days before and she wanted to give her nation a hug. She knew the science of the virus and the science of communication. But, the second media event is one her media team could not have staged. Jacinda was in front of a live camera, it was later on May 24th ,and we had returned to level 2 with several days of no infections. Then the lights on the stage started to shake and flicker. A 5.8 magnitude quake shook her as she calmed the nation and the people around her with a smile and a reminder that the Beehive and her cabinet are designed to roll with this moment. We got this! Great TV.
There is no doubt that rapid, science-based risk assessment linked to early, decisive government action was the key to success but, as Barney would email me, there was another factor to consider:
On 20/07/2020, at 8:40 AM, Graham, Barney (NIH/VRC) wrote:
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the encouragement. It’s been an interesting and intense 6 months, but so far Vaccine program is going smoothly.
New Zealand did a remarkable job with the epidemic. I attributed that to women in leadership.
Best wishes,
Barney
The situation since NZ eliminated community spread and developed a functional managed isolation process for returning Kiwis is familiar to most everyone watching the news. It’s also a lesson in masked timidity, of being a country surprised to be in the position it finds itself, an imposter on a world stage of better funded and better resourced world economies, waiting for the other shoe to drop and reveal us for who we really are. A lot was in our favour. It was summer here and Kiwis do most everything outside, rain or shine. We had just controlled our worst Measles outbreak in years and again saw how devastating preventable viral infection could be to our island neighbours. I have had a running joke with my colleagues that New Zealanders socially distance by default. Personal space is a premium here and you would less likely find yourself yelling over music, singing, in close quarters, for long periods of time, bracketed by hugging or cheek kissing than you might experience in say Milan, Brooklyn, or even Sydney. Perhaps Kiwis are much more Asian in these cultural hygiene habits, maybe due to prior experience with communicable diseases kept in the collective consciousness.
Although around 250,000 visitors were in NZ when lockdown was announced, my interactions with some of them in the Emergency Department largely revealed considerate guests who often expressed regret that they or their fellow travellers may have unknowingly brought in the virus. But, we knew if SARS CoV2 did get a foothold in New Zealand, it would find vulnerabilities as it has in all nations to date. So, we waited with a game face on. It is not an unfamiliar place for a Kiwi fan, once again found “boxing above our weight”, straight faced and sombre waiting for the final horn to sound, so we can share a brief cheer then settle back into to the role of the underdog, knowing the harder we work, the luckier we might get and to just get on with it.
New Zealanders like to call it like they see it. One example of Kiwi reporting came from an interview of a failed conservative candidate who was pedalling the sort of misinformation tweeted by Trump in the U.S. It was Tova O'brien who had had the integrity, professional confidence and editorial support to call him out upon his defeat for “whipping up fear and hysteria among vulnerable communities” and clarifying “[He] sold [his] soul for political ambition.” They usually get on well here in NZ, with notable exceptions, but when someone is clearly out-of-touch, the press does not hesitate to let them know.
At our youngest son’s recent graduation from his little Northland grade school, where they ring a bell when dolphins swim up the estuary across the road from their classrooms, I looked at all the smiles unmasked and heard the unmuffled cheers from their families. My heart aches for the rest of the world. To be honest, I feel guilty and not at all proud. It was the only option we had with the information we got as the rest of the world gave us the gift of lessons only recently learned. We used the 2-3 week lag to debate the choices to the very last moment between acting too soon or too late. It was like a rugby pass held to the last moment, not knowing if it were the right decision until the dust settles.
As our son collected his certificate and advanced toward his mates on the outdoor stage at the base of a native bush ringed amphitheatre at his school, he stopped briefly in front of the teacher who had firmly, yet lovingly, helped him reach his potential. She caught his eyes with his handshake, holding them both, she calmly pressed her nose down onto his with a full smile, and I watched them both inhale. Sharing life. I will get a chance again to listen to children sing the national anthem in Maori at a school assembly or to watch the All Blacks haka before a test match with some kiwi mates and in it will witness the ineffable sense of inclusion one gets as a member of ‘the team of 5 million.”
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 16, 2020, at 7:37 PM, Michael Howard wrote:
Barney,
You lot put a collective smile on 5 million faces down here in NZ today. There are a lot of doctors and nurses worldwide with a fresh glimmer of hope for a solution and one old friend of yours who never doubted it was coming.
But 95%?
You are fricking kidding me!
Thanks again my friend,
Mike
====================================
On 17/11/2020, at 2:28 PM, Graham, Barney (NIH/VRC) wrote:
Thanks Mike.
It’s a big relief. Just need to get it distributed. I know how tired everyone is.
Take care.
Barney
This is Part III of a three-part piece. You can read Part I here and Part II here.
