Research experts looking into the Covid-19 lockdowns say having people report breaches was highly ineffective and burdensome, as the first public hearings into New Zealand’s Covid response continue.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 is looking into the government’s response to the pandemic and its effects.
This week’s hearings particularly concentrate on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021 and on vaccine mandates and safety.
Today, Dr Antje Deckert told the Inquiry that 63,000 lockdown breaches were reported to police by citizens during levels 2, 3 and 4.
Police road stops were also counterproductive because officers were often unclear on how to enforce lockdown rules, she said.
Deckert said people found it difficult balancing government messaging of being kind while also enforcing lockdown rules.
Disabled community often a target of abuse
Representatives from the disabled community have revealed they were often a target of abuse during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Auckland Council disability advisory group co-chair Barry De Geest said because disabled people were often mask or vaccine exempt, it led to cases of discrimination.
“The number of people we had crying because they’d been uptown or done something and they were being abused by people saying you know ‘put your mask on’, you know ‘think of us’, you know so there was so much of that.”
De Geest said more thought needed to be put towards the social side of how disabled people could be supported and entertained in a lockdown.
Pasifika over-represented ‘in every single figure’
A Pasifika health expert said the Pacific population was over-represented in all aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pasifika Future chief executive Debbie Sorensen said during the Delta-strain outbreak of the pandemic 27% of all cases were Pacific.
“Pacific Covid-19 cases for those aged over 60 had a 30% higher mortality rate, we were over-represented in every single figure that related to the outbreak right through all phases.
More people would have died if not for lockdowns — GP
General Practitioner Dr Fiona Bolden said more people would have died of Covid-19 if not for the lockdowns imposed by the government during the pandemic.
New Zealand’s health system would not have been able to cope had the government acted like other nations, she said.
“If we had gone ahead as happened in other countries, we would’ve had extreme difficulty in managing that number of extremely unwell people and I’m sure more people would’ve died as a result.”
Digitisation an obstacle for some senior citizens
Meanwhile, elderly advocates said the digitisation of essential services during the Covid lockdowns created obstacles for some senior citizens.
Age Concern New Zealand’s Karen Billings-Jensen said there were challenges for elderly people who were not digitally connected.
“So those who had family support those issues were easily resolved, but we even find now that increased digitalisation of support services still creates a challenge. I guess for those who were already socially isolated the loss of any support system they did have was hard and the bubble of one was really difficult.”
Billings-Jensen said many elderly were still reluctant to leave their homes, fearful of being exposed to new strains of Covid.
Yesterday’s hearing included perspectives from business sectors based in Auckland, Northland and Waikato.
Perspectives from support organisations for older people and the Pasifika health and social services sector will also be heard today.
The Commission has also requested former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern appear for questions.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ it was up to Ardern to decide whether she’ll front and it was important the inquiry operate independently.
Hipkins said he had been cooperating with the inquiry as much as possible and he was working through answering “a relatively big list of questions” sent last week.
rnz.co.nz
