Calls to lift Covid lockdown ‘deeply unnerving’

I FIND it deeply unnerving to hear of calls for the Government to lift the lockdown next week.

Frankly, I don’t want it lifted until we have had no new cases, or, as Prof Sir David Skegg argues, until we have a much clearer picture of the extent of the virus in our communities.

It’s not ‘‘just a flu’’ as your Makarora correspondent so erroneously labelled it. My brother and his family live in New York State, where more than 10,000 people have been killed by this virus in less than a month and ahalf. Believe me, it ain’t no common flu.

We’re doing really well by comparison, and yes, there is strong temptation to ‘‘open for business’’ and many people are hurting financially. But I urge the Government to resist these pressures and continue the lockdown until this insidious virus no longer poses a threat.

If you don’t think even one more week in lock down is ‘‘worth it’’, that the economy is more important, I challenge you to look into the eyes of families who have lost their loved ones and tell them that.

Jill Rutherford

Belleknowes

AS we approach the likely shift down to Level 3, we need to see some more intelligent application of do’s and don’ts. Do’s should include allowing all singleoperative businesses and operations allowed to resume work. Small shops should open under appropriate hygiene and safety rules.

Dunedin City Council workers should get back to cleaning the streets and clearing footpaths which are becoming dangerous with wet fallen leaves, especially for the elderly.

Selfemployed contractors of all kinds, using their own vehicles and equipment, should be out and about again. Including those dedicated wildlife workers who need to travel out to check trap lines safeguarding endangered seabirds.

Oh — and if there are no Covid19 patients in Dunedin Hospital by the end of the month, how about returning to muchneeded general surgery? Philip Temple Dunedin Central

WHAT a sensible and logical but challenging thought by Mr Paul Anderson from Ski New Zealand to promote the prospect of creating a large ‘‘Bubble’’ to include both Australia and New Zealand. Both countries seem to have had the better approach in trying to control the coronavirus.

Brian Peat

Mosgiel