Mervyn Dykes06:00, Oct 11 2021

OPINION:If you think we are hard done by with all the Covid restrictions, have a chat with your parents and grandparents, if you are lucky enough to have them still around.

In terms of case numbers and deaths, Covid is just a beginner.

Of course much can be made of the brilliant efforts to produce effective vaccines in a startlingly short time, but the figures from earlier disease outbreaks make us realise just how fortunate we are.

No, we are not talking of the Black Death here – as horrifying as it was. We are talking of two recent pandemics – the “Spanish” flu and Poliomyelitis, or polio for short.

To date we have had 28 Covid-19 deaths in New Zealand, though no doubt others are on the…