Dear Chris Hipkins,

At school I’ve learned about exponentials but you’ve apparently forgotten.  Maybe you think New Zealanders are special in some way?  That we’ve been clever enough to outsmart the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a way that every other nation has not?  Maybe you calculate that if you and your friends do 100 times less testing below best practice for all those weeks that mattered the most, that we can continue to believe we are exceptional in some way?  I think that’s a fairy tale and the reason the grown-ups at my school are saying there is no community transmission is because you and your friends haven’t wanted to look hard for it.  The future (Europe) is there in high resolution on our screens, we know there isn’t a vaccine so the only choice is for all of us to shelter in our homes for the safety of others.  We will pay dear for past weeks of inaction.  Unless you have a secret vaccine, shut the schools now.  

Yesterday you told New Zealand there is no scientific evidence that schools should be closed.  But when I see the news and hear 105 countries have already closed their schools, its obvious that perhaps you should give us the scientific evidence of why our schools should stay open.  Show us the evidence that New Zealand is special and why all the things I can read for free on Lancet are wrong.  If you are worried kids will be in the community ask yourself where they come from each day.  If this is about creches for healthcare workers just follow Norway's lead.  We need to all stay in our homes for a while to get ahead of this - your delay will mean a lot of our loved ones will die.  Maybe this is bigger than the safety of scientific evidence.  You have already cost us all precious time and might be held to account.  Shut all the schools.  Do it now.