‘Covid Medal’ a fitting tribute to frontline staff

WHEN the war is over and the enemy is defeated, we need to acknowledge the sacrifice, dedication and selflessness shown by the vast majority of New Zealand's citizens.

It would be appropriate if a special medal was struck to commemorate our nation's victory: the Covid Medal. For all those in the frontlines — doctors, nurses, caregivers, many of whom are risking their lives — they should be awarded a gold medal for bravery and outstanding service. For all the scientists, academics and researchers who worked hard to understand the complex nature of this insidious virus as well as finding the ways and means of thwarting it, they should receive a silver medal. For the supermarket personnel, cleaners and other essential workers, they all deserve a bronze medal for their service.

Last, but not least, in recognition of their sterling leadership throughout this difficult time, Jacinda Ardern and Dr Bloomfield should be made a dame and a knight of the realm, respectively. For everyone else who demonstrated patience, cheerfulness and good humour during those difficult days, a public holiday should be instituted.

Alex Aitken,

Woodhaugh.

VIKTOR Frankl, the psychiatrist who survived a Nazi death camp and went on after the war to write Man's Search for Meaning, identified the crucial role in survival played by people’s response to fear. ‘‘Between stimulus and response, there is a space’’, he wrote. ‘‘In that space is our power to choose our response’’. By using that perceived ‘‘space’’, we find our freedom to act, meaningfully, in ways critical to our survival.

How we organise ourselves in a postCovid world, should be done with intention and thoughtfulness around how our we treat our environment. As we decide what happens in the country, economically and socially, perhaps we might reflect upon Dr Frankl's insights on meaning and survival. When faced with the horror of a pandemic, our response to this stimulus need not be to carry on as before, but to create policies which reflect, at a deeper level, how our survival is dependent upon a healthy natural world.

Evelyn Skinner

Clyde ..................................

BIBLE READING: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. — 2 Peter 1.3.