University of Auckland epidemiologist Rod Jackson said he sympathized with public opinion and that, like everyone else, he was also over the pandemic.
Unfortunately, the pandemic was not over, he said.
“The sharp end of Covid-19 is currently taking place in hospitals and morgues. Only most people don’t see it.”
The public, many of whom had contracted Covid-19 and dealt with a mild case themselves, were protected from the severe end of the illness, Dr Jackson said.
But the numbers were shocking.
“It’s on the order of one in ten of all deaths right now — if not more. But thankfully, for most people, death isn’t something they experience every day in their families. So hospitalizations and deaths are for most people invisible.
“It’s a problem… trying to motivate people when they don’t see the problem is extremely difficult.”
New Zealand was on track for one of its deadliest years in a long time.
Better vaccines would provide the long-term solution, but with the seven-day average of cases approaching 10,000 again — and rising — now may be the time to reassess mask mandates, said Dr. jackson.
The deputy chair of the Southern DHB and Peter Crampton, a public health professor at Otago University, said mask wearing is necessary to change or stricter regulations may be needed to force the problem.
“I have many friends and colleagues of health professionals who have worked in high-risk conditions for transmission of Covid throughout the Covid pandemic, and with conscientious basic measures such as wearing masks and washing hands, they have prevented them from getting Covid. And if they If we can prevent them from getting Covid, then so can we all.”
A belief among some that catching Covid-19 was inevitable didn’t help, he said.
“I think the fatalistic view, as far as there is, is very useless and it’s not true,” said Dr. crampton.
“It doesn’t reflect reality. If we’re apathetic and complacent, yes, then we definitely increase our chances of getting Covid. But it’s not a certainty. People don’t need to get Covid.”