We need an urgent Omicron plan, not Vague promises

Since I was elected National leader, I’ve said repeatedly that proposing a good idea is just as important as opposing a bad one. Opposition is not just about ‘‘I told you so’’. It’s also about celebrating New Zealand’s shared success.

Our response to Covid in 2020 was a good example of that. New Zealanders did well. We locked down, we eliminated the virus, and we sailed uncharted waters together as a community.

But in 2021, the Government rested on that success earned by Kiwis, and took its eye off the ball.

When we had the whole world to watch, it dropped the fast follower mindset that’s long been our strength and ignored the easy lessons available in the way other countries dealt with Delta.

Our vaccine rollout was the slowest in the developed world for much of the year, forcing us into a long and hard lockdown.

Covid funds were wasted on Three

Waters and art therapy, instead of being invested in ICU beds. Staggeringly, we now have fewer intensive care beds than we had at the start of the pandemic: Only 108 available right now, and some DHBs with no ICU capacity.

The Government’s own documents revealed they had no plan for Delta.

I don’t say all of this to be negative. I say it because I fear we’re about to repeat all the same mistakes with Omicron.

The new variant arrived in MIQ in December but, again, the Government has been slow to respond.

Let’s be clear: Omicron will enter the community, and probably quite soon.

Vaccination gives people an individual armour against the illness, which is why I strongly encourage everyone to get the vaccine and a booster.

But thousands of people will get Omicron – it’s just that infectious. While the vaccine provides protection, it seems to have a limited impact on transmission.

For many people, Omicron will be mild – but as always, testing will be critical. We need to adapt our approach again.

The Government seems to think our PCR testing system will cope with Omicron when it couldn’t even cope with Delta, as anyone who spent 10 hours in a testing queue or waited 72 hours for results can tell you. With thousands of cases a day, we’ll need a flood of rapid antigen tests available.

Until recently, they were outlawed here. They are still extremely hard to come by; New Zealand companies are waiting weeks for permission to import them. In Australia and many other countries, you can walk into a supermarket and buy one off the shelf.

For most of the past year, National has consistently called for rapid testing to be rolled out universally. We needed tens of millions here by now.

No doubt the Government will now be scrambling to place urgent bulk orders of rapid tests with the same companies they have been rebuffing for the past year.

This week, the prime minister promised a plan and actually offered little more than vague phrases about preparing for Omicron.

In the spirit of proposing a stronger response that’s better for all of us, here’s

what we should be doing.

First, we must focus on protecting the vulnerable: Those most likely to end up in hospital and ICU.

We should inundate our rest homes and retirement villages with booster shots, and work around the clock getting boosters into vulnerable communities. We should work with and support Ma¯ ori providers. We should urgently upgrade our ICU capacity.

Second, businesses, families and schools desperately need to know how testing, tracing, and isolation will work in the new Omicron world. What happens when entire workforces get Omicron and can’t work? How will we manage treatments at home?

These are not easy questions, and tough decisions will need to be made about who isolates and for how long.

Third, we need a clear timeline for the border to reopen to Australia and then the rest of the world, and when self-isolation will replace MIQ.

The border closure has caused ongoing labour shortages that are crippling whole sectors.

The lottery of human misery that is our MIQ system continues to inflict immense, pointless suffering on New Zealand citizens.

It would be a humanitarian catastrophe to prohibit New Zealanders from entering their own country when Omicron is already here.

New Zealanders need a Government that will be upfront about the challenge heading our way, and prepared with the foresight and the plan to confront it.

With thousands of cases a day, we’ll need a flood of rapid antigen tests available.