"The responsibility to stop the spread is once again on us – because the Govt failed to play its part."

"[H]ere we are back in the world’s strictest lockdown. As much of the rest of the world de-masks, we are back to fitting ours.
    "Once the source of admiring headlines, we are now the subject of mocking incredulity.
    "The rest of the world is embracing its post-pandemic future while New Zealand enters a March 2020 time warp....
    "We were overconfident about the elimination strategy and our ability to keep the virus out. But whereas the virus got more sophisticated, more 'tricky' to use Ardern’s own parlance, we did not....
    "[Instead, w]hile New Zealand was free of community transmission, the Government took a leisurely approach...

    "It was slow to order the vaccine.... 

    "[E]mergency departments were at capacity, even before the outbreak...

    "[T]esting centres [a]re struggling to cope with demand, swabs running low and PPE supplies again in question.
    "Self-collecting saliva testing is still not available to the public, despite being widely used overseas and much more convenient. It was only introduced as an option for border workers last month.
    "These are failings that were foreseeable and are unforgivable. We are yet to learn how the variant penetrated New Zealand’s defences, but the most obvious pathway is a border incursion.
    "So for now, we will do our bit. Stay home, mask up, relinquish our freedoms and hope the consequences of a lockdown are not too severe.
    "The responsibility to stop the spread is once again on us – because the Government failed to play its part."

~ Andrea Vance, from her op-ed 'Failings that were foreseeable and unforgivable let Delta loose'