Lost Freedoms

These photos hark back to 03 April 2020 when New Zealand residents had recently been required to abide by Level 4 Lockdown restrictions for Covid-19 (Level 4 had been in force since 25 March 2020).

Entry for 25 March 2020 at the History of the COVID-19 Alert System page:

At 11:59pm, New Zealand moves to Alert Level 4, and the entire nation goes into self-isolation. A State of National Emergency is declared at 12:21pm.

— On the 27 April 11.59pm New Zealand moved down to Alert Level 3.

— On the 13 May 11.59pm New Zealand moved down to Alert Level 2.

— On the 08 June 11.59pm New Zealand moved down to Alert Level 1

Auckland region aside, the rest of the country hasn’t had to return to a higher alert level than Level 2, i.e. we haven’t had to be in lockdown or have major inconvenience since mid-May 2020. Personally for Nigel and I our greatest anxiety has been having events either cancelled or uncertain (in Level 2 most get cancelled immediately) because Nigel then loses his opportunity to promote his company — he’s a landscape architect.

Many thanks to our Government, scientists, health department and border control folks, and community leaders with special mention to Maori and Pacific Island leaders. Many people stepped up to keep the vast majority of us safe.

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Photos I took of the local Blue Mountains when Nigel and I did some ‘exercise’ walking during Level 4 lockdown. Taken in autumn, 03 April 2020 with my cellphone. It only takes a few minutes for us to walk into the rural hinterland from our house. The fields are full of winter crop for the cows, some type of brassica. It looks much like this again now. Tapanui, West Otago.

The Blue Mountains extend a lot further to the right of the last pic.

New Zealand Doctor has a detailed timeline for NZ Covid-19 that’s still updated. It’s very good.

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Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020/2021)
Keywords: pandemic, covid19, covid-19, coronavirus,