August 17, 2023
Risks remain despite removal of Covid restrictions
A lawyer and disability advocate is upset at the lifting of all COVID restrictions.
Dr Huhana Hickey says it doesn’t make sense to drop mandatory isolation when people are most likely to infect others, and continuing to require masks at health centres and hospitals is good public health.
She says there were 20 deaths for Covid last week among the reported 5372 new cases and 2736 re-infections.
“My concern is our seniors, are we looking after our nannies, our koros, are we caring for our babies who have got cancer, Anyone out there with cancer may be at risk, Anyone out there with a cold, it may not be a cold, it may be a new variant,” she says.
Dr Hickey says there is an increase in hospitalisations in the northern hemisphere with the new Covid variants, especially among younger people.
She says the new policy means hospitals won’t be safe for people such as herself who face a high risk if they are infected with Covid.