Day 0

It’s not a great start, naming the blogs a day early, but it turned out that many people thought that the lockdown started midnight Tuesday, not Wednesday. It brought a whole new dimension. When is midnight on a day? Midnight is the end of a day. Glad to have cleared that up. Another day for Panic buying.

Panic buying paint is the big thing today. And guns. Sounds a bit scary. Not having the city spruced up, but what do we need extra guns for in the city? What do we need a gun for in the city?

You know when the shops close on Christmas day or Good Friday it’s manic at the supermarket the day before. Minimum trolley purchase $350. You never know. You need those tongs. Now it’s the same, but the supermarkets aren’t closing. Not even for a day, except I guess, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They’re coming up during the Lockdown. How will that be?

The Warehouse declared themselves an essential service. The government didn’t agree. There are commercial winners and losers in this lockdown, but for the time being it’s not about that, it’s about stopping a pandemic in New Zealand.

It will become a different economic discussion much quicker than we think though – not just about cash to prop up businesses and individuals to survive the next few weeks – but impacts, winners and losers, fairness, the make-up of the whole economy, welcoming tourists back. Was the lockdown worthwhile? Some people are not happy at all about it already. They’ve gone straight from shock to anger and Trump is speaking for these people already – the cure can’t be worse than the problem – he says. It’s appealing and so it makes it incredibly important that the professionals and leaders are scrupulously honest with us.

We need to be clear that COVID-19 is not flu. Seasonal Influenza kills 0.1 – 0.2% of those that are infected.  For COVID-19 it’s 3%+, although that’s subject to wide variations in different areas. SARS killed 9.6% and MERS 34%, but they weren’t as widespread. So there’s lots of stats and politicians can spin it anyway they choose.

Authentic leadership requires absolute honesty from all leaders on the facts, the implications and what the restrictions on us will do. With honestly, enforcement will be minimal.

In the meantime, I’ve got another day to find a PC port thingy that has two USB “C” outlets to make the home set-up work. I’ve never needed the home “set-up” like this before, but taking control of something, anything, is therapeutic.

I’m privileged to still keep working. It’ll be different but some of us are fortunate, and if you are able to work, or be otherwise secure, reach out to those that aren’t. We’re in this together.

Stephen