Daily review 24/03/2022

22 comments on “Daily review 24/03/2022 ”

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1. pat 1

   24 March 2022 at 5:55 pm

   I wish to plagerise the following….

   "So, are we ready for the post-Covid world?

   It doesn’t FEEL like we are does it?

   I mean we weren’t ready for the onset of the Covid World, but that’s understandable. In the modern world true global pandemics were just things that existed in the febrile imaginations of paranoid epidemiologists. Until we got the genuine nasty novel virus. We never listen to intelligent folk making gloomy prognostications till it’s too late, do we?

   Anyway, little old New Zealand was most definitely not prepared for the unfolding events in 2020. But, heck, we scrambled pretty well. And in doing so we began to reveal what I see as the defining characteristic of this current government.

   It is a government that – when it has a blowtorch applied to its collective rear end – can think on its feet extremely well and produce fast, instinctive and effective decisions. But give it plenty of time to ponder a course of action, to implement a plan – and, well, crippling procrastination sets in"

   https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/114972/david-hargreaves-says-poor-planning-government-coupled-worsening-economic
   • Poission 1.1

     24 March 2022 at 6:21 pm

     Muddles it a bit.

     The breathing space New Zealand earned itself through those early actions was squandered. We were too late to order vaccines and that’s had a flow on effect.

     Which may of given us a better success rate with IFR, as there was also a sparsity of literature on the waning of vaccine immunity.

     Protection against COVID-19 after 2 doses of mRNA vaccine wanes, but little is known about durability of protection after 3 doses.

     What is added by this report?

     Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19–associated emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) visits and hospitalizations was higher after the third dose than after the second dose but waned with time since vaccination. During the Omicron-predominant period, VE against COVID-19–associated ED/UC visits and hospitalizations was 87% and 91%, respectively, during the 2 months after a third dose and decreased to 66% and 78% by the fourth month after a third dose. Protection against hospitalizations exceeded that against ED/UC visits.

     https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm

     Hence the delay with full vaccination,and the subsequent booster timelines have worked in our favour.
     • pat 1.1.1

       24 March 2022 at 6:30 pm

       "The breathing space New Zealand earned itself through those early actions was squandered"

       That is beyond dispute…..the example given may not be the best one but the theme is correct.
       • Anne 1.1.1.1

         24 March 2022 at 7:07 pm

         I would say they erred on the side of caution. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. For example, they kept us in lockdown mode for longer than most other countries. It worked. But it is true they were wary of ordering vaccines and boosters because first they wanted to see how it panned out abroad. At least that was how it seemed to me. With the benefit of hindsight that was a mistake and caused unnecessary angst.

         All in all, I think they deserve an 8 out of 10 for overall performance and I'm sure history will back me up in that.
         • pat 1.1.1.1.1

           24 March 2022 at 7:18 pm

           8/10 for covid….what score when covid no longer dominates?
           • Anne 1.1.1.1.1.1

             24 March 2022 at 8:03 pm

             I should have made myself clearer. Thus far, I think they have earned 8/10 but what happens hereon in we'll have to wait and see.

             It strikes me Covid is going to be endemic in society for the foreseeable future so we may have to have a booster every year. Don't know how the unvaccinated will respond to that, but I frankly don't care. They makes their bed, they can lie in it.
             • pat …

               24 March 2022 at 8:14 pm

               And i too should have made myself clearer….how would you rate the Government's performance other than covid?
               • Anne …

                 24 March 2022 at 8:55 pm

                 Its not so black and white as that. Given they have had to handle some unprecedented events over the past 4 to 5 years, I think they are entitled to a bit of slack. I would like to have seen far more action on CC for example, but I do appreciate there are only so many hours in the day and most of those have been devoted to Covid. Some important portfolios and reforms have had to go on the back burner for a while.

                 I do believe that Labour's senior ministers are superior in intellect and in management roles than the chumps on offer on the other side of the political fence. With one or two exceptions they're a mediocre bunch indeed. God help us if they ever gained the treasury benches in their present form.
2. Reality 2

   24 March 2022 at 7:27 pm

   Well, well, thank you Jacinda and Ashley!!!! Seven Sharp has just had a Scottish expert on discussing NZ's responses to Covid over the last two years. He was very very complimentary.

   Jacinda should remind Luxon/Seymour more overtly that their constant attacks don't tally with these overseas experts' opinions. She must be very tired of not only fighting Covid, the extreme anti this and anti that, and the opposition's virulence.
   • Poission 2.1

     24 March 2022 at 7:41 pm

     Seven Sharp has just had a Scottish expert on discussing NZ's responses to Covid over the last two years

     Did he provide an update of the existing problem in Scotland,ie a hospital rate twice that of NZ,and has set records on each of the 3 days of this week.

     Scotland's biggest health board has warned it is facing Covid pressures that are "as serious as it gets".

     NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said it was dealing with record numbers of Covid patients alongside high staff absence rates.

     People should only attend accident and emergency units if their condition is very serious or life threatening.

     The number of patients across Scotland who are in hospital with Covid hit a new record high of 2,257 on Wednesday.

     It was the third day in a row that the record had been broken.

     https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60846692

     That the decisions to reduce mandates such as free testing etc,when the curve reduction came not from a reduction in cases,but a change in methods.

     https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1506321217275539464?cxt=HHwWkMC9ldLKw-cpAAAA

     Who is doing the data analysis (and forecasting) in the UK, unemployed commodities traders?
   • alwyn 2.2

     24 March 2022 at 8:12 pm

     Do you really think that the Government owned TVNZ would have put him on air if he wasn't going to be complimentary about the Government performance?

     Of course we wouldn't have had a peep out of him.
     • JanM 2.2.1

       24 March 2022 at 8:22 pm

       And your point is???
     • The Unliving 2.2.2

       24 March 2022 at 11:05 pm

       Remember how, not that long ago, Mike Hosking was doing party political broadcasts for the National party every night on Seven Sharp? Must have been some hard times for you, Alwyn.
3. Patricia Bremner 3

   24 March 2022 at 7:33 pm

   Please, Dennis and I agree, best response in the World. End of.
   • Barfly 3.1

     25 March 2022 at 6:21 pm

     
4. SPC 4

   24 March 2022 at 8:24 pm

   Grant Robertson is making a debt plan the main part of the 2022 budget.

   Presumably to reduce room for National's tax cuts.

   But this also constrains public spending by future Labour or National governments.

   Health

   1. free dental care for those on limited incomes (this will improve general health and reduce costs on the health system)
   2. tertiary debt write-offs – no repayments required by those working in health care (10% write-off of debt pa). We need to retain more of those trained here and improve staffing levels in wards and reduce the working hours of residents.
   3. a discretionary investment fund for buying drugs that reduce future health system costs (separate to existing Pharmac)

   How much of this will be sacrificed for lower debt levels?

   That said a smarter medicinal marijuana regime would not cost much and is not occurring anyway ..
5. Muttonbird 5

   24 March 2022 at 8:44 pm

   

   Far out, can Luxton and the tobacco lobbyist not catch a break? Here they are freely associating with one of the bigwigs at the anti-vax protest at Parliament.

   Who is organising the daily itinerary for the leadership of the National Party? The tobacco lobbyist is the Covid response spokesperson and he's doing photo-ops with a major pandemic denier…

   Tells you what you need to know about what would happen under a National Party government.

   https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/128155701/nationals-luxon-unwittingly-meets-antivaccine-mandate-protester
   • Shanreagh 5.1

     24 March 2022 at 9:07 pm

     Slack staff is all I can say. Surely someone in one or other of their offices should be looking to see that photo-ops don't turn into foot in mouth ops.

     There was a widely circulated excel spreadsheet of who not to bless with one's business as a result of the protest. This firm I think was on it.
     • Muttonbird 5.1.1

       24 March 2022 at 9:17 pm

       In the photo, they are all wearing hi-vis (mandated safety) but only two are wearing masks (also mandated safety).

       Quite fascinating.
       • Cricklewood 5.1.1.1

         25 March 2022 at 6:21 am

         Most of the building sites I'm on have given up on masks, been that way for 6 weeks or so.
   • Grey Area 5.2

     24 March 2022 at 10:17 pm

     Number three Nat says : “people are entitled to do whatever they want, really" and "what they do in their own time is up to them.”

     Pretty sure it isn't the last time I looked. You know laws and stuff.

     Please keep these people away from the levers of power. Please.
6. SPC 6

   25 March 2022 at 1:15 am

   50 waters in third world USA

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK_NajJQGGE

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