Other aspects of the public health response Ētahi atu āhuatanga o te urupare hauora tūmatanui

“I have always been glad for the mask mandate, and when it stopped I became much more fearful for my health. (This is also as a person who finds masks quite uncomfortable and gets quite bad mask acne.)

It’s a small price to pay for safety, for not risking myself and, most importantly, for not being a risk to others.”

25–34-year-old gender diverse person, Wellington

People told us they felt that facemasks were an easy, effective measure to stop the transmission of COVID-19. Some also commented that mask mandates were necessary and provided a sense of safety in the community.

Some people who supported mask use during the pandemic went further, suggesting that masks should be used to stop the transmission of other illnesses and be more normalised.

On the other hand, some people told the Inquiry that they felt that masks did not stop the transmission of COVID-19, or didn’t wear one because they felt it wasn’t necessary to try and stop transmission at all. Some went further to say that they felt facemasks were socially, mentally and/or physically harmful.

Others felt that messaging around masks was confusing, and that rules were inconsistent.

“Masking does not work. Do not mask.”

45–54-year-old female, Marlborough

“I wore a mask for zero days. Ever. Because I didn’t believe what they were telling me about it. Because I knew it was not a deadly disease for most people at all. It was a bad cold. And I did get it. Sniffles for a couple of days and done. I haven’t had it since.”

No demographic information provided

“I think we had been complacent, our facilities weren’t ready for isolating large numbers of sick patients, and we scrambled to catch up. Future planning for the healthcare system, especially in Auckland with a growing/aging population, needs to have flexibility and resilience integrated into decision-making.”

45–54-year-old Pākehā male, Auckland

Some people noted that pandemic restrictions gave Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system time to prepare and respond to COVID-19 outbreaks.

More people though, felt our health system was already stretched and was not well prepared to cope with the pandemic.

They said the health system should receive more funding and resources to improve things and help prepare the country for a possible future pandemic.

In particular, people expressed their concerns about staffing levels, suggesting that incentives should be used to attract more doctors and nurses to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Some people also expressed their concerns that Aotearoa New Zealand had a pandemic plan in place before COVID-19, but that this was ignored.

People told us that good lifestyle choices around diet, exercise and sleep can be used to help improve health and wellbeing. They suggested that healthy living should be promoted more to raise the overall health of New Zealanders.

Others felt that improving ventilation and air quality in public spaces should be prioritised to prevent the transmission of airborne illnesses.

Some people felt that these sorts of preventive measures could be used instead of relying on things like lockdowns and vaccinations.

People told us they felt Aotearoa New Zealand relied too heavily on vaccines, seeing them as a sort of ‘silver bullet’ that would end the pandemic.

Some people criticised the Government’s ban on importing unapproved medicines that purported to treat COVID-19.

Others said that people’s natural immunity should have been considered more, including the protection people got after being infected with COVID-19.

“The care and effort that went into the COVID-19 tracker app and all the things that helped keep us safe for so long was something I hugely appreciated, being someone who is chronically ill.”

35–44-year-old, living with a chronic illness

People said they liked that COVID-19 tests were free and easy to access. They thought free rapid antigen tests (RATs) should continue to be available to slow or prevent future outbreaks.

Some also commented that contact tracing during the pandemic was handled well, and that the NZ COVID Tracer app was easy to use.

Others felt that contact tracing was a violation of privacy and a form of government control or surveillance.

Some also said that COVID-19 testing was badly managed, and that tests were hard for some people to access. People also told us that tests were very unpleasant and invasive.

Some people commented that they thought polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests didn’t work, and that they were known to give false positive results.

“I had an operation during the last lockdown and I feel that getting the COVID-19 test was expensive and hard to access.”

45–54 year old Pākehā female, Auckland

“COVID-19 testing early in the pandemic had low capacity and the turnaround time was far too long for decisions to be made in a relevant timeframe.”

45–54-year-old doctor, Hawke’s Bay

“We need to be more grateful and supportive to essential workers. Higher pay and status with extra training for situations that will reoccur.”

55–64-year-old, living with a chronic illness

Some people highlighted the fact that essential workers played an important role in the pandemic by keeping Aotearoa New Zealand functioning. They felt the sacrifices of essential workers should be acknowledged. In particular, people said that health workers are vital and should be better supported.

People commented that better pay, more support and appreciation, and better working conditions are needed for essential workers.

Some people discussed ‘mandates’ without specifying what type of mandate they were referring to.

Some people felt mandates were necessary to ensure people followed health measures, or that they helped people feel safer and more protected.

Others felt mandates were wrong. They told us mandates breached human rights and created division. These people often said mandates should not be used again.

See Vaccine mandates for more information.

Some people told us they felt that those who didn’t follow public health measures put in place during the pandemic put others at risk.

Meanwhile, others felt that it was sometimes acceptable to break these rules. These people said COVID-19 restrictions were often very severe, so people broke the rules in order to cope.

We heard that frontline workers experienced challenges enforcing public health measures, and people told us that they should be supported to do so safely in future.

Others felt that health measures should be enforced more effectively and fairly.

“I have anxiety and don’t enjoy going out in society anyway. I was legally exempt from wearing a mask, yet I was harassed by random people, staff and police, and threatened to be trespassed for not complying with mask policy. They didn’t even follow the law.”

25–34-year-old male

People expressed support for facemask and travel exemptions, noting that these were needed and worked well.

However, some people who had facemask exemptions reported facing discrimination or judgement from wider society.

Meanwhile, others said that facemask exemptions were sometimes taken advantage of by those who did not need them, which reflected poorly on those with genuine reasons.

“Mask exemptions must be medically verified, as many people just applied for one because they didn’t want to wear [a mask].”

55–64-year-old female

Some people said they felt well supported to self-isolate at home when they were sick with COVID-19. Telephone check-ins, care packages, antiviral medication, and medical advice all made the experience of having COVID-19 and needing to self-isolate easier for people.

People told us they supported compulsory isolation for those who were sick and considered that to be important in a pandemic.

Others shared different experiences, telling us about how they were not followed up with or supported by the healthcare system when infected.

“I work in health administration. It was terrifying, we didn’t know what the future held for us all. I honestly felt relief when we were told we were locking down. I seriously thought we were in safe hands with a government that cared about the people over money.”

55–64-year-old essential health worker, Otago

People noted that they thought the Government’s pandemic measures saved lives and reduced the potential impact on the health system.

In particular, things like lockdowns and the vaccination programme were said to have helped ease initial anxieties felt by health workers.

Some people felt that good health workers unfairly lost their jobs due to the vaccine mandates, which left people in difficult personal situations, and worsened existing staffing problems in the healthcare sector.

People also told us about how frontline health workers experienced stressful working conditions within an underprepared and under-resourced health system.

“There was the frustration of not having enough nurses, doctors, PPE, and the halt on allowing people into the country (especially those who could come and help). This has had a knock-on effect long after the pandemic, which has taken its toll on the industry. But, having seen the loss of lives overseas, it can be looked at differently now we are reflecting.”

55–64-year-old female, Waikato

Some people said government communication was not properly targeted towards health providers and was sometimes misleading, particularly messaging about personal protective equipment (PPE) availability and testing capacity.

People told us the health system needs to be better resourced, or better prepared for a future pandemic.