For the wife and I, living at Alert Level Three for the last ten days is for all practical purposes no different from the Alert Level Four we had been living under for the previous 33 days. We are still isolated in our household bubble. We can now drive the few kilometres to Kitchener park and take the boardwalk through the forest, but it hasn’t exactly been “walk in the Park” weather recently.
We had been restricted to accessing only essential services such as the supermarket, pharmacies and medical centres, or exercising in the immediate neighbourhood. Now we can purchase non-essential items either online or through contactless arrangements such as “click and collect”.
If we really felt the urge, we could order a takeaway (I think Americans call it take out) for delivery or through some form of “click and collect” or even a drive thru. Judging by the size of the queues at fast food outlets on the first day of Level Three, we might be unusual in not missing junk food.
Due to the new health and safety requirements regarding distancing, the output at fast food outlets is only a fraction of that prior to lockdown. On day one at Level Three, the queues at some fast food outlets were several hours long! Somehow fast food doesn’t seem an appropriate description.
There are a few people and businesses that want an immediate move to Alert Level Two, but given the cautious approach taken by the authorities, I expect the initial two-week period at Level Three to be extended by at least a few days or possibly a week or more.
Those clambering for an immediate relaxation conveniently ignore the fact that any upward trend in the infection rate under Level Three will not be seen for around two weeks, especially in the light of current new daily infections can be counted on one hand with several digits missing.
The current infection rate has an R0 of 0.4, and I prefer that it stays that way or drops lower. The authorities are expected to make an announcement on Monday of when Level Two will commence, and I won’t be surprised if they announce a date at least a week away.
What will Alert Level Two look like?
The full details are on the official COVID-19 Website, but a more simplified version is available on the the official website of the New Zealand Government.
The most significant change for me is that I will be able to exit out household bubble and to rub shoulders (figuratively of course) with close friends and family. The downside is that I’ll also be expected to rub shoulders with the rest of society.
Over the six weeks of lockdown I’ve realised how stressful I find actual live social interaction, and if I had my way, I’d restrict communication to less interactive forms such as email or blogging. I’ve really embraced such forms over the last six weeks, and don’t really look forward to resuming more “immediate” forms of social interaction. I have little doubt that the most significant factor in feeling this way is due to being on the autism spectrum.
So while there’s no doubt that most Kiwis are looking forward to returning to something closer to “normal” as soon as possible, I’m in no particular hurry, and for my own peace of mind, I’m not particularly fazed if we stay at Level Three for several more weeks.
Another Spectrum 
8 May, 2020 at 6:02 am
Your Level Three is equivalent to our current lockdown in New York State. All along, we’ve been allowed to order online and to get take-out or food deliveries, which personally I think might have been a mistake as it’s been shown in the last couple of days that a high percentage of recent COVID-19 cases have been in people who have been staying home for the past 8 weeks! New cases in essential workers would have been expected, but that’s not what’s happening. All I can think is that people are still having visitors at home, plus they are still ordering food and supplies for delivery. Hubby and I stopped doing all that at the very beginning of the pandemic and will continue to avoid anything other than basic grocery shopping.
8 May, 2020 at 11:24 am
Food deliveries have been permitted even in Level Four, but always with the required distancing. If a delivery required a signature, the courier would place it by the front door, ring the bell and then step back at least 2 metres. When we open the door the courier would ask for a name and sign on our behalf.
However I think what saved our bacon so to speak was the we went into lockdown very early brfore community transmission became established.