Kate Hawkesby: Goodbye traffic light system and masks - I won't miss you

So today is D-day on the traffic light system and whether it continues for us or not.

Let’s hope not. I’m optimistic – but the caveat is, this Government likes control.

This system was all about control, and to ditch it is to lose that.

Problem is, and part of the reason I think they’ll ditch it, is that we’ve all ditched it anyway.

Sick of masks and controls and traffic lights and restrictions, coupled with seeing

Covid in the community for what it really is these days, which is a non-event, we’ve voted with our feet, or our faces.

I was out and about at the weekend both in town and in the country, and you can count on one hand whose still wearing masks.

Those of us with school aged children who’ve been buying an endless supply of masks for our kids to wear to school are sick of buying them, the kids are sick of wearing them, and as summer approaches and the weather heats up, they’re actually finding it unbearable to wear them. Teachers too.

So we know most of us won’t miss them.

But will the Government miss the control? Big yes.

They’ll also.. if they’re still applying their ‘abundance of caution’ approach, perhaps want the system, or some version of it, in place should things go awry.

Once our vaccinations start waning, once colder weather swoops back round.

But I take heart from the fact that even their very own epidemiological stalwarts like Michael Baker have popped up and said the traffic light system is outdated and of no use anymore. 

And, on top of that, a very reliable source from inside the Koru lounge last week informed me that not even former Covid Minister himself Chris Hipkins was wearing one. Packed Koru lounge, cheek by jowl as usual, no food in front of him, he wasn’t eating, just sitting there, maskless.

So if even the pin up politicians for mask use are not even bothering when they’re in Auckland Airport’s Koru lounge, then maybe that’s a sign that it’s over.

Potentially he may just have been swept up in the vibe of Aucklanders..which that  is they’re over them. Perhaps he keeps it on when he’s in Wellington where there’s a more obedient vibe.

Either way, they’ll make a decision today that either gives us back our freedoms , that we so rightly deserve, or they’ll cling to control. It won’t be a decision made on what’s best for our health or the health system, they’ll have polled on it and it’ll be a political decision based on popularity. 

And you’ll know it’s a political decision when they use the words, “this is not a political decision”.. because they’ll be looking to deflect that criticism.

But if they’re smart they’ll know the decision’s already been made for them.

We’re not doing it anymore, we’re sick of it, bar a handful of people still subscribed to the fear mantra. But most of us know what risk looks like and how to weigh it up, and less than a thousand cases a day is not a risk, it’s not an outbreak, and it’s not crashing the health system.

So the only right decision today is ditch the lights, ditch the masks. It’s time to move on.

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