• Published date: 25 March 2021

From March 21 we entered alert level 2, and at 1.30pm on March 23 that moved to alert level 3.

A state of emergency was declared in New Zealand on March 26, at 12.12pm. At 11.59 that evening, the country entered an alert level 4 lockdown.

We would remain there for four weeks.

The Whanganui community has since returned to a state of cautious normality, but the memories of that Government announcement are still fresh in people’s minds.

Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall said the announcement of alert level 4 made him “a bit scared”.

“Because I’ve got a public role, I remember talking to my wife about maybe me going to live in our boathouse to keep my family safe,” McDouall said.

“I was really pleased that an early decision was made though, and I think you have to acknowledge the Government for that, and their ability to sift the chaff.

“When so many other countries were taking different stances, we went straight into lockdown.”

McDouall said making sure the Upokongaro cycle bridge was flown to its location on time had caused a “bit of a panic” in the days before lockdown, but it arrived before alert level 4 was implemented.

“It was great to get that across, otherwise there would have been an even greater delay.”

He had quickly become an intermediate school teacher in the first days of lockdown, McDouall said.

“You have to acknowledge all the parents who suddenly became teachers, and all the essential workers, like my sister who is a pharmacist, who just kept on going.

“Most importantly, I think my lesson from lockdown was that some older people really found it tough. Sure, I was calling up my mum every day at 5.30pm for a chat, but I knew she wasn’t alone and finding this isolation so odd and unusual.”

McDouall said he and his family were joined in their bubble by a backpacker who had stayed with them in the past.

“Having him there was great, and he stayed with us until he flew out on the very last Lufthansa repatriation flight.

“Ironically, he’s now locked down in Germany. He’s like a lot of young people who have had their study and travel plans thrown into chaos.

Like McDouall, Whanganui District Health Board chief executive Russell Simpson said his initial thought around lockdown was the prospect of isolating separately from his family.

“On March 16 we had established an integrated emergency operations centre to prepare for what was coming, but there was the surreal experience just prior to alert level 3 and 4 of not knowing what was coming,” Simpson said...