health
Categories under health
- covid-19 (322)
- long covid (11)
- vaccines (11)
The politics of the Covid vaccination roll out
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, April 12th, 2021 - 91 comments
Poor National. Faced with a Government response to Covid that has been superb it is reduced to criticising the Government for not rolling out the Covid vaccine quickly enough.
The Covid India issue
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, April 9th, 2021 - 29 comments
This is a desperately difficult issue. India is currently experiencing a surge in Covid cases. And faced with the prospect of quarantine beds being overrun if current trends continue the Government has taken the step of banning people entering the country if they have been in India during the two weeks prior to travel.
Bubble bubble toil and trouble
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, April 6th, 2021 - 42 comments
An announcement on the Trans Tasman bubble is expected this afternoon.
Doocey is taking the piss
Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, March 26th, 2021 - 12 comments
Private member’s bills are an important feature of Parliament. They give all MPs the chance to change the law to address real or perceived issues and problems. So what does National MP Matt Doocey think is the country’s most pressing problem?
Something big but not like that
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, March 23rd, 2021 - 41 comments
I am going out on a limb here but I think that Comrade Chris Trotter suggesting that Jacinda Ardern may resign as Prime Minister may be overhashed.
Covid Zeitgeist
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, March 21st, 2021 - 31 comments
NZ politics needs recharging and renewal to move forward. We need more charging stations.
Vaccine Diplomacy
Written By: - Date published: 11:28 am, March 15th, 2021 - 19 comments
Vaccines have had a place in diplomacy since the Cold War. The country that can manufacture and distribute lifesaving injections to others less fortunate sees a return on its investment in the form of soft power. Today the country moving fastest towards consolidating these gains may be China.
The trans Tasman bubble
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, March 11th, 2021 - 72 comments
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said New Zealanders have an unfettered ability to travel to Australia for a holiday. Reality would suggest that he is wrong.
She might have saved us from Covid but she does not drink beer with Soper
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, March 9th, 2021 - 99 comments
Newstalk ZB, Mike Hosking and Barry Soper are shocked, I tell you, shocked that Jacinda Ardern will no longer regularly appear on the Mike Hosking show.
Sugar is evil
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, March 6th, 2021 - 20 comments
With the recent High Court trial brought by three academics highlighting the undeserved attacks on their reputations by entities associated with the food industry now having concluded it is time for the Government to think about banning sugary drinks from schools. And a sugar tax.
Senior Business Leaders Call Out To Government. Again
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, March 3rd, 2021 - 41 comments
Senior business leaders have called for more openness and clarity from the Government on its plan for getting New Zealand to “COVID normal”. But have failed to say what they would do to contribute or what they are doing to help.
Level 3 again … be kind
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, February 28th, 2021 - 136 comments
Auckland is back into level three lockdown.
The case for mandatory legislative review
Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, February 24th, 2021 - 15 comments
You can’t read legislation for very long without finding instances of weird edge cases. But is also why we have kids trying to walk or bike on gravel roads with no sidewalks to get to school. When modern cars travel these narrow lanes at up to 100km/hour. Parliament has no systematic way to review obsolete legislation.
V for vaccine
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, February 22nd, 2021 - 30 comments
The Covid pandemic is entering into an interesting stage with vaccinations being administered at an increasing rate and infection rates declining. The opportunities for politicising the issue continue however.
The Very, Very Lucky Country
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 17th, 2021 - 5 comments
While Australia is rightly branded The Lucky Country, it looks like we can reasonably be called the Very, Very Lucky Country.
Pandemic to endemic covid-19
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, February 13th, 2021 - 84 comments
Back in May, I wrote a post “Covid-19: may be endemic“. That is looking like it is more and more likely. The depth of infection in world populations means that recombinant variants are likely. Vaccines and previous immunity will reduce the death rates and infection rates. But won’t stop reinfection. Human behaviour will keep covid-19 as an endemic disease.
Managed isolation cleaners should be paid a living wage
Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, February 12th, 2021 - 39 comments
Managed isolation facility cleaners, who the country desperately relies on, are struggling to survive on low wages while performing an absolutely vital role.
Covid19 Vaccine Rollout and Global Inequality
Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, February 2nd, 2021 - 24 comments
2023-2024 for a global rollout 0f the Covid vaccine will put stark lines of demarcation between which populations can trade and travel easily, and those who can’t.
Twelve months of living with Covid
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, February 1st, 2021 - 21 comments
One year on from the declaration by the WTO that Covid was a public health emergency and with the benefit of hindsight it is interesting to see who heeded the scientific advice and how it worked out.
Queue jumping the Covid vaccine rollout
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, January 27th, 2021 - 96 comments
National and ACT are concerned that New Zealand is not at the front of the queue obtaining Covid vaccine supplies. Even though our Covid status is still outstanding with no community transmission having happened for months, and even though to realistically open our borders every country in the world will have had to achieve herd immunity.
Scan, wash your hands and wear a freakin mask
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, January 25th, 2021 - 85 comments
Another case of Covid has appeared in the community. A 54 year old woman who lives south of Whangarei who returned overseas and went through quarantine has developed Covid after being released from quarantine.
PM Ardern and President Biden as a comparison
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, January 23rd, 2021 - 34 comments
On his first day in office Joe Biden executed 17 executive orders making wide scale change to the Trump Administration’s policies.
Covid-19 lessons from a plagued flight
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 pm, January 11th, 2021 - 22 comments
In September there was a 18 hour flight Dubai that ended in Auckland. A relatively close group on that plane showed infection after arrival, and a genetically similar version. The evidence of in-flight infection is very strong and points to the on-going issues with shipping virus hosts around the world. This has some pretty strong implications for long-haul flights in particular. But also to the risks of having travel ‘bubbles’ without enforced quarantine.
The UK is now the world’s Covid cot case
Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, January 6th, 2021 - 25 comments
Well after the emergence of a mutated Covid virus that is much easier to spread and faced with surging infection rates Boris Johnson has put England into a lockdown similar but not as strong as New Zealand’s original lockdown. But the question is, has he done too little too late?
Chris Bishop goes woof woof on variant ‘B.1.1.7’
Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, December 28th, 2020 - 43 comments
I realise that this would normally be our silly season, but it seems a bit macabre with the northern winter death toll. But nothing really excuses Chris Bishop for being a complete dickhead in barking for immediate offshore testing for travellers from the UK. It is pointless. The government are a bit more sensible. They’re instituting an extra test at our border.
Plan B activists still think NZ should be like Sweden
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, December 26th, 2020 - 171 comments
In a letter published in the Royal New Zealand College of Medical Practitioners journal Plan B academics have criticised the Government’s Covid elimination strategy because of the economic effects at the same time that recently announced growth figures show the economy grew in the past 12 months despite Covid.
Beefing up the border – expensive and essential
Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, December 21st, 2020 - 30 comments
From a few days ago (it seems like an eternity), RNZ reported “Govt to pump almost $3 billion into its Covid-19 response after report identified failings”. There were several points I’d make about the border controls and generally with our border and the long slow years in constraining this pandemic. But the Sydney outbreak and the UK Xmas Grinch appear to be making them for me already.
Must New Zealand Pay Back All This Public Debt?
Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, December 20th, 2020 - 22 comments
Without much fanfare, Minister Robertson has used 2020’s crisis to bury the historic scourge of monetarism and within it the excuses of the governments that used it as a pretext to sell off our key government income generators.
Operation warped
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, December 20th, 2020 - 30 comments
Donald Trump has spent the past week stuffing up the vaccine roll out in some states, fighting attempts to cancel the Trump wall and blaming China for Russian hacks on American institutions and corporations.
The human Pangaea
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, December 9th, 2020 - 16 comments
Humans have created the most recent virtual super-continent. At least as far as species movement has been concerned world wide. We’ve picked up species from around the world and transplanted them almost everywhere else – including microbiological. Pandemics will be the inevitable result. Could be amphibians dying off. It could be us. Perhaps it is time to have an intelligent discussion about the risks.
What happens when the Covid vaccine becomes available?
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, December 4th, 2020 - 60 comments
The United Kingdom has used emergency procedures to approve for general use the Pfizer Covid vaccine. But this will nor provide overnight respite from Covid. How do you handle the mass vaccination of pretty well the whole planet? And what are the implications for New Zealand’s border policy?
- IINZ Condemns NZ’s Participation In Diplomatic Terrorism
Our closest democratic allies, Canada, Australia, the UK, and the USA either abstained or voted against the resolution. New Zealand is once again out of step. ...6 days ago - Public Consultation Begins Over Flight Paths Options
Our closest democratic allies, Canada, Australia, the UK, and the USA either abstained or voted against the resolution. New Zealand is once again out of step. ...6 days ago
- West Papua Action Aotearoa On The End Of NZ Pilot’s Captivity
We welcome the news and we hope that this positive outcome will lead to the New Zealand Government calling on Indonesia to withdraw troops from Papuan highlands. ...6 days ago
- Condemnation Of NZ Support Of Unjust UNGA Resolution
The Resolution’s call for Israel to withdraw all its military forces from the “Occupied Palestinian Territory”, is a denial of her right to self defence and with no similar call for Palestinians to lay down its arms, is an invitation for continued attacks ...6 days ago
- NZ Jewish Council: New Zealand’s Naive Vote For Unworkable UN Resolution
None of New Zealand’s traditional allies and friends voted for this resolution; in total, 57 UN member states either voted against it or abstained. New Zealand’s naive vote is an embarrassment. ...6 days ago
- COMS-Israel: Bad Decision By Peters
We call on the Minister of Foreign affairs, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, to rethink his policy and re-align it with our traditional defence partners, none of which voted in favour of this resolution. ...6 days ago
- Restoring A Culture Of Free Speech Essential To Rebuilding Public Confidence
Our democracy depends on all voices being heard, and this includes holding politicians and journalists to account. It is only with free speech that we have democracy. ...6 days ago
- A new exhibition breathes life into Te Reo Māori documents
The first official copy books in te reo Māori; a map of Aotearoa labelled ‘New Munster’ and ‘New Ulster’; the original manuscripts capturing karakia and waiata for the first time; and a copy of The Cat in the Hat in te reo.All taonga that are part of a new exhibition, ...6 days ago - Short story: Abicene, by Michael Hodder
When Brian alerted Andy that an owl was caught in the netting, he had been puzzled, wondering how such a large bird could have got inside. Its talons had got caught on the outside. Andy guessed it was the morepork which he had heard most nights over the past year – ...6 days ago
- The Secret Diary of .. The Comancheros
MONDAYMemo to all staff: Hope you all had wonderful weekends! Please send your encrypted messages with a detailed list of what you’re working on today and I’ll see you on an all-hands Zoom call at 0930.And just a reminder to please file your cash earnings in microwave ovens. There are ...6 days ago
- Unbought gems: Who will buy New Zealand’s largest gemstone collection?
Alex Casey visits the largest gemstone collection in the country, and meets the 85-year-old owner trying to Marie Kondo the lot. Despite its charming name, someone once warned me that Birdlings Flat was like a place from the Twilight Zone. Hang a right off the winding roads to Akaroa and ...6 days ago - Beware the online menus with AI food photos
Local eateries using AI images may be at risk of duping their customers, but a lack of legislation means they’re not breaking the law. You notice something’s a bit off straight away. The macaroni looks too smooth, the miscellaneous herb is too miscellaneous and the sauce kinda looks like it’s ...6 days ago
- The Weekend: Big frick energy
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. There’s something very funny about the word frick. Perhaps it’s the Christian undertones, popularised by kids who were too god-fearing to say the bad f-word (but probably just god-fearing enough to say the other bad f-word). It might sound like a milder version ...6 days ago
- ‘A crisis situation’: Guy Montgomery’s live TV toilet nightmare
Comedian Guy Montgomery takes us through his life in television, including a What Now nightmare and the comedic genius of Goldstein from the ASB ads. To the untrained eye, Guy Montgomery appears to be one of the busiest people in comedy right now. With both the local and Australian versions ...7 days ago
- ‘Perfect on a dusty Sunday’: Mohi and Chase Woods’ perfect weekend playlist
Waiata Anthems singers Mohi and Chase Woods share their perfect weekend playlist. Mohi (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) and Chase Woods (Waikato) are both friends and collaborators. Having previously teamed up on Mohi’s single ‘Hoki Mai Rā’ in July, the two will now ...7 days ago
- Podcast: Will Kiwibank step into the ring with the big four?
In a candid chat on When the Facts Change, Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich lays out his vision for the bank’s future – one where it can step up and truly challenge the big four Aussie-owned banks. But while he has high hopes, Jurkovich is quick to warn it won’t ...7 days ago
- Almost all of the Hobbits in the Tolkienverse, ranked from worst to best
To celebrate International Hobbit Day on September 22 (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthdays), we’ve decided who of all the furry-footed creatures is best. Concerning Hobbits and Spinoff rankings, it really feels like there is not a lot left to be said or ranked. Well, on International Hobbit Day, boy do ...7 days ago
- The first Wellingtonian
Hundreds of years ago, a man named Tara founded the first permanent human settlement in Wellington. The city still bears his name: Te Whanganui a Tara. But what do we actually know about him? If you look out at the right angle from Ray Ahipene-Mercer’s house in Breaker Bay, you ...7 days ago
- Gentrification isn’t inevitable − it can hinge on how residents view their neighborhood
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Families on bikes at a July Fourth parade in Houston’s Northside neighborhood. Jimmy Castillo, CC BY-ND Gentrification has become a familiar story in cities across the United States. The ...7 days ago - Discrimination faced by indigenous Papuans ‘isn’t something new’, says disturbing new rights r...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Racism, torture and arbitrary arrests are some examples of discrimination indigenous Papuans have dealt with over the last 60 years from Indonesia, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The report, If It’s Not Racism, What Is It? Discrimination and other abuses ...7 days ago
- Many people in the Pacific lack access to adequate toilets – and climate change makes things worse
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benny Zuse Rousso, Research Fellow, International Water Centre, Griffith University Pvince73/Shutterstock The Pacific Islands may evoke images of sprawling coastlines and picturesque scenery. But while this part of the world might look like paradise, many local residents are grappling with a ...7 days ago
- New Law To Ban Gang Patches A Dangerous Move For New Zealand
Censorship can be a natural impulse to things we don’t like, but it’s better to know when hateful or offensive ideas exist. Otherwise, they’re buried underground to fester and can crop up unexpectedly. We see this legislation no differently. ...7 days ago
- Is life getting better for China’s tech billionaires?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wenting He, PhD candidate of International Relations, Australian National University The skyline in Shenzhen, the city that is home to many of China’s largest tech companies. asharkyu/Shutterstock According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, is once ...7 days ago
- Fiji 2000 coup leader George Speight granted presidential pardon
RNZ Pacific The man behind the 2000 coup in Fiji, George Speight, and the head of the mutineers, former soldier Shane Stevens, have been granted presidential pardons. In a statement yesterday, the Fiji Correction Service said the pair were among seven prisoners who has been granted pardons by the President, ...7 days ago
- Are sports stars who are caught using illegal drugs unfairly vilified?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney JFontan/Shutterstock With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics wrapped up, and leading Australian sports codes coming to an end of their 2024 ...1 week ago
- Flood gates could reopen for Māori claimants after landmark ruling
The Courts have ruled the Crown must cover the costs of customary marine title claims, but where will the money come from? A landmark Supreme Court ruling could once again ensure Māori have adequate resourcing to pursue customary marine title claims, despite the government’s recent drastic raising of the threshold ...1 week ago
- RNZ’s online surge could start to worry private media
Public broadcaster RNZ might be struggling to stem its falls in radio listenership, but the audience for its website rnz.co.nz is soaring.In the latest Nielsen online audience figures for August, RNZ hit 1.56 million unique readers for the month, up from under a million a year ago and less than ...1 week ago
- Afghan women have been robbed of health care, education and now their voices. But they won’t remai...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, International Relations, Australian National University Last month, the Taliban passed a new “vice and virtue” law, making it illegal for women to speak in public. Under the law, women can also be punished if they are heard singing ...1 week ago
- What is ‘dynamic pricing’ for concert tickets? It can cost you hundreds of dollars while you que...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Green, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University When tickets for Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour went on sale, fans joined a queue – a ritual that has been practised for decades on footpaths, on phones, and now ...1 week ago
- India is in the midst of an electric vehicle revolution – and Australia should tap in
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David T. Hill, Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University David T. Hill You don’t have to be in India long to appreciate just how dramatic its electric vehicle revolution is. Whether it’s electric two-wheelers or trucks, ...1 week ago
- Supreme Court orders Govt to pay in advance for Māori coastline appeal
In a rare decision, heavy with judicial and political implications, the country’s top court has told the Crown it must give advance financial support to a group of hapū challenging it over the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.The Supreme Court’s intervention, ahead of seven appeals scheduled before it in November ...1 week ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘???’ by Freya Daly Sadgrove
A new poem by Freya Daly Sadgrove. ??? where you wake is black and very far back behind your eyes back past your whipping branches and backer far backer than bone and blood ...1 week ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending September 20
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Greene Lyon by Alan Goodwin (Quentin Wilson Publishing, $38) An intriguing new local release. Here’s ...1 week ago
- Why is pain so exhausting?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Henry, Physiotherapist and PhD candidate, Body in Mind Research Group, University of South Australia simona pilolla 2/Shutterstock One of the most common feelings associated with persisting pain is fatigue and this fatigue can become overwhelming. People with chronic pain can ...1 week ago
- OpenAI’s data hunger raises privacy concerns
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Last month, OpenAI came out against a yet-to-be enacted Californian law that aims to set basic safety standards for developers of large artificial intelligence (AI) models. This was a change of posture ...1 week ago
- Ads from Hell: how a pizza brand’s marketing reveals NZ’s shifting religious attitudes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Fastnedge, Lecturer in Advertising and Brand Creativity, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Controversial advertising holds a mirror up to society. It can unite us in laughter or outrage, spark debates that shape our beliefs – and sometimes expose our ...1 week ago
- Breaking update: More NZX CEOs are called Mark than are bogans
There are more Marks than women leading NZX companies, RNZ reported this morning. The Spinoff can now reveal that there are way more Marks than bogans. It’s not exactly breaking news that women are underrepresented in business leadership, but RNZ found a funny and inventive way of demonstrating that this ...1 week ago
- From cauldrons to cardigans – the lurking prejudices behind the name ‘Granny’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Shutterstock “Honestly, I can’t wait to have grandkids and spoil them — but I don’t want to be called ‘Granny’” (overheard on the No. 96 tram in Melbourne) “I love it. It’s not ...1 week ago
- Where do Wellington’s top chefs eat on their day off?
The capital’s best chefs and restaurateurs share their favourite local eateries and hidden gems. I have always been fascinated by chefs and restaurateurs. Perhaps it is because of how altruistic they are, existing in a space that seeks to provide pleasure to others regardless of how it impacts on their ...1 week ago
- Murdoch to Musk: how global media power has shifted from the moguls to the big tech bros
ANALYSIS: By Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University and Andrew Dodd, The University of Melbourne Until recently, Elon Musk was just a wildly successful electric car tycoon and space pioneer. Sure, he was erratic and outspoken, but his global influence was contained and seemingly under control. But add the ownership of just ...1 week ago
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