Mayor’s Message: COVID-19 lockdown ‘we know we can do this’
A week ago, I was in Auckland speaking at a conference on Affordable Housing and Investment. It was the first time I had been to Auckland since early 2020 and it was great to be in the city, if only briefly.
When the news came of a community case of COVID-19, I was getting ready to go to the airport.
It was a slow and anxious trip as people left the city to get home.
I waited for the Prime Minister’s 6pm announcement, knowing that lockdown would be coming before I boarded my plane to Nelson and hoped I hadn’t been in contact with the virus (so far so good as I regularly check places of interest).
The Government had made it very clear, that any Delta outbreak in our community would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Watching the news from Sydney, and the extensive number of contacts that are involved in this community transition, we can see Level 4 was the only viable option.
So here we are, back in our bubbles, teddy bears in windows, and tuning in for the 1pm daily briefing.
Events are cancelled, businesses are closed, and family and friends are separated.
Lockdown is a blow for local businesses who cannot operate, with some losing bookings and orders that cannot be replaced.
The wage subsidy and support package is welcome relief, but a tough year just got tougher.
Nelson Marlborough Health and Nelson Bays Primary Health have been flat out making sure COVID-19 tests are available and vaccination continues.
Thank you to all of these teams who are taking care of us so well.
There are a few simple things that you can do to help:
• Wear a face covering to keep you and others safe.
• Use the COVID Tracer app to enable faster contact tracing.
• Get vaccinated to protect yourself, your whānau, and our community.
From 25 August, everyone in our region over 30 can get their vaccine.
The Trafalgar Centre is now set up to receive up to 10,000 people a day, so please take up the opportunity this week.
We know we can do this; we did it before and our team of 54,000 along with the rest of the five million, can do it again.
Kia kaha Whākatu.
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