Kerre McIvor: Please don't live in absolute terror of Omicron

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday the country would be moving to Phase 2 of the Omicron plan. Phase 2 reduces isolation periods for contacts from 10 days to 7 and means the focus of contact tracing will shift to high-risk exposure events and, effectively, everyone must do their own contact tracing. 
Phase 2 also places a greater reliance on rapid antigen tests (RATS) to reduce the burden on the health service and the economy. Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking this morning that if he was on the job RATs would be available. They're not on the shelves, so we have to rely on the Government to dole out the supplies to those they deem worthy and we just have to accept that. 
There is good news; that is that the isolation period is being shortened and that of the five and a half thousand people with Covid in the community and at the border, there are just 37 in hospital none are in ICU.
So, can we all hold on to that fact?  Even Jacinda Ardern managed to choke out the words that you know, you can manage this yourself. So yes, you may very well catch Omicron over the next few weeks and I'm sorry if there are people who are very frightened about that. 
I'm sorry if you are still feeling very nervous after the constant bombardment of messages you've received over the past two years, but you are unlikely to need hospital treatment, far less intensive care nursing.  
So please don't live an absolute terror of waiting for this virus to catch you.

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