The COVID-19 pandemic was – and continues to be – hugely disruptive and stressful for individuals, communities and countries. Yet many seem desperate to close the chapter entirely, almost as if it had never happened.
This desire to forget and move on – labelled “lockdown amnesia” by some – is understandable at one level. But it also risks missing the opportunity to learn from what happened.
And while various official enquiries and royal commissions have been established to examine the wider government responses (including in New Zealand), the experiences of ordinary people are equally important to understand.
