I LIVE in the South Island New Zealand, and have done so for some years after emigrating from Cosheston.

I know that many of my friends there are getting fed up with the Level four restrictions in place there at the moment, but they are important and in the long run will benefit everyone.

My life under Level four restrictions was also restrictive and very similar to the conditions in the UK. We here have been lucky in only having four weeks and a few days of it.

Now we are at Level three. Which is little different except people can go to work as long as social distancing is observed and personal contact can be avoided.

Covid-19 came late to our shores and we had the benefit of seeing what was happening in other countries hence we closed our boarders early before it had really taken hold.

Only some 1,400 cases in all and under 20 deaths in New Zealand. All this is thanks to close observation of Level four restrictions.

We now have around only 200 active cases with only two or three new cases a day nationwide. It does work!

Our government here has warned us that eradicating the virus here is like spraying the lawn with weed killer, you think you have done the job but sooner or later they start to pop up again. It has to be kept on top of. It is likely to be around for some time to come.

With luck a vaccine will be developed and I can foresee that proof of being vaccinated may well be a requirement for overseas travel once we are again allowed to travel.

MARK,

New Zealand