Families set up healthy colony

Wanaka professional athlete Braden Currie and wife Sally have created a colony of coronavirus-free families which can ride out the pandemic together, as the Covid-19 response gathers momentum in New Zealand.

Mrs Currie said she had spent a lot of time reading about the statistical pattern of the virus, and believed living in a tourism hub such as Wanaka presented a high risk of exposure.

‘‘I’m not at all fearful of the virus itself and getting sick, because we’re quite a healthy family with strong immunity.

‘‘But I made the decision because I feel that New Zealand — of all the places in the world — has the best opportunity to get on top of this.

‘‘If by doing what I’m doing, I could inspire others to practise social distancing, we could actually get rid of this virus. We could have no new cases within a couple of weeks.’’

Two other families had joined them in creating the ‘‘colony’’ and there was a strict code of conduct about what family members could and could not do in their daily lives, she said.

None of the families visited each other at their homes. Instead, they met in open spaces, such as parks or walking tracks, to socialise and do physical activity together.

‘‘There are plenty of remote places around Wanaka with no other people around.’’

Other than that, they had isolated themselves from all other extended family and the general public.

Parents in the group were working from home, groceries were being delivered to their doorsteps, and the children were being home-schooled using online education websites, she said.

Once the children had finished their 14-day isolation, the parents would look at allowing them to do their school work together.

It would allow the families, particularly the children, to continue to live relatively normal lives, she said.

When the children were not doing school work, they were cooking meals and helping with cleaning, she said.

She said other families were welcome to join the group, on one proviso.

‘‘Everyone who comes, has to commit to a code of conduct around their daily life so that we have trust within the group.’’

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

 

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