If Auckland does spiral into high R at level 2 with huge pressure building around the polarised clash between anti-lockdown advocates and those arguing for precaution, along with politicised blame games, it will show sections of NZ media have been utterly derelict in their duty.

Pundits opining about Sweden at the top of the news cycle while Taiwan is relegated to the occasional in-depth feature.

The collapsing of a complex and uncertain pandemic situation into oversimplified dualities. The securitised obsession with the border. The obsession with individual public figures rather than broad social change.

The complacency with which some organisations platformed their big name presenters accusing the govt and public of being ‘too scared’, then flipping to the complete opposite view within weeks.

The framing of mask use as a debate and a mistake/bungle by the MoH. The latter may be a fair criticism but at the same time, the context is a mass scale behaviour change, and it’s that framing that needs to be at the fore.

We can do this at level 2 if we take it seriously enough. That means less focus on politics and pundits and a massive repudiation of binaries, ‘silver bullets’ and single issueification.

‘Defence in depth’ should be what we’re focusing on. This means thinking about preventive actions and mitigation and treatments as a whole.

Hand washing, social distancing, mask use, adapting our routines, imagining we have the virus ourselves and acting accordingly.

We need to stop promoting unfalsifiable categorical claims about ‘economic vs public health’ solutions, and see mitigation as a complex social change process that has many dimensions.

Yes, we need to hold political leaders and public servants accountable. We also need to hold our other institutions accountable, including media, supermarkets, large employers, etc. And we need to hold ourselves accountable.