EDITORIAL The land of the long Covid cloud

New Zealand’s Omicron outbreak seems increasingly ominous for something the Government and public would prefer not to pay as much attention to.

Early this year, the Government was focused on vaccine booster and paediatric dose campaigns. Health measures were evolving as the country headed towards border reopening, and an “I’m over Covid” sentiment swelled.

Now, nearly halfway through the year, Omicron is still burning through the population like wildfire and showing no sign of ebbing, with winter around the corner.

Health requirements are limited, daily cases number about 9000, and the death toll is over a thousand. A new report suggests Covid-19 will be hanging around for years yet.

Since the entire country moved into the orange setting, new daily cases have plateaued at a very high level. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers was at 7981 on Thursday compared with 7533 a week before.

There appears to be no answer as to how to bring infection levels down, with no official appetite for lockdowns.

People still feel over Covid. Many appear to behave as though the virus isn’t there. It’s “out of mind, out of sight” rather than the other way round. Not enough people seem to know how to maximise their own protection to lessen the virus’ impact.

Might a new messaging campaign before Omicron became entrenched have made a difference?

Information on how people should try to avoid infection could have been linked to reopening: As in “these are the slightly disruptive changes to normal life you could make to stay safe while there’s a dangerous virus circulating”.

This could have included a strong push on the use of specific types of masks; reminders for people to get boostered and be aware of the need for social distancing and ventilation when indoors in public areas; to use hybrid work options if possible and stay home when sick.

Omicron has been categorised as a milder form of the virus. Increased transmissibility, though, has made it more deadly and there’s also still a lot that’s unknown about the health effects, especially with long-Covid.

Extensive research and data collection would seem a must as more Kiwis are diagnosed with it. If estimates that 10 per cent of Covidinfected Kiwis have it are correct, that’s a serious ongoing issue for the health system.

There hasn’t been a clear public discussion about what’s involved with living indefinitely with a virus active in the community, without major restrictions and with vaccines that are limited in scope. That is not a situation most Kiwis are familiar with.

People will be reinfected and staff off work will cause ongoing disruptions. The Government plans booster shots to top-up immunity in the next two months.

Health experts have consistently said Covid vaccines have to be viewed as part of a package of preventive measures, not on their own. They are good at preventing serious outcomes but don’t stop infection.

The Government, other authorities, and businesses can add to any positive changes individuals make to reduce their risk. In Thursday’s Budget, the Government invested $40 million into vaccine research.

Air quality can be improved indoors in public places and offices; hospitality venues can be encouraged to provide good ventilation and more covered outdoor areas. Use of masks by schoolchildren would appear the best protection over winter. The Ministry of Education has provided some air purifiers to schools.

Belgium’s Government has agreed on a ventilation plan for all places open to the public such as bars, cinemas, restaurants, and gyms. They all must have a carbon dioxide monitor to display air quality and an inventory of the buildings’ ventilation systems. Brussels is looking at turning airy rooftops into social venues.

As with a lot of other health problems, NZ really isn’t paying enough attention to planning and prevention with the coronavirus.

The country hasn’t yet done a stock-take on Covid, a review of what works, and what still needs to be done to be in a good position for the next one.

As much as people would like to ignore it, we have to learn from it.