It finally happened; just as most people around New Zealand knew it would, COVID resurfaced.

The news didn’t shock me, didn’t even surprise me; like I assume most would have done, I simply swallowed the urge to yell something obscene and shook my head at our Government’s stupidity.

What did they expect would happen? Adept as one might be at playing with fire, do it long enough, you will end up with burns.

There were always two options that our beloved Jacinda, along with her fine coalition of losers, could have taken and in my opinion, because they chose the wrong option, the alternate option is now also lost.

Option 1: the Labour Government could have announced at, say, beginning of July that, at the beginning of August New Zealand’s borders would be closing; thereby upsetting a handful of citizens, currently overseas, hoping to come back one day but, ultimately, ensuring the Novel Coronavirus stayed abroad and importantly, preserving the health of the nation.

Option 2: the Labour Government could have left open the borders for anybody holding a New Zealand passport and currently abroad, for an indefinite period, basically just for as long as those people wanted to take; thereby bringing unto the nation a steady flow of the COVID-19 virus, which would inevitably, one day, find its way outside the quarantined zone, rekindling community transmission of the pandemic that New Zealand citizens have come to know and love.

As we are all aware, they picked Option 2.

Again, like most, I am confident that our, Coalition of Losers, Labour Government, with cooperation from the people, will be able to bring under control this recent run of infection; so, what then?

Presumably, in around 10 days, New Zealand will again be deemed ‘COVID free’; the people of Auckland will breathe a sigh and resume their lives as normal. So, what’s Labour’s next move?

Obviously, they’ll reopen borders. They’ll bring home more citizens. Bring home some more Coronavirus as if last time wasn’t fun enough.

The Cook Islands, bless their healthy lungs, along with their economy, subsist solely on a diet of tourism.

New Zealand was just days away from unleashing on the Cook Islands a, similarly healthy lunged, bought of tourism.

Now for the Cook Islands’ economy to stay afloat we’re going to have to help them the old-fashioned way; in the form of a Government-funded care package.

That’s to say nothing of our own economy which, struggling to recover after the last COVID-attack but doing very well and making some massive gains, will never be the same.

Hundreds of small businesses in New Zealand, following this recent viral relapse, will have found these additional two weeks of suffering insufferable.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Vera L Kim-Bach

Photography by Auckland Level 3