Here’s my concern with Level 3.

It’s not working.

People are over it.

The packed cars heading to  drive-through showed us that that whole ‘limit your movement thing’ was out the window day one.

The packed pavement outside Burger Fuel the next day – where there was absolutely zero social distancing, was further evidence.

The groups of people communing on the street – who once upon a time two weeks ago would have been a couple of metres apart are now in clusters for their footpath chat.

The volume of cars on the road.

The increasing numbers of kids being trudged out to school.

The amount of cross-bubble activity and expanding bubbles beyond the PM’s ‘keep it limited’ words.

And yet still, hardly any new cases, 1 maybe 2 a day.. it’s nothing.

So what does this mean? All these people interacting, getting back to work, getting on the roads, breaching social distancing rules, and yet still we have extremely low case numbers.

Could it possibly mean this ‘crisis’ is now over?

Could it mean that in fact we are fine to go straight to Level 2 if not 1, and if not open up the economy completely now?

Does the burgeoning crowd of people shoulder to shoulder outside Burger Fuel not mean a nail technician with a mask on could get back to work? A retailer who can minimise foot traffic in their shop can open for business?

It’s going to get harder and harder each day Level 3 punitively drags on, and the case numbers stay low, to justify having a big chunk of the economy still closed.

I’m not sure how much the compliance of Kiwis can be tested before it snaps.. it’s already snapped for some.  

No we’re not the US, out protesting and telling the government to get stuffed, we’re a far more polite and subservient bunch than that.

But now that the rubber’s hitting the road.. that some get to be out there scrambling to grab the dollars of people eager to spend, while others face the very real prospect of not being able to open their doors at all, does the gloss start to wear off?

Does the ‘we’re all in this together’ songsheet we’ve all been singing from for weeks, start to lose it’s pitch?

I’m sure the government’s acutely aware the clock is ticking on all this, not just the state of people’s livelihoods and finances, but also their mental health.

Being aware of it is one thing, what they do about it.. and how quickly.. is another.