Staying the course will get us through
As I write this, New Zealand is in day nine of Alert Level 3. We can all take heart in recording no new Covid cases yesterday or the day before. Those are really encouraging results, and they’re thanks to the great work from New Zealand’s team of five million.
The latest Google tracking data shows we are doing exceptionally well; for the duration of lockdown we maintained very consistent levels of low movement.
Your efforts have put us at the front of the pack, and everyone should feel very proud of that.
Of course, as the Prime Minister has said, the results we see now mainly reflect the situation at the end of lockdown in Alert Level 4 – not the effect of greater activity at Level 3.
The fight against Covid-19 is a marathon, not a sprint.
So today the Prime Minister’s message to us remains the same as in previous weeks: stay the course.
We cannot afford to squander the good work to date when our end goal is so close and within reach.
Next Monday the Government will decide whether or not New Zealand will move to Alert Level 2. That day represents the end of a two-week life cycle; a period of transmission for the virus.
In making its decision the Government will be assessing if there have been low to no new cases for several days preceding. It’ll mean knowing where every new case over the past two weeks has come from, and ongoing evidence of no widespread community transmission.
It is so important for everyone across West Coast-Tasman to stay the course.
We need every day between now and then to know for sure that we succeeded in locking in the gains of Level 4, recovered effectively in our ‘waiting room’ of Level 3, and can safely move down again; giving us all greater, hard-earned freedoms.
The Prime Minister has shared details of what Alert Level 2 will look like when we’re ready to go there. This will provide clarity and certainty and give people time to prepare.
It’s important to know, however, that no decision has yet been made on moving out of Alert Level 3. That’ll happen on Monday. As with previous transitions, we’ll all get some warning of any move in alert levels.
For now we need to not get ahead of ourselves; to stick to our bubble, and finish the job we’ve started.
The Government has been supporting New Zealanders in their jobs all the way through lockdown, with over 1.7 million people benefitting from our Wage Subsidy Scheme; and we’ve already started the process of opening up our economy again.
There’ll be much more information about that in the Budget next Thursday, so stay tuned.
Despite the economic pain all across the world right now, our hard and early health response to Covid-19 has given us the chance to get moving faster than many other countries.
The Government is determined to make the most of New Zealand’s head start.
The Budget will continue the Government’s careful and balanced approach to running the books.
With decreased revenue, and the Government taking on extra debt, we’re being very careful to ensure that every dollar spent helps create jobs and rebuild our country better.
Remember that what we’re doing is working – the numbers speak for themselves.
Now’s the time to lock in our hard-earned gains.
We’re heading in the right direction and this next phase is about staying on top of the virus as we start rebooting our economy.
Let’s show the world what staying the course looks like.
* Damien O’Connor is the Labour MP for West CoastTasman
For now we need to not get ahead of ourselves; to stick to our bubble, and finish the job we’ve started.