NEW ZEALAND

NICK HOWE-SMITH M c CLURE 1978-1983 AUCKLAND – AUGUST 2020

In my opinion the country coped with the Health crisis aspect superbly. The NZ response was “ to go hard early”. We adopted a four level Alert system and we were put in the highest Alert level when we had only 36 cases of Covid-19. To date our death toll remains far lower than other countries. We became Covid-19 free for a while and life returned to normal for over three months except for international tourism. Restaurants, cafes, gyms, sporting fixtures, weddings and funerals all functioned without social distancing or masks. Financial assistance packages were rolled out swiftly to assist those businesses that could demonstrate substantial losses to keep their labour force in employment. Fortunately New Zealand is a relatively isolated island with a 3000 km moat. Our five million population is small but willing and compliant and as a team of five million, we believed and adopted the ‘elimination goal’. The economic toll is yet to be realised and fully understood.

Our border quarantine processes however were found to be sadly lacking with several breaches and persons breaking out of and into managed quarantine facilities. The Health authorities took over hotels and looked after returning NZ residents well, as hospitality would, but forgot in many cases to perform the routine day three and day twelve testing that we all took for granted. This created national outrage and ministerial resignations.

The manner in which NZ has coped with the pandemic and the relatively low infection rates and death statistics are impressive compared with many countries in the world. It really came down to the speed in which decisions were made and implemented. I was also very impressed with the 1pm daily television updates from Jacinda Ardern, our PM, the Government Covid-19 response website and having a NZ Covid-19 Tracer QR Code App for mobile phones.

Lockdown for us, also known as Alert level four, started on 25 March 2020 and ended on 27 April, so about 5 weeks in total. During this time everyone on a national scale had to stay at home and work from home. Schools and universities were closed, borders were closed, restaurants, cafes, gyms, shops, hairdressers were closed. In fact everything was closed apart from supermarkets, pharmacies, hospitals, doctors and those deemed ‘essential workers’. Exercise was allowed but you had to stay ‘local’. The meaning of the word local was tested!

Fortunately lockdown occurred during the end of our summer season and we had blissful weather so that was one less thing to complain about. Our days were spent at home fishing off the jetty, brewing beer, completing home improvement projects, cycling and walking the local beaches.

The biggest impact on us, as we had my parents from the UK living with us (and still do), was ensuring that they remained safe and not exposed. We had to stay in our family ‘bubble’ which meant no contact with anyone other than those in your bubble. So no friends or other family members.

That was hard not seeing the kids. We participated in the dawn service on Anzac Day standing at our front gate as the bugler of the ‘Last Post’ echoed through our iPhones! Very different. The other bizarre happenings were queueing under a large tent to enter the supermarket, the 2m metre markings on the footpaths outside shops and ordering your take away coffee by phone or text.

History of previous pandemics has shown that life does return to ‘normal’ once again so I hope we do and quickly. With a little more wisdom and care, practising safe social distancing, improved testing and contact tracing regimes and border controls we can learn to exist normally once more.

Life before Covid-19 gave us all the freedom to see who we wanted, do what we wanted and travel around the world. I am keen to revert to the ‘old life’ particularly for the travel advantages. However Covid-19 has raised some pertinent questions and introduced alternatives. The biggest is in our work/ life balance and in understanding what is really important to us such as spending more time with children and family. For me the current WFH trend is a positive step and allows me to work from home one or two days a week as and when required or desired. Other than that no major lifestyle changes are necessary for my part.

I do miss Mill Hill School days, they were great fun. Friends, sport, activities it was all laid on – the sausage/cheese/pickle roll for morning tea in the Sixth Form Centre was pretty hard to beat! Five years providing lifelong friendships and contacts.

IMOGEN PRIOR MURRAY 2015-2020 AUCKLAND –AUGUST 2020

I was in New Zealand at the beginning of the pandemic, who as a country took a very proactive approach to the pandemic. As the number of cases surpassed 100 on 25th March, we immediately entered Alert Level four which consisted of a minimum of four weeks in lockdown with only essential visits to the shops being permitted.

At the time there were 10,000 Brits stuck in New Zealand and we had very little access to support from the British Consulate in New Zealand as flights home became both scarce and extortionately expensive due to the closure of many of transit the countries.

Jacinda Ardern maintained a very detailed dialogue with the public from the beginning of the pandemic and acted swiftly in response to the everchanging circumstances.

As a short-term traveller in New Zealand, I had nowhere permanent to stay and with the closure of surrounding borders I also had nowhere to go. Unable to find flights home, I spent three weeks in lockdown in a 14th floor flat in Auckland with a fellow traveller.

I was able to return to London at the beginning of April and experience the remainder of lockdown there. Frustratingly, I had a further two months of travelling planned beyond New Zealand! Hopefully I will get the chance to resume my travels at some point.

I think there will be a many Coronarelated repercussions that will be in effect for years to come; including the way students attain university places and attend their courses.

I have really missed playing team sport and seeing friends in larger groups however there have also been positives from experiencing such a drastic reset.

I have found it encouraging to see people making a more conscious effort to stay safe and healthy. I have also felt inspired by the sheer number of people pursuing personal growth and the ever increasing sense of community during this time.