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@nzzp said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@crucial said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
I try not to watch this stuff but it was on while making coffee. It does my head in that one moment the media is trying to berate the govt for not removing restrictions and then if there is a case outside of Auckland berate them for being lax. No wonder the public is confused.
^^^ This x100.
It's ok to support elimination (although misguided and wrong in my opnion),
It's ok want to manage the spread and reduce restrictionsit's not OK to demand measures to reduce restrictions, and then clutch at pearls because cases pop up around the country. FFS. Part of this is because the Govt is v e r r r r r y slowly walking back from elimination, when it's dead. The sooner they acknowlege that, the better; focus on effects (hospitalisations) and managing the threat to the health system. But politically they dont' seem comfortable admitting that things have changed fast (despite being opposed by a carload of clowns on fire right now EDIT: + Seymour)
The government (as in, the PM and other ministers) have specifically acknowledged that the elimination strategy is dead and the plan now is living with Covid while minimising negative outcomes. Minimising negative outcomes is the reason for the slow movement through the various changes. I didn't see the AM show this morning, but if Hipkins was asked about returns from Australia based on no Covid to date among double-vaccinated returnees, Barry Soper asked basically the same question yesterday in the press conference including stating the numbers, and the DG's point was they don't want a potential stack of mini-outbreaks seeded across the country pepperpot-style from overseas travellers while the traffic light framework is bedding in and the Auckland boundary is removed. If the numbers of travellers are significantly increased, there's no useful way of predicting how many will be infectious because the current figure will not extrapolate neatly.
Also, there is nothing close to a consensus among experts or the public on how fast to move through the various steps – for everyone who wants it move faster, there is another person who thinks it's moving too fast, even among the experts. I'm organising some events in Christchurch in December and January, and I welcome Aucklanders, but others in the South Island seem to have the fear of plague-ridden hordes ravaging the rest of the country.
Hipkins also said that a particular concern for cabinet is not yo-yoing - some of the caution around dates is trying to be in a position that they don't have to roll anything back, or as little as possible at least.
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@godder without going totally crazy, I can understand urging some caution. But if the country has essentially hit the vax target, why can't they make their move a little quicker? I assume those of us in Auckland are in that camp, whereas the rest of the country who have lived a relatively normal life on the backs of our sacrifices are quite keen to stay closed up
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@canefan an abundance of caution I guess. Hard to put the genie back in the bottle if it goes pear-shaped, and not wanting to yo-yo either.
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@godder said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@canefan an abundance of caution I guess. Hard to put the genie back in the bottle if it goes pear-shaped, and not wanting to yo-yo either.
Do you know if these tests will be sufficient to be let out the Auckland prison over Xmas?
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@kirwan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Do you know if these tests will be sufficient to be let out the Auckland prison over Xmas?
Nasopharyngeal PCR tests will continue to be used as the primary diagnostic test, but this will be supplemented by saliva-based PCR testing, rapid antigen testing and rapid PCR tests.
That's not concrete but obviously shows the preference is still there for the standard nasal swab. The references to surveillance testing in the press release suggest rapid antigen testing might be aimed at that more than statutory obligations but I guess all will be made clear in the new Covid framework order once published. The legislation doesn't prevent it though, so it's an option at least. The current level order doesn't even allow for PCR saliva testing for domestic travel, so that strikes me as more likely than going straight to antigen testing.
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@godder said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@canefan an abundance of caution I guess. Hard to put the genie back in the bottle if it goes pear-shaped, and not wanting to yo-yo either.
Is yo yoing still going to be a thing with a population vaxxed close to 90%?
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@canefan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@godder said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@canefan an abundance of caution I guess. Hard to put the genie back in the bottle if it goes pear-shaped, and not wanting to yo-yo either.
Is yo yoing still going to be a thing with a population vaxxed close to 90%?
Seems to be elsewhere in the world even with higher rates. It's also only 76% of the whole population, still need the 5-11s on board. If we can get to actual 85% or even 90%, that would be much closer to delta burning itself out.
I think there's also no useful way to predict volumes once MIQ isn't required, so that's probably weighing on the mind a bit. Parts of Australia and elsewhere in the world are open when people can look at international travel again, so just going for a holiday isn't out of the question, not to mention business trips etc.
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@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
my work was to have our Xmas party in Kerikeri, so 20+ staff plus partners, doing stuff in the day, spending the night in a local motel, but as Northland will be in Red or Orange, and I know of at least 1 unvaxxed staff member and at least 2 unvaxxed partners, we have had to cancel.
That aint helpful for business.
Looking forward to telling parents for the year 8 grad that they have to be vaxxed for the dinner event. No need to cancel, make your vax choice and live (possibly die) with it
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@machpants cmon mate.... you can die either way. yet they most likely wont.
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So reports out of UK of a new variant - nu. Originally emerged in Botswana. There have been few cases so far but it apparently has lots on mutations especially to the protein spike. Fears this may make it invulnerable to current vaccines.
Merry Xmas....
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@dogmeat said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
So reports out of UK of a new variant - nu. Originally emerged in Botswana. There have been few cases so far but it apparently has lots on mutations especially to the protein spike. Fears this may make it invulnerable to current vaccines.
Merry Xmas....
And a happy Nu year!
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After months of demand exceeding supply by tens of thousands, everyone who was in the queue got their MIQ vouchers after self-isolation was announced:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/127103932/everyone-in-queue-gets-through-first-miq-virtual-lobby-since-border-announcementThe human cost (unvaccinated):
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/127100003/auckland-rugby-league-referee-and-real-character-dies-from-covid19And people who are having issues getting their vaccination passes via the website and phone can go to a pharmacy:
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Yay! I get to see my daughter in a few weeks! She left for NZ as an innocent 16-year-old to go to high school. She comes back for a few month as an 18-year-old just about to enter uni going on about LGBQ etc lack of rights in Japan
After struggling with MIQ and all the BS with border restrictions, it is a relief. She comes back to Japan where COVID rates are lower in real numbers than NZ but with a population of 125 million (maybe dodgy stat. cos they only test symptomatic cases.....). Almost 0 cases in Tochigi Prefecture (where we live) for quite a while. It has been frustrating to say the least. -
@old-samurai-jack said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Yay! I get to see my daughter in a few weeks! She left for NZ as an innocent 16-year-old to go to high school. She comes back for a few month as an 18-year-old just about to enter uni going on about LGBQ etc lack of rights in Japan
After struggling with MIQ and all the BS with border restrictions, it is a relief. She comes back to Japan where COVID rates are lower in real numbers than NZ but with a population of 125 million (maybe dodgy stat. cos they only test symptomatic cases.....). Almost 0 cases in Tochigi Prefecture (where we live) for quite a while. It has been frustrating to say the least.i am going to love all these stories happening over the next little while
Coronavirus - New Zealand