Coronavirus: Cut out the ‘she’ll be right’

Coronavirus – she’ll be right. Hmmmm, maybe not. We need everyone to realise this is a big deal, to listen to the scientists and their science stuff and not your crazy Uncle Ron’s Facebook posts.

Unfortunately our Kiwi DNA makeup of ‘‘she’ll be right’’ is really hindering our fight of this thing.

I’m pretty sure there’s some tough farmers or miners or forestry workers out there who had a few days of a fever but carried on as is because they’re tough buggers. They just worked through the sweats and said nothing to nobody. Why would they? She’ll be right.

Or the businessman with the multimilliondollar deal on the line: I can fly from Auckland to Wellington with a runny nose and a bit of temp, yeah?

The number of unreported cases in our land of the ‘‘she’ll be right’’ would be hefty.

What’s even more alarming is when that ‘‘she’ll be right’’ ideology hits the interweb. Big bad Facebook and that friend who shares the post about how this virus has nothing on deaths by suicide or Aids, then the hundreds of friends who like that post and comment ‘‘yeah!’’ Listen up. If you touch a dirty hand rail you will not catch Aids.

Please stop sharing random Facebook posts and listen to the scientists instead. You know, the ones who have spent their entire life studying this sort of stuff and have the brightest minds on how we can help stop it.

Yeah, maybe the virus hasn’t directly affected you yet, but we’re all very aware of the economic downfalls. You might not know anyone with the coronavirus but I bet you know someone who has lost their job or who’s worrying their livelihood is at stake.

The only way we can get back to normal and make sure families can put food on the table and, I don’t know, maybe help save some lives, is for everyone to admit this thing is real. REAL REAL, not Facebook real.

Conspiracy theories or the ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude won’t work here.

Why argue with someone about how you think this thing isn’t a major when it’s clear to see that a lot of Kiwis are being directly affected by job losses, travel restrictions and yes, remember, there’s still the actual virus itself.

We need to get rid of this virus so people can come out of lockdown and get back to work. We need to beat this thing so hospitals can get back to helping all people instead of worrying about the possibility of having to pick and choose – as has been the case in some other countries.

We need to beat this thing so mum and dad still have us around for roast dinner now and then. We need to beat this thing so your grandparents can stop living on edge.

If you’re not going to make common sense changes for yourself then please do it for everyone else. Let’s help minimise the job losses and fatalities. It’s the bloody least we could do.

This thing is real New Zealand. This time around, she won’t be right.

If you’re not going to make common sense changes for yourself then please do it for everyone else.