Chris Hipkins is down - with Covid - but not out.
The Labour leader has been hit hard by the virus but his campaign team has already been furiously working on ways to ensure he does not lose his new-found momentum which could include Zoom town halls or Facebook live events.
Until last week’s Newshub leaders’ debate, Hipkins had been running what commentators had described as a lacklustre and inspiration-free campaign. Following his near-universally agreed win in the debate his energy has picked up.
So much was hinging on Tuesday’s The Press Leaders’ Debate which sits just three days into Hipkins’, now-unmandated but recommended, five-day isolation period.
Stuff Limited, which owns The Press and Stuff, is working through contingency plans including alternative dates for the all-important campaign fixture.
Hipkins’ cold and flu symptoms began on Saturday when he was attending campaign events in Auckland.
He opened the Chinese Moon Festival, held a media stand-up, spoke at the Te Maeva Nui NZ Festival and launched Labour’s rainbow manifesto at Carmen Jones on Karangahape Rd.
Hipkins will be isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test.
In 2022, Australian opposition leader Anthony Albanese got Covid just one week into the election campaign.
It was largely predicted it would go badly for him after a dire first week on the campaign when the Labor leader struggled to answer basic economic questions like the unemployment rate and official cash rate.
It knocked the party’s polling down three points in the Guardian Essential survey and Albanese’s disapproval rating rose five points.
A bit like Hipkins’ rally after the Newshub leaders debate, Albanese had just been staging a comeback and regaining momentum after a strong, winning debate performance.
Despite being taken off the hustings for a week with the virus, Albanese’s health - and campaign - did rebound and he went on to win the election.
This is not that – New Zealand is not Australia, the electoral systems are completely different and the polls there had been far tighter between the major left and right parties - but it does perhaps serve as an example that a leader can get knocked out by the virus and still fight back on the campaign.