Animation, Stay in your bubble

This animation, published by The Spinoff on 26 March 2020, the first day of the national lockdown, explains the concept of the bubble. On 24 March, as the country prepared to go into a lockdown of at least four weeks, the Prime Minister advised New Zealanders that the simplest thing they could do to stop the spread of Covid-19 was to stay home and self-isolate. Ardern suggested people think of themselves as being in a ‘bubble’ with a small group of individuals (for example people in one household or parents in separate households who were sharing custody of children), and stressed the importance of maintaining the bubble throughout the lockdown.

This animation emphasises the importance of protecting those considered most vulnerable to Covid-19, such as those over 70 years of age and those with compromised immunity. It shows that by popping over to see someone you burst your own bubble and theirs, putting them at greater risk of infection.

As Professor Peter Adams later wrote, the bubble proved to be a very effective metaphor, conjuring an image of individual households ‘floating around inside a transparent membrane’ that separated their group from others and protected them from unwanted intrusion. The bubble metaphor was used in both official announcements and everyday vernacular.

References:

---. 2020. 'Coronavirus: Prime Minister implores NZers to stay home - "That's how we will save lives".' Radio New Zealand, 24 March.
Adams, Peter. 2020. 'The PM's metaphorical view of Covid-19.' University of Auckland website, 3 June.