Monday 8 February 2021

Coronavirus Update: A UK-dwelling Kiwi faces his mistakes

It is just over a year since the severity of Covid became undeniable: China began its strict lockdown on January 23. Remember that? An unprecedented measure that we were told would be unthinkable anywhere else. In some ways it was: the worst of the transmission was stamped out in six weeks, by early March, just as other governments were scrambling to prepare their "we were taken by surprise" excuse.

I was faraway in Rome, but on January 31 two Chinese tourists tested positive at a hotel. We already knew that it took seven to ten days for symptoms to show, so we anxiously watched for signs of further infections a week later. After two weeks there was still nothing, besides reassuring photos of Spallanzani hospital in a state of over-the-top precaution. Crisis averted.