No matter what the issue, no matter what the policy, in Election 2020 the words "Covid-19" are almost certainly going to appear in the same sentence.
While an enormous issue in its own right, the pandemic disease has had an impact on every sector of society, be it farmers trying to navigate border controls to export, defence force personnel seconded to quarantine facilities, or the courts trying to manage social distancing and keep the trial schedule moving along.
What might have been a business-as-normal roading announcement is now part of the Covid-19 recovery plan, and essential conservation work long delayed by inadequate budgets suddenly becomes a retraining opportunity for those whose jobs may have been lost as part of the Covid-19-related recession.
Just as a virus can affect any part of society, so can the governmental response to it be all-pervasive.
Covid-19 arrived in New Zealand from overseas, and is at the front door to the country that the politicking starts.
Border security, normally only of concern if the topic is narcotics or biosecurity-related and seldom a burning election issue, has in a few months become something each party needs a policy on.
It has become something of a Catch-22 for Labour, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern criticised both for not opening up New Zealand to overseas business and also for opening up New Zealand to people who could possibly have Covid-19.
Labour will point to the low number of cases in New Zealand and the number of cases being detected in isolation facilities, but the party has been consistently criticised by both National and Act New Zealand for not doing enough, soon enough, to set up efficient border screening and institute proper safeguards for staff working there.
New Zealand First has pledged to create a Border Protection Force, intending that it, as a single agency, will monitor arrivals and departures.
National, similarly, has pledged to set up the Border Protection Agency, as well as require all people travelling to New Zealand to test negative to Covid-19 before departure.
Act New Zealand, which believes immigrants are the country’s lifeblood, would still insist arrivals meet all health requirements but under a less rigorous regime.
The Green Party has said the Government should make it as easy as possible for returning New Zealanders to come home, and urged that the refugee quota not be affected by Covid-19.
Once through Customs, the administration of managed isolation and quarantine facilities, something no-one could have conceived as being an issue during the 2017 election, is a subject guaranteed to create a heated exchange.
Act has called for the formation of a specialist response unit to manage all aspects of border security and quarantine, similar to the successful command centre approach adopted by Taiwan — a task National would entrust to its border agency.
New Zealand First, meanwhile, envisages quarantine facilities moving from hotels and into military bases, with defence force personnel standing guard.
The Greens have urged a compassionate approach to management of such facilities, while Labour has pledged to maintain tight control of managed isolation and quarantine facilities.
Mass testing of New Zealanders, another unimaginable development just a few months ago, is promised by all and sundry in 2020.
Labour has pledged to continue high rates of Covid-19 testing, Act would ramp up rapid testing and temperature testing, and National would test border agency workers weekly and widen the availability of testing for everyone else.
New Zealand First also wants greater testing of anyone who potentially comes into contact with Covid-19, and the Greens have urged a science-based approach to managing the disease.
There is also the question of whether people coming into New Zealand should contribute to the cost of their time in quarantine, with the parties split over yes or no and, if yes, what percentage of the costs people should have to pay.
Contract tracing is another concept New Zealanders have learned much about in the past nine months.
When the idea of mass surveillance of the population was once the province of legal, technology and ethical academics, an efficient system of finding people who might have come into contact with Covid-19 is now viewed as essential by most, with more than 2.2 million having loaded the Government Covid-19 app on their mobile devices.
Labour, having already had the Government’s contact-tracing capacity criticised in the Verrall report, has promised further strengthening and improvements to the contact-tracing scheme.
National would make all its border protection agency staff, as well as any DHB staff treating Covid-19 patients, carry contact-tracing technology, and possible support party Act wants to bring in the "Covid Card" scheme proposed by Sam Morgan.
New Zealand First wants to see Covid-19 surveillance boosted to ensure the disease is properly managed.
The Green Party, which is generally opposed to increasing state surveillance of citizens, does accept a need for that in times of need, and Covid-19 would surely fit that description.
While it is all very well promising to crack down on Covid-19, the virus has shown it will not meekly comply with human attempts to control it.
Political promises have been made, but voters will have to assess which party’s proposals are feasible and achievable, rather than just rhetoric.
