Omicrons waiting room - A New Zealand perspective

As some of you are aware I am from little on New Zealand, that small neighbor of Australia (the country we love to hate, but thats another story!). Anyway just thought I would give you all an update of the Covid situation over here - I love reading about others situations as the MSM doesnt always give the whole picture.

Covid background in New Zealand

When Covid first arrived in early 2020, New Zealand went into a countrywide lockdown which lasted about 7 weeks and eventually managed to eradicate the virus completly and keep it out for about a year. However, when Delta arrived we went back into lockdown and have been in some form of lockdown ever since...

Waiting for Omicron, how will it play out?

We now find ourselves in a situation where we know Omicron will get into the community and we know it will be bad (looking at what is going on in Australia). Our isolation facilities are already stuggling to cope with the influx of Omicron infections and have been paused while a plan is being put together, meaning that Kiwis overseas are temporarily locked out! I do feel for the many kiwis overseas who are stuck or in difficult situations and now not able to get back to their home land.

So this is where we find ourselves, uncertain about how this might play out and when. There have been a couple of near misses already with Omicron infections in the community but no real chains of transmission. However, with MIQ arrivals coming in with Omicron now more than daily community cases it is a matter of time before it gets into the community.

New Zealand has done remarkably so far in the pandemic and had one of the lowest death rates in the world, along with around a year of relative freedoms. However I feel things are about to get alot tougher as we move towards this new phase.

How is it going in your country at the moment I would love to hear what living with Omicron is like so I can prepare!