Sting of the familiar

It turns out you don’t have to catch Covid to suffer debilitating symptoms – the most severe being the delusion that New Zealand is somehow special and unique in the great scheme of things.

Last year, the world seemed to think we were. This year, rather less adulation has come our way. The emotional journey from feeling proud and smug to having to accept we’re just as hapless as any other country battling the virus has had some volatile political side effects

There’s Covid Stockholm syndrome, which manifests as such a profound surrendering to pandemic restrictions that sufferers become angry and defensive and cancel