It is a delicate time to be talking of sneezing and of the spreading of nasty bugs, but we were reminded again yesterday of the heavy weight carried by Auckland to keep the Covid-19 outbreak under control.
From today, our biggest city moves out of Alert Level 3 and to a sort of Level 2.5, out of lockdown and into life closer to "normal" but with gatherings capped at 10 people.
All of New Zealand embraces a new policy when taking public transport. Masks must be worn, to the approving nod of some epidemiologists who have been preaching the importance of face-covering for months.
So, sighs of relief from the City of Sails, then. And, perhaps some exhalations of slight frustration from those of us, say, 1500km away from the centre of what appears to be a contained outbreak?
There will certainly be some keen to question why areas outside Auckland, especially the South, have not been given a ticket to level 1 earlier than this coming Sunday, the scheduled level move date.
There are 136 active Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, 117 of which are in the community. That is 136 more than is ideal.
But when you think about the fact there has not been a confirmed case in the South since April 18 — a full 135 days — you can be forgive for wondering why the South is not back at Level 1.
Nevertheless, the issue is not really about there being at least one more week of relatively mild inconvenience for us. It is about the level of trust we are putting in our Auckland brothers and sisters to not mess this up.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday thanked Aucklanders as they prepared to leave lockdown but also implored them to use common sense, and to keep playing it safe.
She specifically referred to Aucklanders heading to other parts of the country, asking them to maintain their Level 2.5 vigilance no matter where they went.
That follows comments earlier in the weekend from Covid-19 data modelling expert Shaun Hendy, who told RNZ he was concerned an easing of travel restrictions would lead to Aucklanders spreading the infection to other parts of the country.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins acknowledged his own uneasiness yesterday at the situation. He wondered if the Government was "betting the house" on its testing and contact tracing regime, and he said the city — by extension, the South — had no choice but to be "hyper vigilant".
So, keep doing what we are doing. Use the tracer app or keep a log of our movements, wash our hands regularly, and practice social distancing.
Significantly, even more of us need to get comfortable with wearing masks, on public transport (mandatory at Level 2 and above) and in other areas where there are plenty of people (recommended).
Any early scepticism over the worth of masks has evaporated. They are clearly a key tool in the eradication of the virus, and it is to be hoped there will be strong adherence to the new rules and recommendations.
