Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Did you, like me, feel your heart skip a beat when the news flashed across your phone yesterday afternoon that officials were investigating a positive community Covid case? Especially for those of us in Auckland, given it was in the Auckland community, of course it was. It was always going to be. My sister and I have discussed this a lot in recent days, she lives in Christchurch and we were debating when Delta would hit us and how fast we’d go into lockdown, and she pointed out (rightly so) that it would be Auckland first. But even knowing in the back of your mind that it’s a possibility, doesn’t make it any less awful to see the news does it? Even though we have form on lockdowns and we know the drill, it’s still an awful pit of the stomach gut punch. I had a bet with my brother that we’d be in lockdown by the end of September. He bet me it’d be by the end of August. He wins. But even though we were kind of mentally prepared for it, it’s still an UGH moment. Added to that is the fact we've been watching our