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Not for syndication
Does the thought of crawling down a busy city street after weeks under lockdown fill you with dread? Chances are, you’re not alone.
While the change to Alert Level 2 will be a relief to many after nearly seven weeks of closing, it is also likely to cause discomfort and distress to others, experts say.
New Zealand will begin a three-step move toward coronavirus alert level 2 on Wednesday at 11.59 p.m.
Starting Thursday, Kiwis will be able to visit their local restaurant, shopping center, cinema, shops, and hair salon. People will be able to socialize with others and travel throughout the country. Empty highways and car-free streets will become a distant memory.
Below alert level 2, measures will be maintained to stop the spread of Covid-19, and kiwis are asked to continue physical distancing by trying to stay two meters away from each other.
KATHRYN GEORGE / THINGS
Here are the key rules for knowing about life at Covid-19 Alert Level 2.
READ MORE:
* Coronavirus: why changing alert levels can be difficult
* Coronavirus: what you can and cannot do socially under Covid-19 Alert Level 2
* Coronavirus: how to fight loneliness and stay connected when you’re locked up
But Nigel Pizzini, a professor at Unitec’s School of Social Practice and Healthcare in Auckland, said that changing to alert level 2 would still require a big “mind shift.”
Since March, we have been told to stay within our bubbles: “stay home, be safe, and save lives.”
“It will be a great adjustment in our mentality and our sense of security and well-being, since not all the people we see around us are at risk of infection,” he said.
The idea now that with public health measures and social distancing we can be in public without fear will take some time for some people, he said.
Waikato-Times
Having spent about seven weeks largely confined to our own ‘bubbles’, it’s understandable to be eager for a level 2 change, experts say.
“It is completely understandable and reasonable that this increases our anxiety, as it does not fit the message that we have held for the past six weeks.”
But it is important for people to hold onto the “perspective” and have confidence in where things are, Pizzini said.
“Developing confidence and tools to overcome these thoughts or fears will help people maintain a perspective that is not dominated by anxiety or undue stress.”
Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire said that although there was great fear about the virus itself at the start of the outbreak, it had given way to anxiety about the economy and job security of people.
Covid-19 has created significant economic instability, causing unemployment and cutbacks in people’s pay, which Maguire estimates would be a “big part” of what is causing people to worry about going to Alert Level 2.
She said that while there would be a group of people eager to come back to life after the shutdown, economic tensions would likely be greater.
Not for syndication
The empty streets and freeways that we got used to during the blockade will be a distant memory in just a few days as things start to resume at Alert Level 2.
Maguire asked the government to be very clear about what level 2 success looks like and what we are working towards, as a way to keep people motivated towards the “finish line.”
Macguire said that some people with pre-lock anxiety reported that this decreased during the period, as they were not exposed to the same triggers.
However, this could return as we advance to level 2.
Maguire said it was important for people to reflect on what they found most valuable during the shutdown and how they could move that forward in their lives, as a kind of “Covid-19 resolution.”
It also encouraged people to be aware of what they can and cannot control in the wake of the pandemic, making people “proactive and problem solvers” rather than being engulfed by fear.
