Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

So they did it, they dropped us to level 3, which they were always going to, despite case numbers and mystery cases looking pretty much the same, if not worse, than they have the past two weeks.  Which begs the question, what the hell have we been doing in level 4 all this time if that was the case? Have they suddenly woken up to the fact elimination is out of reach and we are changing tack? If so, why aren’t they just honest about it?  I think I know why.  This Government is about popularity. It’s about polling and focus groups and positive trending on Twitter. This decision yesterday was a political one. How can you explain it any other way? Never has ‘lockdown fatigue’ been such a big consideration. Why is it now?  Because Aucklanders were over it. They knew they’d lost the buy in, and keeping it going any longer would've been – God forbid – unpopular. So they’ve given us a breather. For how long? That’s the horrible question we don’t want to really ask.. how long ‘til the breather’s over and we’re back in