In the grand obama tradition, socialists, greens and others get a big FU from the democratic party.
A [deleted] is little better than a punch in the face.
Scraps from the masters table mentality wins out again.
What a time to be alive, liberals want their hand on the cooky jar, so screw the poor, disenfranchised, and the weak. A liberal wants to be stronger than king george the third.
Down with all authoritarian arsholes, and the people who support that sickening ideology be it a right or left version.
[I have deleted your racist slur that you repeated from last night’s comment on TRP’s Post Biden/Harris. You have been warned and banned for this kind of behaviour before. See you in two weeks – Incognito on behalf of TRP]
followed by those that live with those that have symptoms
followed by those that work with those that have symptoms
followed by those that came in contact with those that have symptoms
followed by the family and friends and collegues of all those that have come into contact with someone who came into contact with someone who has shown symptoms.
and then you pretty much tested quite a few 'asymptomatics' in the process
I don't know why this is so hard to understand? Unless we have 5 million tests r to test everyone right now it makes sense to start with the ones that show symptoms and drill down from there. I don't see how you want to find these 'asymptomatics' considering that they don't show symptoms.
Sabine…people who have had symptoms but have not ticked the 'crossing the border' or 'contact with a confirmed case' boxes have been refused tests by GPs, and have been advised by Healthline they don't need a test.
This is not the way to be confident there is no community transmission.
Oh, and asymptomatic people can and do infect others. Potentially more a risk than the symptomatic because they and their associates are not necessarily taking precautions. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
It's about lowering risk and odds, not creating an absolute firewall. If it as about a firewall, we'd all be in L4.
I think we are still learning about transmission, infection and testing. As you know, MoH works with mainstream (conservative) health assessments, not the leading edge stuff.
"Epidemiologist Michael Baker said an outbreak usually went through a few generations of transmission before someone became sick enough to present with symptoms."
If roughly half of all cases are asymptomatic, and 80% of symptomatic cases are "mild", then only roughly 10% of cases are stronger than "mild".
So yeah, depending on where "sick enough to see a doctor" sits in relation to "mild", it may be that very few Covid victims end up feeling crap enough to bother with seeing a medical professional.
which means that if the current original four are several generations down the line, then the community transmission will be wide.
Do you have a sense of the numbers here compared to our first wave? To me it looks like this is a situation we've dealt with effectively before, this time being smaller numbers, it's just a matter of taking the time to get on top of it.
We had a few hundred active cases in the community and events conducive to superspreading still happening and a somewhat blase community attitude right up until the first lockdown at the end of March.
This time we jumped on it as soon as the first cases were detected, and a community that's somewhat more ready to go straight to the behavioural changes needed.
So we're starting in a much better place to beat it this time around, so it should happen a bit quicker. Not much quicker, though, there's still the time needed to allow for undetected chains of transmission to die out.
that's how I see it. I suspect that some of the anxiety is that people still don't understand the timelag thing and that not knowing doesn't = out of control.
Well it wasn’t eliminated. It was there, just undiscovered as untested until it made someone sick.
if we can accept that elimination appears to altogether impossible, why can’t we follow Sabine’s same principles but for treatment and care. Then at least 40% of the population are asymptomatic can carry on with life
Elimination here means known community transmission. We did eliminate that.
Not sure what your second paragraph is about, but we're not going to let the virus widespread into the community if we can help it because it will kill people and make others disabled.
so it was infecting people at decent rate, but nobody was symptomatic for 100 days?
That's almost better than a new outbreak from an unidentified overseas source. Except then we need to figure out why it suddenly decided to cause serious symptoms again.
A-symptomatic do not show symptoms, hence they don't get tested.
People with symptoms do get tested if they come from overseas, have contact with people coming from overseas etc.
So frankly what is happening is good allocation of limited resources. There is no such thing as 'confidence' if one is honest with one self, as we are dealing with a virus that changes / mutates rapidly, with testing that is not yet at a hundred percent reliability and above all we deal with people who may or may not actually be co-operating.
I don't know what is hard to understand that asymptomatic people don't even know that they are infected in the first place.
I don't understand why there is next to no acknowledgement that most people are asymptomatic and therefore are not considered a risk. They won't have been tested and are free ranging.
On the contrary. My reading is that it is pretty much universally acknowledged, but what are you going to do, short of testing absolutely everybody, all the time? What do you actually suggest?
Sorry for the delay…trees to plant, sheep to wrangle, meds and supplies to tee up for disabled partner just in case shit gets real again.
1. I am concerned that up until now Healthline and GPs have been refusing/advising against testing of even symptomatic people unless they tick one of the other criteria…close contact with confirmed case, border crossing or contact with border control personnel(who I understand have had no mandatory routine testing up until recently.).
Epidemiologist Michael Baker said an outbreak usually went through a few generations of transmission before someone became sick enough to present with symptoms.
That could take about three weeks, he said.
Physicist and disease modeller Shaun Hendy agreed, saying there could be several layers to the outbreak.
"If [the virus] has been passed from someone who arrived, and passed through several people to this family, then they could have passed it onto other people as well," he said.
And even today Ardern and Bloomfield are still placing weight to a person's symptom status when trying to ascertain if they were infectious…
The student was not symptomatic while at school and has not been at school since they became unwell and got tested so the chance of exposure … is low at this point.
Ardern says you can go to your local GP for a free test. If you are symptomatic you should call ahead so they can prepare for you.
At this stage it should not make any difference. Symptomatic or not. Ardern actually got it right some months ago when she advised us all to behave as if we were infected.
Its a huge concern that a contact of the current cluster visited an as yet un-named aged care facility in the Waikato…but the reality is that this is the season for respiratory infections to run through such places, and despite the best efforts of staff, a few of the residents are going to see their last winter.
Which answers part of your question about why tests have not been routinely offered to every New Zealander with symptoms over the last few months. Swamped would be the word.
I'd really, really like to see us all have an antibody test or somesuch. Get more of a true picture of how widespread Te Virus has been. Be more than worth the $$$ spent.
Your agenda, Rosemary, seems to me to be to reduce the public's confidence in the testing programme, rather than accept that the programme is, and has been for months, efficient and effective.
Hang on…..if they are only testing those who are highly likely to have the virus and not testing any of the 80% of infectious people who have the virus but are asymptomatic, how the hell can we have any confidence in the testing?
…to be to reduce the public's confidence in the testing programme,
Hmm, I guess I should feel flattered that you think little old moi has such influence…
Believe it or not, (and I care not either way where you fall) I am genuinely interested in how (my long time foe) the Ministry of Health (may the fleas from a thousand camels infect their collective armpit) devise their policies.
From my readings over the years about DSS and various Public Health issues, the Mystery policy writers seem not to be overburdened with intelligence, common sense or transparency.
From the very beginning of the shit show they have maintained the line that we should only be concerned about symptomatic people passing on infections. Very little if any precautions are needed if confirmed disease is not present.
The "PPE for front line health workers" debacle will go down in history (for some of us who were affected) as one of the less 'efficient and effective' aspects of the Ministry's work on this. I have been banging on about how they should have taken a precautionary approach from day one with the directives on mask wearing for those caring for vulnerable people either in hospital, residential care or in their own homes.
To hear Ardern using the expression 'precautionary approach' a number of times on the Natrad this morning had me snorting with irony. It may be a little late for that now.
Bearded Git. You do know we still have freedom of thought, opinion and speech…right? Is is now a criminal offense, treason perhaps, to express concern that a government agency might have erred in the management of some aspects of a public health crisis?
I would guess that they want to catch the asymptomatic people through contact tracing not through testing – it's way more efficient.
IWG 99% of Aucklanders are asymptomatic purely because they don't have the disease, they don't want to put all their testing resources into people with no evidence of disease instead of people with evidence of disease.
The sooner they find people with disease, the sooner they can get their contacts and find the asymptomatics.
[That being said, if you think for any reason that you should have a test then ring up healthline and get their advice.]
[That being said, if you think for any reason that you should have a test then ring up healthline and get their advice.]
People with symptoms but who don't meet the other criteria are being refused tests…especially by GPs. Because they don't tick the other boxes set by the Ministry.
Update…the MOH webpage has been revised…now saying anyone with symptoms should be tested and not adding on the 'confirmed case contact' or 'border contact' criteria.
because now we have community transmission, the criteria needs to change. Last week, if someone didn't have a plausible pathway of having been infected, what would be the point of testing?
…if someone didn't have a plausible pathway of having been infected,
We've made the assumption there is no community transmission…how would we know if only symptomatic folk have been tested (other than close contacts of confirmed cases)? I have this growing suspicion that because of the previously very narrow criteria for testing, many cases have gone undetected.
Asking around the whanau and wider contacts, so many of us have had various symptoms and have experienced some of the sequelae being reported (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122255216/heres-what-we-know-so-far-about-the-longterm-symptoms-of-covid19) but ether did not get tested because we didn't meet the criteria du jour, or were refused a test from a GP and an initial public testing station swab came back negative so they didn't go back or a follow up test…which can show positive.
There’s also the issue of false negatives, which often gets ignored (…). This is not anybody’s fault, least of all MoH’s, but a simple fact/consequence of the testing methodology.
I've bought a few things online that have come from overseas. After the initial lockdowns, I think NZ went back to BAU on that score (depending on overseas supplies).
Previously the advice was that package surfaces weren't a high risk. I'd guess it's more likely to be airline staff, and goods that are conducive to viruses surviving.
Not necessarily. A teeny-tiny risk per parcel multiplied by millions or even billions of parcels can multiply together to make a big enough risk to the nation to take precautions against. That it hasn't been detected yet doesn't mean it hasn't or won't happen.
Food, and ingredients for food production come via freight.
A lot of furniture, clothes, cars, spare parts etc come via freight.
Medical goods come via freight.
Books, toys, stuff for the building industry all come in via freight and so on and so on. I mean it is a good time to go back to the 18 century, all of us pioneers and such, but really?
So please define trinkets and baubles. What do you not need and thus can be of no use to someone else. 🙂
My waters tell me there is a touch of the 1800s in our future. What an opportunity to pivot towards it.
Trinkets and baubles would include: nice to haves eg foreign fruit/vege, beef, pork, belgian hash browns, stuff that is bought without knowing it was needed, lots of electronic devices – teles, phones.
Surely we can build without too much input from overseas, wood, cement, screws, gib, corrugated iron locally sourced.
Illogical, everybody (!) has to undergo 14-day isolation upon arriving at the border and are tested twice and have to return a negative test before allowed to leave the facility.
Three more staff members at the Americold warehouse facility in Auckland have tested positive to coronavirus.
Americold Managing Director of Australia and NZ, Richard Winnall, says the three people worked alongside a man in his 50s who has already tested positive to the virus, ABC is reporting.
He says all staff from the facility are isolating.
Has anyone figured out yet why the Govt. did not dissolve Parliament on schedule?
By not doing so they have opened up a nice big space for National to boost their dirty tricks into hyperdrive–and the technical possibility of a deferred election.
In short, given the fast-evolving nature of the current crisis, some decisions and actions could work out better by having parliament still in place and able to do its job.
They may need to pass legislation. For instance legislation about how to hold an election in level 3/4 area.
They get time to go over the preparations and procedures for a covid-19 election with the electoral commission.
By delaying the dissolution, they also delay the writ day – which means that they can still move election date without doing the week-by-week procedure.
They get time to find out how widespread the community infection is before making these kinds of decisions.
They get time to talk to the various political parties to get some kind of agreement on these things. That doesn’t look particularly useful with some of the crazed children in National screaming ‘look at me’. But the other political parties seem likely to be able to make rational decisions.
If the community transmission had been discovered a few days later then the writ would have been issued, and everything would have been far more complicated.
Good points from Andre’s link and lprent’s learned view.
My subjective take is that National’s idea of co-operation in a crisis is still a “swift kick to the nuts” rather than anything too genuine. Simon Bridges demonstrated that in Covid round 1, and Mr Muller and Mrs Collins continued that approach.
Yesterday Judith Collins said that her preference is for NZ to hold the election next year.
She may not realize it (the media haven't picked up on it yet) but she is actually calling for a whole raft of by-elections. Let's work through the consequences:
1. MPs who quit Parliament must be replaced. That was/is expected to happen at the coming election. No issue there.
2. But if the election is delayed until next year (which means at least March or April, there's no way you'd have one in January) then those MPs must return to Parliament.
3. Andrew Falloon cannot return, he is no longer an MP. So: Rangitata by-election.
4. All other MPs must return – or resign.
5. So Hamish Walker must return, in disgrace. Other electorate MPs who desperately wanted to get out, must come back instead (Dowie, Kaye, etc).
6. List MPs quit, no problem there. They are replaced by the next person on the list.
7. But if electorate MPs don't come back and continue to work, they must get leave to be absent. How long? Six months? Eight? Good luck explaining that one to the taxpayers, and the voters with no local MP.
8. By-elections are usually avoided when they are too close to an election date. So if we have a date in Oct/Nov 2020, there is still a problem (Walker and co getting extra weeks of paid vacation) but that's for them to explain to their voters.
9. But to delay until next year with no date means the current Parliament remains, indefinitely. So all electorate MPs must stay – or be replaced through a by-election.
Finally, look at the long, long list of National MPs who thought they were getting out now. Imagine them sitting in caucus for months and months, not wanting to be there. Imagine how they would feel about their leader. Imagine how long she would last …
There’s very inconsistent messaging from Judith Collins around all of this.
On the one hand, she wants more involvement in decision making.
On the other, she wants to delay the election.
She is sure that she will win the election,
and in doing so would have all the decision-making.
Why delay the election, Judith?
Sam Sachdeva, political editor from Newsroom, says, "National's deputy leader Gerry Brownlee outlined – unprompted – an allegedly suspicious series of events in recent weeks, as if joining the pieces of the puzzle with string on an overloaded pinboard."
Reti is on record as asking his constituents to hold their breath for 2.5 weeks. Which suggests that in his mind facts are less important than political calculation – so he'd leak like a sieve. Perhaps I am being unfair though, and his being (as Judith was so keen to point out) "Harvard educated", means that he has access to some higher order knowledge than the rest of us?
Imagine the trouble Bennett will cause of mean ole Judith forces her to delay her grand entrance into the private sector? I mean she’s probably got all the New Idea cover photos done!
I'd actually forgotten that both Bennett and Adams were still electorate MPs, because they both announced ages ago that they would move to the list (i.e. before the big meltdown).
So, National-held electorates whose MP doesn't want to be there, or who the National party doesn't want:
Auckland Central. Upper Harbour. East Coast. Otaki. Wairarapa. Selwyn. Southland. Invercargill (plus Rangitata, no MP at all). Any others?
And Judith thinks they are all happy to stay in Parliament, for at least another six months.
I can't see any reason to put the election off at this stage. We may be back in consistent L1 by then. What would be the point of making the decision now?
why should those that are on 'leave' get more then the mandated 4 weeks?
Honestly how quickly do you think all these National MPs that are trying like hell to get out would raise a stink of epic proportions in order to get out? Would Mrs. Oravida survive this actually?
I mean, lets not have an election for a year….i don't think that the current coalition would do much different that they did up until now. So i can't see that as a real negative for them. But for National it would mean to have to work and live with people who want out and if they choose not to return would / should be on unpaid leave for the duration. They would not like that one bit.
It would give JC and National a much-needed stay of execution. I don’t think JC and National would be averse to some really dirty guerrilla political warfare on the ground; it would suit them down to the ground, as they cannot beat JA by attacking her head-on.
No problem, and feel free to edit/amend as you wish. I'm not sure what the exact rules are on by-elections close to an election, or the 75% rule. Might need to check on that.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the PM announces a short delay to the election soon, but still within the 3 year term. I'd really like her to announce that there is no way the government (or just Labour) would vote to extend into next year, in which case Judith's fantasy couldn't happen (obviously there's no 75% vote without Labour). But we'll see.
Crikey! Kim has just given one of her full-on interview with the abject Judith. Except that Judith is in denial and as usual doubled down on everything. A must listen to when it comes on.
If Collins has a better management plan then I want to hear it. I would actually listen to her alternative then I could judge for myself.
Hill needed to ask Collins to put out an alternative Covid management plan.
Collins would then say that she is not the government so not responsible and Collins would keep attacking a government and an PM who are giving it their all.
Collins displaying all that self entitlement that the National Party portrays on a daily basis.
Collins and Brownlee are only seat warmers, they'll have "Leader and Deputy Leader" on their CVs, finally after 2 decades or more of being basically Incompetent.
Yeah, I heard that. Kim Hill ripped the shit out of Collins. Watch your back Kim Hill because if the Tories get in with Collins in charge, you will be gone burger by lunchtime after that classic.
The transportation infrastructure industry and its procurers certainly appear to have more than their fair share of outright corruption here in New Zealand. There was also that Auckland Council thing not too long ago …
I hope Brownlee's smirk at the end of his part of yesterday’s press conference goes viral as a classic piece of body language being more truthful than the words uttered.
Another great piece of smirkery was in the final week of Parliament when Winston Peters asked a supplementary question of the PM and then, before he sat down, looked across at the National front bench and gave the smallest of smirks.
It said, "Gotcha," "Take that" and "If you think I want to join political forces with you, get another opinion".
He almost got to nano-robots in vaccines taking instructions from the UN via 5G and bending us to the will of the Wicked One as foretold in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
So Brownlee may have missed out the impact of the Lizard people then? What is the use of having a conspiracy theory if you leave off a vital part of it?
I hope support and wrap around services are in place for the affected family and friends. This "It is costing Auckland $400 000 a week" is like that is the only cost.
This family could be impacted for months, their mental health and well being must be impacted by all the 'should have-could have' comments.
We had all stopped distancing, felt safe and happy. How shattered their world is.
I live in Rotorua, so feel anxious again. This is a sneaky virus, which doesn't discriminate. The people concerned are needing kindness and cooperation in the face of a community threat.
They are sure to be checking and rechecking lists of where they went, when and who they spent time with. A bloody nightmare.
The country was on vacation and the vacation is over.
Probably level 3 in Rotorua in the next day or two. I would not outrule else where going to level 3. Doing the stuff that works (wearing masks, testing, contacting tracing, isolating, being kind to yourself and others). This will make a difference.
My guess is level four if the staff that worked at the eatery that the person from auckland went to comes through infected. And in saying that it might be the easiest to just shut it all down again.
The best way is to stay in level 3 permanently. Guidough in Rotorua did just that. He never came out of Level 3, no on gets in the business, curbside trading only. I do the same.
Pretend you are in Level three, and if worried, or if someone at high risk, call and order in and have delivered. Specially in Rotorua the businesses have been great about this. The community has been great about this.
I am feeling much saver here then in AKL.
As for the family, it sucks to be them, but in the end it was just an accident waiting to happen. I hope they get enough money to pay the bills, and keep their homes, and then can go back to work. If at this stage in the year 2020 people want to stigmatise others for catching a disease at work, they should be called out for it and loudly so.
This is NOT a sneaky virus, to say so is to say that the virus makes conscious decisions on its behaviour !!!
Giving human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or natural phenomena is a human trait called “to anthropomorphize.” Sadly, as in the tragic Sea World attack the proclivity is forgotten as we wonder why the animal behaved as an animal.
I am yet to read any commentary that the virus was already here present within NZ, and if so then that raises the question that part of our response to this resurgence could be inappropriate or mis guided i.e we are seeking a solution to the wrong question.
I am yet to read any commentary that the virus was already here present within NZ, and if so then that raises the question that part of our response to this resurgence could be inappropriate or mis guided i.e we are seeking a solution to the wrong question.
That Q has been addressed and put to rest by Dr Bloomfield and also by Professor Shaun Hendy IIRC. There are loads of smart cookies in the room and the chances that they have overlooked something so basic are very small IMHO. But we still have the doubters, cynics, and ‘sceptics’ …
yes, and us sceptics, cycincs, and doubters were all proven correct this week with our keeping up social distancing, keeping our bubbles real small, keeping up with the sanitizing, scanning of the app etc etc etc.
One can do an excellent job and still listen to the doubters the cycnics and the sceptics and if only to not get complacent and smug.
As Treetop said, the country went on vacation, got a little smug and boom…..here we go again.
I wasn’t talking about the country, I was talking about the smart people in the room. Even the most radical conspiracy theorist can ‘strike gold’ once but this doesn’t mean we should give them any oxygen. This isn’t about Cynics-Doubters vs. MoH-Experts 1 – 0.
The conspiracy according to Judith on rnz this morning with Kim Hill is ousted in this telling part.
JUDITH "..and it absolutely does not have any credibilty to suggest that after being told that we have102 days of no Covid19 in community transmission, suddenly it appears, and no responsibilty taken and no looking at how it.. ( Hill interupts)."
How did Judith or anyone think that Covid19 would re-appear if not SUDDENLY , slowly and overtly ???
Yes Judith, Covid19 a microscopic entity, comes up the front path, knocks at your door with a name badge on and politely asks, ' Can, I come in please? '.
Or Covid arrived by another plausible manner-: A Natz supporter illegally brings into the country a 'parcel' ; same mode as rabbit calicivirus transmission in 1997.
More plausible because Judith stated, we will do 'whatever we have to' to get power back.
Otherwise this explanation for Judith might have gone over her head about remaining vigilant.
I recall most of those 102 days on updates a message of sorts was always given to act safely not be complacent, get tested, get the tracing app. So where does the Natz "suddenly" theory come from?
In NZ, following WHO directives also and alerted by worldwide resurgence, ( nutters holding the likes of 'Covid parties'), the NZ Government in line with MOH undertakes proactive preparations and ad campaigns. Is remaining prepared Judith's conspiracy?
Some seem keen to turn the conspiracy theories back onto Judith, Gerry, and the National Party. We only need to look overseas to see where that gets us, i.e. further away from discerning truth.
Not all scenarios are equal and wasting time & effort on chasing after “all scenarios” is a well-known and effective diversion tactic. Politics is about the effective and efficient distribution and use of resources. If the political process is flawed or hijacked then the outcome(s) of that process are likely to be sub-optimal at best.
The process during a crisis is somewhat different than otherwise. Good urgent decision-making relies on ruthless focus and discarding chaff. Anybody muddying the waters tends to get excluded. Collins can whinge all she likes from outside the bunker door.
Fact, two persons on individual occasions have now attempted to break into Q facilities? What were their objectives other than being with malintent towards the safety of others?
Shaun Hendy … he of the school of stating the bleeding obvious, overestimation and lockdown extensions.
Pathetic response that suggests you have a chip on your shoulder and not heard of Science Communication. I can send you some of Hendy’s peer-reviewed scientific articles and see how far you get with understanding those.
I don’t think anybody is happy about the most recent turn of events. Talking of stating the bleeding obvious.
Follow up question then – why hasn't this been undertaken at regular periods over the last several months ?
If what I'm hearing from my sources in the higher echelons of ADHB is correct regarding new cases outside of Auckland (I sincerely hope it is incorrect) there looks to have been a catastrophic failure of border and quarantine controls..
If indeed there has been a “catastrophic failure of border and quarantine controls..” what have “your sources in the higher echelons of ADHB” done about it? Go and ask them instead and report back here when you’ve got the answers, thanks. Ask Dr Siouxsie about testing of wastewater and effluent. I'm sure you have requisite computer skills to find her contact details.
covid can show up after not showing in all the quarantine tests, it's tricky like that. So it doesn't necessarily follow that quarantine was breached IMO
"It said there is a programme of daily health checks, and any staff member who reports symptoms consistent with Covid-19 must stay at home, get tested and self-isolate until they receive the result of their test.
The ministry is also undertaking regular asymptomatic surveillance testing of people working in border-facing roles, including those at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, particularly those who have direct contact with international crew and travellers.
There is testing available on-site for staff every two to three weeks. "
I had kinda gone off of Bill Maher, but if he consistently lifts his game back up to the level of this mock eulogy for the fake-tan fuhrer, I might warm to him again.
You can fly into Auckland on a domestic flight if you are returning home, an essential worker or are coming to Auckland to undertake an essential service
* You can travel in Auckland to catch an international flight departing from Auckland Airport
* You can also transit through Auckland Airport to catch an outbound international flight
* You can transit through Auckland Airport domestically on flights, but must not leave at Auckland unless you live in Auckland or are undertaking essential travel
* You can leave on a departing flight out of Auckland Airport if you are travelling home or are leaving to undertake an essential service.
Auckland Airport is now off limits to the public except those with booked travel.
More than 13,000 people are expected to pass through the domestic terminal on Wednesday with similar numbers the following days.
No contradiction – if you already had a flight booked from Akl to Queenstown then you can still board it. Good to read that some travellers are prepared to change their plans once there if needed.
There's a privately owned helicoptor which has been flying backwards and forwards between Auckland and Northland for 2 days now. Looks like it originates from somewhere in East Auckland.
Rich folk avoiding the police roadblocks and fleeing Auckland by air to their holiday mansions up north?
Pretty sure that ODT article started yesterday and got updated and ended up with today’s date on it. They interview people who refer to leaving before mid day, so were ok
ir New Zealand has seen “thousands” of cancellations since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Auckland would go back into level 3 lockdown, and the rest of the country would move to alert level 2 following new cases of community transmission of Covid-19.
Rotorua Level 4 – 3 weeks – starting Sat – wednesday (exposure to the infected person by Staff at Fat Dog, Burger Fuel, Gondola, Red Woods etc etc etc)
if another case is found in Taupo / Tauranga etc, North Island level 4 – 3 weeks – Wednesday
South Island – see rest of North Island. – Wednesday.
ir New Zealand has seen “thousands” of cancellations since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Auckland would go back into level 3 lockdown, and the rest of the country would move to alert level 2 following new cases of community transmission of Covid-19.
I would be very surprised if Level 4 lockdown is implemented in Auckland it achieves little more than Level 3 in terms of Covid control and has very negative economic consequences and politically I'm not sure it would be wise.
Now that the Wellington case looks like a false positive I'd wait for overnight testing results if there is little to no upwards/downwards transmission outside of the current cluster there may even be a relaxation in restrictions.
I suppose it depends on whether they find new cases not attached to the known cluster. I hope you're right, though, I'm supposed to settle my house sale and purchase on 2/9, and leave Hamilton for the South Island.
Thanks, too expensive to move my junk, so I'm in the process of giving all my furniture and stuff to the Vinnies. Moving really light – just a car full of clothes, kettle and essentials, so shouldn't be much of a hassle, though it’s only a MX-5.
I'm moving to that house for sale just down the road from greywarshark to get the supermarket tongues a wagging lol
But seriously, Westport on the West coast. Damian O' electorate vote, party vote green.
Couriering my TV, PC and music stuff, so foresight I always keep the boxes and packaging, but everything else is going. I did the same when I last moved, bar the fridge and two beds, but this time it's all going.
A lady just came to pick up my old washing machine and it felt stink to find out they'd charged her $80 for it. If I'd have been really on to it, I would have advertised it on notice boards for free.
Seems to have dragged on, but then it only really got serious once I found out I was being laid off after the wage subsidy runs out, so it focused my mind somewhat. Been a couple on months (or more) from offer to settlement.
Bought sight unseen (other than agents ad photos), though I did get an excellent builders report, so even though a bit fingers crossed, I'm not worried about it.
I am jealous Al1en. I had a chance to move from this overrated and overcrowded shithole called Hamilton 15 years ago to Oamaru. One of the worse decisions I made by staying here and more concerned about making money instead of retiring gracefully and moving. Good luck pal I am sure you will not regret moving to the SI.
I hear you, and while I don't actively dislike Hamilton (that much), it hasn't really given me a reason to stay put.
First choice was Golden bay, but Westport was much more affordable, so won out. Finally I'll have a 1/4 acre section, which may not be the kiwi dream anymore, but it's long been mine. Hoping to do it justice.
Reporter Hannah Martin is at a testing facility in St Luke's, Auckland, which has a queue about 1km long. Everyone she's spoken to this morning "has felt symptomatic and has felt like this is the best call for them", she says.
Let's say they are all symptomatic. Average distance between parked cars – 5m. Average number of people in each – 1.25. Average length of queue at each of Auckland's 15 testing stations – 500m.
1875 symptomatic people doing voluntary testing in Auckland just this morning.
The reports of the long time they have to spend waiting is bad. Six hours? There at 6 when it doesn't open till 8 am to make sure. Another yesterday at 6ish and long long wait. Must do better with this.
Australia's Northern Territory will be closed to visitors from virus hotspots for a further 18 months to protect its large and vulnerable Aboriginal population, authorities said Tuesday.
The sparsely populated northern region is home to roughly 250,000 people — 30 percent of whom are Aboriginal — according to government figures.
"We'll have our hard border controls in place for at least the next 18 months. And we're resourcing so we can do that," Chief Minister Michael Gunner told public broadcaster ABC.
Arrest them and send them to an island where they can be together. Trouble is that if we have any empty islands we are trying to make them bird sanctuaries. This lot would kill 'em and eat 'em raw. So no good that idea.
The difference might be that O'Sullivan gets riled up but is also busy trying to do good things for needy people, the other is a person who belongs to a group that have legitimate grievances from the past, and are better at growing them than anything else. Bet they haven't been the ones growing the illicit marijuana up there for decades. That requires real work.
One difference between Boynton and O'Sullivan might be class.
Indeed. A yawning gap between a previous offender with a fondness for using his fists and someone who, despite a rush of blood for which he was discharged with no convictions, has gotten off his arse and delivered free medical clinics, school-based health services and an initiative to improve housing.
Agreed there. It angers me that so called leadership at the top levels ( Natz) role modelled 'dissent' and division in the first instance as a very public response.
This Natz immediate public response was not about care for anyone or Judith's ass covering, slithering excuses given today on Kim Hill's rnz segment.
The intent was dangerous Trumpism play for her air space. She flouted Auckland travel restrictions and found herself suddenly superfluous flapping around like granny knickers on the line.
Thus, if it's okay for Judith to protest with her whackjob minions….
If Natz want their airwaves to campaign (then as the article says may happen ) join the protest in Auckland Saturday. Get out there you cowardly Natz and greet, kiss, hug and rub shoulders with the crowds.
More potential infections in the hundreds in one go but hey Judith could grab the podium she craves.
China’s Shenzhen Discovers Coronavirus in Brazil Poultry Product (8:45 a.m. HK)
A sample of a frozen chicken wing imported from Brazil tested positive for coronavirus in China’s Shenzhen city, according to a statement from the local government.
Virus tests of people who have possibly come into contact with the product — and tests of related products — all came back negative, the government said.
Earlier, the outside of an Ecuador frozen shrimp package tested positive for coronavirus in a restaurant in Wuhu, a city in China’s Anhui province, state television CCTV reported.
Virus tests of people who have possibly come into contact with the product — and tests of related products — all came back negative, the government said.
looks like level 3 for north island friday 11:59 and possible level 4 for auckland unless they find the rest of the close contacts tomorrow.
watch the economy tank.
[You might well be right but unless you can provide a reliable link, I assume you’re fearmongering. I’ve put you in Pre-Moderation until you put up something decent to support your ‘prediction’ or admit that it is a fidget of your imagination – Incognito]
i cant say how I know that, obviously. so i guess im sitting here.
[All your comments need to be manually approved before they appear in the front-end. Alternatively, they are moved to the Trash folder in the back-end.
Are you telling me you made it all up and that you have no way of knowing? Not even an argument as to why you think that way? Just BS? – Incognito]
Nope – I heard from someone with direct knowledge. But I'm not department dropping here.
[So, we have no way of verifying your rumour and you have not provided any decent argument either as to why you think your rumour may come true; you need to argue your point(s), not just spray & walkaway , as usual. Moved to the Blacklist until Monday – Incognito]
May I just say I don't care about this 'deadly flu', as I described it to my dear but non-talking v.old mother. Compared to climate change … Christ help us.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
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A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
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The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
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A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
In the grand obama tradition, socialists, greens and others get a big FU from the democratic party.
A [deleted] is little better than a punch in the face.
Scraps from the masters table mentality wins out again.
What a time to be alive, liberals want their hand on the cooky jar, so screw the poor, disenfranchised, and the weak. A liberal wants to be stronger than king george the third.
Down with all authoritarian arsholes, and the people who support that sickening ideology be it a right or left version.
[I have deleted your racist slur that you repeated from last night’s comment on TRP’s Post Biden/Harris. You have been warned and banned for this kind of behaviour before. See you in two weeks – Incognito on behalf of TRP]
Now that my abs have stopped aching from the belly laugh that tantrum induced, I could do with another.
Pray tell, who could Biden have picked that would have persuaded you that Biden has at heart the interests of "socialists, greens and others"?
See my Moderation note @ 7:52 AM.
Given that at least 40% of Covid infectious are asymptomatic….why is Uncle Ashley saying only those who are symptomatic should be tested?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018759267/covid-19-mt-albert-grammar-student-tested-positive-bloomfield-confirms
elimination process
start with the ones that have symptoms
followed by those that live with those that have symptoms
followed by those that work with those that have symptoms
followed by those that came in contact with those that have symptoms
followed by the family and friends and collegues of all those that have come into contact with someone who came into contact with someone who has shown symptoms.
and then you pretty much tested quite a few 'asymptomatics' in the process
I don't know why this is so hard to understand? Unless we have 5 million tests r to test everyone right now it makes sense to start with the ones that show symptoms and drill down from there. I don't see how you want to find these 'asymptomatics' considering that they don't show symptoms.
Sabine…people who have had symptoms but have not ticked the 'crossing the border' or 'contact with a confirmed case' boxes have been refused tests by GPs, and have been advised by Healthline they don't need a test.
This is not the way to be confident there is no community transmission.
Oh, and asymptomatic people can and do infect others. Potentially more a risk than the symptomatic because they and their associates are not necessarily taking precautions. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
how did we manage to eliminate covid before then?
It's about lowering risk and odds, not creating an absolute firewall. If it as about a firewall, we'd all be in L4.
I think we are still learning about transmission, infection and testing. As you know, MoH works with mainstream (conservative) health assessments, not the leading edge stuff.
this is interesting though,
"Epidemiologist Michael Baker said an outbreak usually went through a few generations of transmission before someone became sick enough to present with symptoms."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423412/experts-michael-baker-and-shaun-hendy-share-concerns-auckland-outbreak-could-be-generations-deep
Does this suggest that most cases have symptoms lower than what would send someone to the doctor?
If roughly half of all cases are asymptomatic, and 80% of symptomatic cases are "mild", then only roughly 10% of cases are stronger than "mild".
So yeah, depending on where "sick enough to see a doctor" sits in relation to "mild", it may be that very few Covid victims end up feeling crap enough to bother with seeing a medical professional.
which means that if the current original four are several generations down the line, then the community transmission will be wide.
Do you have a sense of the numbers here compared to our first wave? To me it looks like this is a situation we've dealt with effectively before, this time being smaller numbers, it's just a matter of taking the time to get on top of it.
We had a few hundred active cases in the community and events conducive to superspreading still happening and a somewhat blase community attitude right up until the first lockdown at the end of March.
This time we jumped on it as soon as the first cases were detected, and a community that's somewhat more ready to go straight to the behavioural changes needed.
So we're starting in a much better place to beat it this time around, so it should happen a bit quicker. Not much quicker, though, there's still the time needed to allow for undetected chains of transmission to die out.
QFT
that's how I see it. I suspect that some of the anxiety is that people still don't understand the timelag thing and that not knowing doesn't = out of control.
My understanding Rosemary is that they are testing all close contacts incl asymptomatic
Well it wasn’t eliminated. It was there, just undiscovered as untested until it made someone sick.
if we can accept that elimination appears to altogether impossible, why can’t we follow Sabine’s same principles but for treatment and care. Then at least 40% of the population are asymptomatic can carry on with life
Oh, so you did some tests, did you?
Elimination here means known community transmission. We did eliminate that.
Not sure what your second paragraph is about, but we're not going to let the virus widespread into the community if we can help it because it will kill people and make others disabled.
Do you know what “asymptomatic” means in this context?
https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/GPPulse/Opinion/Asymptomatic-spread-of-COVID-19
so it was infecting people at decent rate, but nobody was symptomatic for 100 days?
That's almost better than a new outbreak from an unidentified overseas source. Except then we need to figure out why it suddenly decided to cause serious symptoms again.
A-symptomatic do not show symptoms, hence they don't get tested.
People with symptoms do get tested if they come from overseas, have contact with people coming from overseas etc.
So frankly what is happening is good allocation of limited resources. There is no such thing as 'confidence' if one is honest with one self, as we are dealing with a virus that changes / mutates rapidly, with testing that is not yet at a hundred percent reliability and above all we deal with people who may or may not actually be co-operating.
I don't know what is hard to understand that asymptomatic people don't even know that they are infected in the first place.
And that is the last i have to add to this.
People with symptoms do get tested if they come from overseas,
Has the data been published as to how many overseas travelers have tested positive and are totally asymptomatic?
I doubt that symptomatic people would be allowed to travel and potentially infect a whole plane full of others + crew + border personnel.
There are fairly recent reports of people being symptomatic on arrival.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/covid-19-two-new-confirmed-cases-virus
Dunno if that means they successfully hid symptoms pre-boarding, became symptomatic during the flight, or whether there was no pre-flight screening.
Silly, they dont have enough testing kits and staff resources to test everyone that needs to be. That puts us way behind USA and UK.
USA, UK or NZ – know where I'd rather be. "We don't know how lucky we are…"
You have nailed it Sabine. It really was a stupid question….but I think on purpose with an agenda attached.
…but I think on purpose with an agenda attached.
What agenda? Be specific.
I don't understand why there is next to no acknowledgement that most people are asymptomatic and therefore are not considered a risk. They won't have been tested and are free ranging.
On the contrary. My reading is that it is pretty much universally acknowledged, but what are you going to do, short of testing absolutely everybody, all the time? What do you actually suggest?
That is exactly what the USA is attempting. Of course, the more you test the more you find.
And that is why, Dorothy, we know that over 80% of infection are symptomatic…….
What do you actually suggest?
Sorry for the delay…trees to plant, sheep to wrangle, meds and supplies to tee up for disabled partner just in case shit gets real again.
1. I am concerned that up until now Healthline and GPs have been refusing/advising against testing of even symptomatic people unless they tick one of the other criteria…close contact with confirmed case, border crossing or contact with border control personnel(who I understand have had no mandatory routine testing up until recently.).
2. These two…https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423412/experts-michael-baker-and-shaun-hendy-share-concerns-auckland-outbreak-could-be-generations-deep … also have concerns that current cases are 'generations deep'.
Epidemiologist Michael Baker said an outbreak usually went through a few generations of transmission before someone became sick enough to present with symptoms.
That could take about three weeks, he said.
Physicist and disease modeller Shaun Hendy agreed, saying there could be several layers to the outbreak.
"If [the virus] has been passed from someone who arrived, and passed through several people to this family, then they could have passed it onto other people as well," he said.
And even today Ardern and Bloomfield are still placing weight to a person's symptom status when trying to ascertain if they were infectious…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423443/covid-19-update-13-new-cases-in-community-one-in-managed-isolation
The student was not symptomatic while at school and has not been at school since they became unwell and got tested so the chance of exposure … is low at this point.
Ardern says you can go to your local GP for a free test. If you are symptomatic you should call ahead so they can prepare for you.
At this stage it should not make any difference. Symptomatic or not. Ardern actually got it right some months ago when she advised us all to behave as if we were infected.
Its a huge concern that a contact of the current cluster visited an as yet un-named aged care facility in the Waikato…but the reality is that this is the season for respiratory infections to run through such places, and despite the best efforts of staff, a few of the residents are going to see their last winter.
Which answers part of your question about why tests have not been routinely offered to every New Zealander with symptoms over the last few months. Swamped would be the word.
I'd really, really like to see us all have an antibody test or somesuch. Get more of a true picture of how widespread Te Virus has been. Be more than worth the $$$ spent.
I see they're investing in DNA testing for this recent outbreak.
DNA sequencing is done for a completely different reason than an antibody test. Different jobs require different tools.
Your agenda, Rosemary, seems to me to be to reduce the public's confidence in the testing programme, rather than accept that the programme is, and has been for months, efficient and effective.
Hang on…..if they are only testing those who are highly likely to have the virus and not testing any of the 80% of infectious people who have the virus but are asymptomatic, how the hell can we have any confidence in the testing?
What do you mean by “confidence in the testing”? Where’s that 80% figure coming from? Link?
…to be to reduce the public's confidence in the testing programme,
Hmm, I guess I should feel flattered that you think little old moi has such influence…
Believe it or not, (and I care not either way where you fall) I am genuinely interested in how (my long time foe) the Ministry of Health (may the fleas from a thousand camels infect their collective armpit) devise their policies.
From my readings over the years about DSS and various Public Health issues, the Mystery policy writers seem not to be overburdened with intelligence, common sense or transparency.
From the very beginning of the shit show they have maintained the line that we should only be concerned about symptomatic people passing on infections. Very little if any precautions are needed if confirmed disease is not present.
The "PPE for front line health workers" debacle will go down in history (for some of us who were affected) as one of the less 'efficient and effective' aspects of the Ministry's work on this. I have been banging on about how they should have taken a precautionary approach from day one with the directives on mask wearing for those caring for vulnerable people either in hospital, residential care or in their own homes.
To hear Ardern using the expression 'precautionary approach' a number of times on the Natrad this morning had me snorting with irony. It may be a little late for that now.
Bearded Git. You do know we still have freedom of thought, opinion and speech…right? Is is now a criminal offense, treason perhaps, to express concern that a government agency might have erred in the management of some aspects of a public health crisis?
Because it wouldn't be the first time.
Lightish reading for you…https://www.bwb.co.nz/books/health-people
I'd also like to know what agenda you think Rosemary has here.
Me too. I think Rosemary is right on the money here.
I would guess that they want to catch the asymptomatic people through contact tracing not through testing – it's way more efficient.
IWG 99% of Aucklanders are asymptomatic purely because they don't have the disease, they don't want to put all their testing resources into people with no evidence of disease instead of people with evidence of disease.
The sooner they find people with disease, the sooner they can get their contacts and find the asymptomatics.
[That being said, if you think for any reason that you should have a test then ring up healthline and get their advice.]
[That being said, if you think for any reason that you should have a test then ring up healthline and get their advice.]
People with symptoms but who don't meet the other criteria are being refused tests…especially by GPs. Because they don't tick the other boxes set by the Ministry.
Update…the MOH webpage has been revised…now saying anyone with symptoms should be tested and not adding on the 'confirmed case contact' or 'border contact' criteria.
because now we have community transmission, the criteria needs to change. Last week, if someone didn't have a plausible pathway of having been infected, what would be the point of testing?
And the change to testing everyone with symptoms was made at the same time as the alert level change.
As @mpledger says, they are relying on contact tracing (and dna testing) to fill the gaps in the other direction fast enough.
…if someone didn't have a plausible pathway of having been infected,
We've made the assumption there is no community transmission…how would we know if only symptomatic folk have been tested (other than close contacts of confirmed cases)? I have this growing suspicion that because of the previously very narrow criteria for testing, many cases have gone undetected.
Asking around the whanau and wider contacts, so many of us have had various symptoms and have experienced some of the sequelae being reported (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122255216/heres-what-we-know-so-far-about-the-longterm-symptoms-of-covid19) but ether did not get tested because we didn't meet the criteria du jour, or were refused a test from a GP and an initial public testing station swab came back negative so they didn't go back or a follow up test…which can show positive.
"We've made the assumption there is no community transmission"
I think the assumption from the government is that there was no known community transmission, which is a different thing.
I think they've done random community testing in places though.
If there was widespread latent community transmission, why have we not had a known outbreak before now?
that's a good explanation mpledger.
There’s also the issue of false negatives, which often gets ignored (…). This is not anybody’s fault, least of all MoH’s, but a simple fact/consequence of the testing methodology.
Just more reasons to keep borders shut for a bit.
Yes to closed borders for a bit longer, but was is the sort of cargo that must keep coming in on air freight?
I can understand some medicines but what else? Hopefully not trinkets and baubles….
Hopefully not trinkets and baubles….
Don't know about anyone else…but my laptop screen is littered with ads for such.
I have not as yet figured out how to quell them.
And I agree….close the borders….returning Kiwis only…no exceptions.
Or flag the whole extreme caution thing and treat it like any other cold.
I've bought a few things online that have come from overseas. After the initial lockdowns, I think NZ went back to BAU on that score (depending on overseas supplies).
Previously the advice was that package surfaces weren't a high risk. I'd guess it's more likely to be airline staff, and goods that are conducive to viruses surviving.
If ordinary parcels were a transmission vector, they would have shown up before now in tracing and testing.
Not necessarily. A teeny-tiny risk per parcel multiplied by millions or even billions of parcels can multiply together to make a big enough risk to the nation to take precautions against. That it hasn't been detected yet doesn't mean it hasn't or won't happen.
Food, and ingredients for food production come via freight.
A lot of furniture, clothes, cars, spare parts etc come via freight.
Medical goods come via freight.
Books, toys, stuff for the building industry all come in via freight and so on and so on. I mean it is a good time to go back to the 18 century, all of us pioneers and such, but really?
So please define trinkets and baubles. What do you not need and thus can be of no use to someone else. 🙂
My waters tell me there is a touch of the 1800s in our future. What an opportunity to pivot towards it.
Trinkets and baubles would include: nice to haves eg foreign fruit/vege, beef, pork, belgian hash browns, stuff that is bought without knowing it was needed, lots of electronic devices – teles, phones.
Surely we can build without too much input from overseas, wood, cement, screws, gib, corrugated iron locally sourced.
i am just glad you left out seasoning and salt from your list.
🙂
no thanks, this women does not want to go back to the good old days of the 1800s.
They were a damn sight more straight forward for blokes tho.
Illogical, everybody (!) has to undergo 14-day isolation upon arriving at the border and are tested twice and have to return a negative test before allowed to leave the facility.
Cos he's not Oprah, he can't say everybody gets a test.
Excuse my ignorance, but a lot of stats in this thread without sources, about asymptomatic cases, mild cases etc.
Here's a Radionz link on the latest from Auckland and the 'cold store' thing which I have just heard about.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423401/live-auckland-enters-second-day-at-alert-level-3-rest-of-nz-at-level-2
Three more staff members at the Americold warehouse facility in Auckland have tested positive to coronavirus.
Americold Managing Director of Australia and NZ, Richard Winnall, says the three people worked alongside a man in his 50s who has already tested positive to the virus, ABC is reporting.
He says all staff from the facility are isolating.
newsense…https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/06/01/asymptomatic-patients
and yet this…http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/corona-virus/transmission-of-covid-19-by-asymptomatic-cases.html
and again this…https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions
and then this…https://theconversation.com/can-people-spread-the-coronavirus-if-they-dont-have-symptoms-5-questions-answered-about-asymptomatic-covid-19-140531
Has anyone figured out yet why the Govt. did not dissolve Parliament on schedule?
By not doing so they have opened up a nice big space for National to boost their dirty tricks into hyperdrive–and the technical possibility of a deferred election.
Some of the reasons are touched on here:
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/election-date-debate-collins-risks-alienating-voters-by-pressing-ardern/ar-BB17RpKS?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=mailsignout
In short, given the fast-evolving nature of the current crisis, some decisions and actions could work out better by having parliament still in place and able to do its job.
Several reasons.
If the community transmission had been discovered a few days later then the writ would have been issued, and everything would have been far more complicated.
Good points from Andre’s link and lprent’s learned view.
My subjective take is that National’s idea of co-operation in a crisis is still a “swift kick to the nuts” rather than anything too genuine. Simon Bridges demonstrated that in Covid round 1, and Mr Muller and Mrs Collins continued that approach.
True, but the dirty tricks seem to be driving their poll ratings down. High teens anyone??
If you believe Nick Smith, National are more worried about high teens after the referendum.
Yesterday Judith Collins said that her preference is for NZ to hold the election next year.
She may not realize it (the media haven't picked up on it yet) but she is actually calling for a whole raft of by-elections. Let's work through the consequences:
1. MPs who quit Parliament must be replaced. That was/is expected to happen at the coming election. No issue there.
2. But if the election is delayed until next year (which means at least March or April, there's no way you'd have one in January) then those MPs must return to Parliament.
3. Andrew Falloon cannot return, he is no longer an MP. So: Rangitata by-election.
4. All other MPs must return – or resign.
5. So Hamish Walker must return, in disgrace. Other electorate MPs who desperately wanted to get out, must come back instead (Dowie, Kaye, etc).
6. List MPs quit, no problem there. They are replaced by the next person on the list.
7. But if electorate MPs don't come back and continue to work, they must get leave to be absent. How long? Six months? Eight? Good luck explaining that one to the taxpayers, and the voters with no local MP.
8. By-elections are usually avoided when they are too close to an election date. So if we have a date in Oct/Nov 2020, there is still a problem (Walker and co getting extra weeks of paid vacation) but that's for them to explain to their voters.
9. But to delay until next year with no date means the current Parliament remains, indefinitely. So all electorate MPs must stay – or be replaced through a by-election.
Finally, look at the long, long list of National MPs who thought they were getting out now. Imagine them sitting in caucus for months and months, not wanting to be there. Imagine how they would feel about their leader. Imagine how long she would last …
There’s very inconsistent messaging from Judith Collins around all of this.
On the one hand, she wants more involvement in decision making.
On the other, she wants to delay the election.
She is sure that she will win the election,
and in doing so would have all the decision-making.
Why delay the election, Judith?
Codger's pretty keen on Reti being briefed. How leaky is Reti?
How long is a piece of string?
Sam Sachdeva, political editor from Newsroom, says, "National's deputy leader Gerry Brownlee outlined – unprompted – an allegedly suspicious series of events in recent weeks, as if joining the pieces of the puzzle with string on an overloaded pinboard."
That's how long a piece of string.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/the-paranoid-style-in-new-zealand-politics
I see that more as a piece of rope.
The politics of fear & doubt have always been tools in the populist’s toolkit.
And Gerry has always been too lazy to tie a knot.
Given enough rope you won’t need to tie a knot.
A passing urchin will oblige, guv. Always worked that way in his school days..
probably too fat too.
[please don’t post fat shaming comments here, thanks – weka]
Please don't do that. The guy has more than enough actions and character flaws to criticise.
mod note for you solkta.
yeh sorry weka, i couldn't resist that one.
Reti is on record as asking his constituents to hold their breath for 2.5 weeks. Which suggests that in his mind facts are less important than political calculation – so he'd leak like a sieve. Perhaps I am being unfair though, and his being (as Judith was so keen to point out) "Harvard educated", means that he has access to some higher order knowledge than the rest of us?
As is Shane Jones…..
My brother went to Oxford … worked at the car factory in Cowley.
(No.94 in a series of old Monty Python jokes)
te reo putake wrote @ 4.1.1.2.1.1
"My brother went to Oxford … worked at the car factory in Cowley.
(No.94 in a series of old Monty Python jokes)"
I like it te reo
If we are going to bring up old jokes my favourite is from Morcom & Wise
"I don't have to worry about money as my family is in Iron and Steel
Mother does the ironing and Father does the stealing.
….and John Darby
Imagine the trouble Bennett will cause of mean ole Judith forces her to delay her grand entrance into the private sector? I mean she’s probably got all the New Idea cover photos done!
I'd actually forgotten that both Bennett and Adams were still electorate MPs, because they both announced ages ago that they would move to the list (i.e. before the big meltdown).
So, National-held electorates whose MP doesn't want to be there, or who the National party doesn't want:
Auckland Central. Upper Harbour. East Coast. Otaki. Wairarapa. Selwyn. Southland. Invercargill (plus Rangitata, no MP at all). Any others?
And Judith thinks they are all happy to stay in Parliament, for at least another six months.
1 counted 10 Nats – Falloon, Adams, Kaye, Scott, Guy, Barry, Dowie, Bennett, Tolley, Walker.
Plus 3 Lab – ILG, Dyson and Curran.
I may have missed a couple?
Maybe National didn't think about those things.
I can't see any reason to put the election off at this stage. We may be back in consistent L1 by then. What would be the point of making the decision now?
They know it's all hypothetical. Just feeds into their tactic of sowing doubt. Arseholes.
why should those that are on 'leave' get more then the mandated 4 weeks?
Honestly how quickly do you think all these National MPs that are trying like hell to get out would raise a stink of epic proportions in order to get out? Would Mrs. Oravida survive this actually?
I mean, lets not have an election for a year….i don't think that the current coalition would do much different that they did up until now. So i can't see that as a real negative for them. But for National it would mean to have to work and live with people who want out and if they choose not to return would / should be on unpaid leave for the duration. They would not like that one bit.
It would give JC and National a much-needed stay of execution. I don’t think JC and National would be averse to some really dirty guerrilla political warfare on the ground; it would suit them down to the ground, as they cannot beat JA by attacking her head-on.
Mind if we convert this into a guest post? It captures so many problems for the opposition …
Already passed around this morning by people without a linkback – eg: https://twitter.com/publicaddress/status/1293675890904199168
@mickysavage
No problem, and feel free to edit/amend as you wish. I'm not sure what the exact rules are on by-elections close to an election, or the 75% rule. Might need to check on that.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the PM announces a short delay to the election soon, but still within the 3 year term. I'd really like her to announce that there is no way the government (or just Labour) would vote to extend into next year, in which case Judith's fantasy couldn't happen (obviously there's no 75% vote without Labour). But we'll see.
Good piece today on RNZ that covered the ins and outs
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018759298/should-the-election-be-delayed
Our media pick up what they're told to. They're busy breathing life into the tinfoil hat agenda whilst akl has this outbreak.
They continue to serve the owners not the people.
Collins is being a Dick just like Bridges
Crikey! Kim has just given one of her full-on interview with the abject Judith. Except that Judith is in denial and as usual doubled down on everything. A must listen to when it comes on.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018759286
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018759286/covid-19-judith-collins-hits-back-at-grant-robertson-after-he-called-opposition-claims-nonsense
[second link added – weka]
ianmac…yes another Dame Hill classic…..wonderful….she should be cloned.
Yes, that was devastating from Kim. She is not in the slightest awed by Collins and is happy to eviscerate her repeatedly.
Not the best interviewer to try and put one over.
All Codger had to do was stop lying. Could she do that? The fcuk she could.
Eviscerate. Is that a gardening term?
If Collins has a better management plan then I want to hear it. I would actually listen to her alternative then I could judge for myself.
Hill needed to ask Collins to put out an alternative Covid management plan.
Collins would then say that she is not the government so not responsible and Collins would keep attacking a government and an PM who are giving it their all.
Kim Hill on good form
If you have 13 minutes, a damn good use of your attention. Brilliant example of not taking shit from an evasive, dishonest interviewee.
Finally someone holding Collins to account.
Collins displaying all that self entitlement that the National Party portrays on a daily basis.
Collins and Brownlee are only seat warmers, they'll have "Leader and Deputy Leader" on their CVs, finally after 2 decades or more of being basically Incompetent.
Yeah, I heard that. Kim Hill ripped the shit out of Collins. Watch your back Kim Hill because if the Tories get in with Collins in charge, you will be gone burger by lunchtime after that classic.
I listened to that and I feel somewhat ill.
Judith Collins is a truly vile person and should come with a health warning.
Kim v Collins on Morning Report. Astonishing.
Stench of serious corruption wafting from NZTA:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/nzta-lashed-for-retrospective-tender
The transportation infrastructure industry and its procurers certainly appear to have more than their fair share of outright corruption here in New Zealand. There was also that Auckland Council thing not too long ago …
Newsroom are not wrong to accuse NZTA of hiding the report.
All they would need to do is wait for this Friday – or any other Covid status change day.
Stench well buried.
Here's at least one reporter challenging Collins and Brownlees behavior regarding their outlandish statements designed scare the public.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/the-paranoid-style-in-new-zealand-politics
I hope Brownlee's smirk at the end of his part of yesterday’s press conference goes viral as a classic piece of body language being more truthful than the words uttered.
Another great piece of smirkery was in the final week of Parliament when Winston Peters asked a supplementary question of the PM and then, before he sat down, looked across at the National front bench and gave the smallest of smirks.
It said, "Gotcha," "Take that" and "If you think I want to join political forces with you, get another opinion".
Brownlee didn’t raise an eyebrow, did he?
He did……. with me!
He almost got to nano-robots in vaccines taking instructions from the UN via 5G and bending us to the will of the Wicked One as foretold in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
So Brownlee may have missed out the impact of the Lizard people then? What is the use of having a conspiracy theory if you leave off a vital part of it?
Sorry, Shanreagh, but I don't believe in the Lizard people. The little people, yes, but lizards can stay under rocks.
I hope support and wrap around services are in place for the affected family and friends. This "It is costing Auckland $400 000 a week" is like that is the only cost.
This family could be impacted for months, their mental health and well being must be impacted by all the 'should have-could have' comments.
We had all stopped distancing, felt safe and happy. How shattered their world is.
I live in Rotorua, so feel anxious again. This is a sneaky virus, which doesn't discriminate. The people concerned are needing kindness and cooperation in the face of a community threat.
They are sure to be checking and rechecking lists of where they went, when and who they spent time with. A bloody nightmare.
The country was on vacation and the vacation is over.
Probably level 3 in Rotorua in the next day or two. I would not outrule else where going to level 3. Doing the stuff that works (wearing masks, testing, contacting tracing, isolating, being kind to yourself and others). This will make a difference.
My guess is level four if the staff that worked at the eatery that the person from auckland went to comes through infected. And in saying that it might be the easiest to just shut it all down again.
The best way is to stay in level 3 permanently. Guidough in Rotorua did just that. He never came out of Level 3, no on gets in the business, curbside trading only. I do the same.
Pretend you are in Level three, and if worried, or if someone at high risk, call and order in and have delivered. Specially in Rotorua the businesses have been great about this. The community has been great about this.
I am feeling much saver here then in AKL.
As for the family, it sucks to be them, but in the end it was just an accident waiting to happen. I hope they get enough money to pay the bills, and keep their homes, and then can go back to work. If at this stage in the year 2020 people want to stigmatise others for catching a disease at work, they should be called out for it and loudly so.
This is NOT a sneaky virus, to say so is to say that the virus makes conscious decisions on its behaviour !!!
Giving human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or natural phenomena is a human trait called “to anthropomorphize.” Sadly, as in the tragic Sea World attack the proclivity is forgotten as we wonder why the animal behaved as an animal.
I am yet to read any commentary that the virus was already here present within NZ, and if so then that raises the question that part of our response to this resurgence could be inappropriate or mis guided i.e we are seeking a solution to the wrong question.
That Q has been addressed and put to rest by Dr Bloomfield and also by Professor Shaun Hendy IIRC. There are loads of smart cookies in the room and the chances that they have overlooked something so basic are very small IMHO. But we still have the doubters, cynics, and ‘sceptics’ …
yes, and us sceptics, cycincs, and doubters were all proven correct this week with our keeping up social distancing, keeping our bubbles real small, keeping up with the sanitizing, scanning of the app etc etc etc.
One can do an excellent job and still listen to the doubters the cycnics and the sceptics and if only to not get complacent and smug.
As Treetop said, the country went on vacation, got a little smug and boom…..here we go again.
I wasn’t talking about the country, I was talking about the smart people in the room. Even the most radical conspiracy theorist can ‘strike gold’ once but this doesn’t mean we should give them any oxygen. This isn’t about Cynics-Doubters vs. MoH-Experts 1 – 0.
The conspiracy according to Judith on rnz this morning with Kim Hill is ousted in this telling part.
JUDITH "..and it absolutely does not have any credibilty to suggest that after being told that we have102 days of no Covid19 in community transmission, suddenly it appears, and no responsibilty taken and no looking at how it.. ( Hill interupts)."
How did Judith or anyone think that Covid19 would re-appear if not SUDDENLY , slowly and overtly ???
Yes Judith, Covid19 a microscopic entity, comes up the front path, knocks at your door with a name badge on and politely asks, ' Can, I come in please? '.
Or Covid arrived by another plausible manner-: A Natz supporter illegally brings into the country a 'parcel' ; same mode as rabbit calicivirus transmission in 1997.
More plausible because Judith stated, we will do 'whatever we have to' to get power back.
Otherwise this explanation for Judith might have gone over her head about remaining vigilant.
I recall most of those 102 days on updates a message of sorts was always given to act safely not be complacent, get tested, get the tracing app. So where does the Natz "suddenly" theory come from?
In NZ, following WHO directives also and alerted by worldwide resurgence, ( nutters holding the likes of 'Covid parties'), the NZ Government in line with MOH undertakes proactive preparations and ad campaigns. Is remaining prepared Judith's conspiracy?
Some seem keen to turn the conspiracy theories back onto Judith, Gerry, and the National Party. We only need to look overseas to see where that gets us, i.e. further away from discerning truth.
You can't rule anything out at this stage. We will never discern the truth if all scenarios are not explored, however unlikely.
Sabotage can’t be discounted, surely.
Not all scenarios are equal and wasting time & effort on chasing after “all scenarios” is a well-known and effective diversion tactic. Politics is about the effective and efficient distribution and use of resources. If the political process is flawed or hijacked then the outcome(s) of that process are likely to be sub-optimal at best.
It might not even have been orchestrated by the National Party.
We have seen how extreme right wing terrorists, with psychopathic vigilante action, take matters into their own hands.
The process during a crisis is somewhat different than otherwise. Good urgent decision-making relies on ruthless focus and discarding chaff. Anybody muddying the waters tends to get excluded. Collins can whinge all she likes from outside the bunker door.
Plan B
Them as well. #spurned
Fact, two persons on individual occasions have now attempted to break into Q facilities? What were their objectives other than being with malintent towards the safety of others?
Sex, I would think.
Or drugs or rock’n’roll.
Shaun Hendy … he of the school of stating the bleeding obvious, overestimation and lockdown extensions.
Meanwhile the outpatient waiting times increase, elective surgeries are cancelled and we're back in catch up mode. ……FFS not happy.
Yes a problem and how to fix it safely and not unique to NZ.
Designated hospitals for surgery and cancer treatment/diagnosis which cannot be postponed.
The health system has been tested and any weakness of it is shown during a pandemic.
Pathetic response that suggests you have a chip on your shoulder and not heard of Science Communication. I can send you some of Hendy’s peer-reviewed scientific articles and see how far you get with understanding those.
I don’t think anybody is happy about the most recent turn of events. Talking of stating the bleeding obvious.
🙄
Hendy and his colleagues have already saved more lives this year than you or I will ever do. Some of us respect that for what it is.
Bollocks ………Sean and his colleagues have saved exactly no lives this year nor would he claim they had.
The models his group have provided to the Ministry of Health have been useful in the Minstry's decision making processes around reaction to Covid 19.
Its characteristics are sneaky in that some or even most carriers are asymptomatic. That makes it elusive and difficult to stop.
Random impertinent questions
Have those working in isolation facilities and at the border been subject to testing for Covid 19 over the last 3 months , if not why not?
Has there been regular testing of waste water and effluent over the last 3 months for Covid 19 ?
Yes to the first point. All retested this week after the outbreak according to those that work in one.
Follow up question then – why hasn't this been undertaken at regular periods over the last several months ?
If what I'm hearing from my sources in the higher echelons of ADHB is correct regarding new cases outside of Auckland (I sincerely hope it is incorrect) there looks to have been a catastrophic failure of border and quarantine controls..
catastrophic and higher echelons of ADHB often belong in the same sentence. watch granny they seem to know first.
LOL … very true
If indeed there has been a “catastrophic failure of border and quarantine controls..” what have “your sources in the higher echelons of ADHB” done about it? Go and ask them instead and report back here when you’ve got the answers, thanks. Ask Dr Siouxsie about testing of wastewater and effluent. I'm sure you have requisite computer skills to find her contact details.
ADHB aren't in charge of the border or quarantine facilities, it's the MoH and the chap in the military uniform.
Likewise Siouxsie Wiles is not in charge of effluent monitoring it will be the likes of ESR in collaboration with the MoH – if indeed it is happening.
Stunned Mullet the Ministry of Health is only an advisory organization it has been gutted years ago by Tory govts .DHB's do all the work.
Facts not fiction please.
covid can show up after not showing in all the quarantine tests, it's tricky like that. So it doesn't necessarily follow that quarantine was breached IMO
Your attempt at diversion has been noted and coupled with your refusal to answer any of my questions shows you’re not commenting here in good faith.
Just to help you in the right direction:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/420544/auckland-waste-water-plan-may-breach-tikanga-expert
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300046158/coronavirus-government-to-test-sewage-at-managed-isolation-facilities
https://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-events/exploring-aucklands-sewers-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs
Google is your friend.
Is that 'catastrophic' in the Mullerine sense?
Valid question.
"It said there is a programme of daily health checks, and any staff member who reports symptoms consistent with Covid-19 must stay at home, get tested and self-isolate until they receive the result of their test.
The ministry is also undertaking regular asymptomatic surveillance testing of people working in border-facing roles, including those at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, particularly those who have direct contact with international crew and travellers.
There is testing available on-site for staff every two to three weeks. "
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018758505/border-workers-need-unlimited-sick-leave-professor-shaun-hendy
The ministry said it will continue to review how often the tests are needed.
Valid answer 🙂
I had kinda gone off of Bill Maher, but if he consistently lifts his game back up to the level of this mock eulogy for the fake-tan fuhrer, I might warm to him again.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-maher-response-trump-insult-tweet_n_5f34478dc5b6fc009a60eb67
That was brutal and funny
Someone should do one for the National Party
So some people have been posting that flights from Auckland have been landing at Queenstown this morning with holiday-makers offloading ….
Does anyone know if this is right? And if it is right, it should be wrong?
Thanks in anticipation…
edit: govt website is silent on domestic flights and this issue…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/122421076/coronavirus-auckland-airport-outlines-rules-for-travellers-under-covid19-alert-level-3
Hmmm, maybe it got mixed up with this… https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/auckland-arrivals-symptoms-booking-covid-tests-queenstown but still sounds like they have been arriving post-level 3 lockdown.
Thanks sabine
No contradiction – if you already had a flight booked from Akl to Queenstown then you can still board it. Good to read that some travellers are prepared to change their plans once there if needed.
Que?
"if you already had a flight booked from Akl to Queenstown then you can still board it"
and if you already booked to drive from Akl to Coromandel then you can still drive it?
There is a whole ding dong funny thing going on here which doesn't stack up. People are unnecessarily flying to Qtn (and no doubt others).
One is traceable by authorities, the other less so. How do you ‘book’ a drive to your bach?
the 'booking' part is irrelevant to either the flight or the drive
isn't it?
or are you allowed to leave auckland if you have 'booked' something, but not if you haven't? I wonder if the virus knows this..
Contact-tracing.
Why would you ‘book’ your own bach, mid-week, mid-Winter, in the Coromandel?
I hope some people did decide to cancel their flight. But that's not what they are being required to do.
So Auckland is not locked in then. You can fly out.
It seems every time there is something put in place it has huge holes in it for the virus to scamper around…. sheesh this is brainless
Rich folk love them some loopholes.
There's a privately owned helicoptor which has been flying backwards and forwards between Auckland and Northland for 2 days now. Looks like it originates from somewhere in East Auckland.
Rich folk avoiding the police roadblocks and fleeing Auckland by air to their holiday mansions up north?
Where there's a will, there's an inheritance.
Queenstown is home to so many who found themselves, somehow, in Auckland?
Home?
you be surprised how many Aucklanders lived out level 4 in rotorua in their 'second home'.
Coromandel was packed.
Pretty sure that ODT article started yesterday and got updated and ended up with today’s date on it. They interview people who refer to leaving before mid day, so were ok
it seems that people have cancelled flights
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300081425/an-eerie-experience-thousands-of-air-new-zealand-cancellations-result-in-nearempty-flights
Last place I'd want to be right now is on a plane.
Predictions for covid levels announcement tomorrow.
Auckland – Level 4 lockdown for 3 weeks minimum.
Rest of North Island – Level 3
South Island – Level 2
i'll see yours and rasie
Auckland Level 4 – 3 weeks – starting tomorrow
Rotorua Level 4 – 3 weeks – starting Sat – wednesday (exposure to the infected person by Staff at Fat Dog, Burger Fuel, Gondola, Red Woods etc etc etc)
if another case is found in Taupo / Tauranga etc, North Island level 4 – 3 weeks – Wednesday
South Island – see rest of North Island. – Wednesday.
Oh well it was good while it last.
Yep, forgot Rotorua. Level 4 same as Auckland if a positive test is found.
If they had any sense they would stop all travel between islands right now .
Very easy to keep a good chunk open
many flights out of akl cancelled
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300081425/an-eerie-experience-thousands-of-air-new-zealand-cancellations-result-in-nearempty-flights
ir New Zealand has seen “thousands” of cancellations since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Auckland would go back into level 3 lockdown, and the rest of the country would move to alert level 2 following new cases of community transmission of Covid-19.
That seems to be a point of discussion bwaghorn – I heard that at the supermarket in Nelson yesterday.
If this outbreak was in Canterbury I'd be mighty pissed if it made it to the north island. So I bet the mainlanders will feel the same
It's bringing out unkind remarks about Auckland and Jafas
I would be very surprised if Level 4 lockdown is implemented in Auckland it achieves little more than Level 3 in terms of Covid control and has very negative economic consequences and politically I'm not sure it would be wise.
Now that the Wellington case looks like a false positive I'd wait for overnight testing results if there is little to no upwards/downwards transmission outside of the current cluster there may even be a relaxation in restrictions.
I suppose it depends on whether they find new cases not attached to the known cluster. I hope you're right, though, I'm supposed to settle my house sale and purchase on 2/9, and leave Hamilton for the South Island.
Good luck with the sale and move south … where are you moving to in the SI ?
Thanks, too expensive to move my junk, so I'm in the process of giving all my furniture and stuff to the Vinnies. Moving really light – just a car full of clothes, kettle and essentials, so shouldn't be much of a hassle, though it’s only a MX-5.
I'm moving to that house for sale just down the road from greywarshark to get the supermarket tongues a wagging lol
But seriously, Westport on the West coast. Damian O' electorate vote, party vote green.
Da ding ding ding ding ding ding .
Cool I'd love to do the same one day.
Couriering my TV, PC and music stuff, so foresight I always keep the boxes and packaging, but everything else is going. I did the same when I last moved, bar the fridge and two beds, but this time it's all going.
A lady just came to pick up my old washing machine and it felt stink to find out they'd charged her $80 for it. If I'd have been really on to it, I would have advertised it on notice boards for free.
Westcoast .. beautiful part of the country, I'm sure you can't wait..
I might have to 'cause covid, but yeah, waiting since months ago.
I thought you'd already move. Good to hear it's happening soon, and not a bad time of year to set up there.
Seems to have dragged on, but then it only really got serious once I found out I was being laid off after the wage subsidy runs out, so it focused my mind somewhat. Been a couple on months (or more) from offer to settlement.
Bought sight unseen (other than agents ad photos), though I did get an excellent builders report, so even though a bit fingers crossed, I'm not worried about it.
I am jealous Al1en. I had a chance to move from this overrated and overcrowded shithole called Hamilton 15 years ago to Oamaru. One of the worse decisions I made by staying here and more concerned about making money instead of retiring gracefully and moving. Good luck pal I am sure you will not regret moving to the SI.
I hear you, and while I don't actively dislike Hamilton (that much), it hasn't really given me a reason to stay put.
First choice was Golden bay, but Westport was much more affordable, so won out. Finally I'll have a 1/4 acre section, which may not be the kiwi dream anymore, but it's long been mine. Hoping to do it justice.
Let's say they are all symptomatic. Average distance between parked cars – 5m. Average number of people in each – 1.25. Average length of queue at each of Auckland's 15 testing stations – 500m.
1875 symptomatic people doing voluntary testing in Auckland just this morning.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300078922/live-three-new-positive-covid19-tests-at-americold-warehouse-in-auckland-director-says
The reports of the long time they have to spend waiting is bad. Six hours? There at 6 when it doesn't open till 8 am to make sure. Another yesterday at 6ish and long long wait. Must do better with this.
No half measures. Good.
Australia's Northern Territory will be closed to visitors from virus hotspots for a further 18 months to protect its large and vulnerable Aboriginal population, authorities said Tuesday.
The sparsely populated northern region is home to roughly 250,000 people — 30 percent of whom are Aboriginal — according to government figures.
"We'll have our hard border controls in place for at least the next 18 months. And we're resourcing so we can do that," Chief Minister Michael Gunner told public broadcaster ABC.
https://news.yahoo.com/australias-northern-region-face-virus-040901347.html
that is excellent. Let's hope the various authorities resource supporting the communities as well as policing them.
Suddenly, Natz dangerous, ignorant dissent is catchy –
the immediate response ' lets get it spreading groups' protesting in NZ's vulnerable communities.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356284
Arrest them and send them to an island where they can be together. Trouble is that if we have any empty islands we are trying to make them bird sanctuaries. This lot would kill 'em and eat 'em raw. So no good that idea.
Hard to take anything led by this thug seriously.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114332109/man-charged-with-assaulting-dr-lance-osullivan-appears-in-court
Crack up! Go on joe90 you know you want to do it, just do it…write that eulogy now.
Positive deviance is effective.
thug attacking another thug.
Has O'Sullivan been charged with assault?
he was the one being attacked. This time. Another time he's throwing a brick through a car window. Tory authoritarian as far as I can see.
One difference between Boynton and O'Sullivan might be class.
The difference might be that O'Sullivan gets riled up but is also busy trying to do good things for needy people, the other is a person who belongs to a group that have legitimate grievances from the past, and are better at growing them than anything else. Bet they haven't been the ones growing the illicit marijuana up there for decades. That requires real work.
that's quite a hefty judgement. What are you basing that on?
General knowledge. Do you have to comment on everything that is written up?
ok, I'll take that as making shit up.
If you don't want to talk with me why bother replying to something I've said?
Indeed. A yawning gap between a previous offender with a fondness for using his fists and someone who, despite a rush of blood for which he was discharged with no convictions, has gotten off his arse and delivered free medical clinics, school-based health services and an initiative to improve housing.
authoritarians do nice things too.
They have a bloody cheek flying the United Tribes flag. Hapu up here have been staunch in enforcing lockdown measures.
Agreed there. It angers me that so called leadership at the top levels ( Natz) role modelled 'dissent' and division in the first instance as a very public response.
This Natz immediate public response was not about care for anyone or Judith's ass covering, slithering excuses given today on Kim Hill's rnz segment.
The intent was dangerous Trumpism play for her air space. She flouted Auckland travel restrictions and found herself suddenly superfluous flapping around like granny knickers on the line.
Thus, if it's okay for Judith to protest with her whackjob minions….
If Natz want their airwaves to campaign (then as the article says may happen ) join the protest in Auckland Saturday. Get out there you cowardly Natz and greet, kiss, hug and rub shoulders with the crowds.
More potential infections in the hundreds in one go but hey Judith could grab the podium she craves.
Europe's last dictator.
https://twitter.com/ASLuhn/status/1293144073814118400
https://twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/status/1293563045709590528
https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1293520698988793856
Herodotus @ 11.3 ( I can't get the reply button to work)
“The virus is not sneaky”
So on your grounds 'The virus is not tricky" either?
From al my searches I cannot locate a definition of sneaky that can apply to the virus's "actions"
You could use tricky. Not sure what that has to do with your original statement. "This is a sneaky virus"
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sneak
Oh.
China’s Shenzhen Discovers Coronavirus in Brazil Poultry Product (8:45 a.m. HK)
A sample of a frozen chicken wing imported from Brazil tested positive for coronavirus in China’s Shenzhen city, according to a statement from the local government.
Virus tests of people who have possibly come into contact with the product — and tests of related products — all came back negative, the government said.
Earlier, the outside of an Ecuador frozen shrimp package tested positive for coronavirus in a restaurant in Wuhu, a city in China’s Anhui province, state television CCTV reported.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-12/u-s-cases-climb-1-1-trump-pressures-schools-virus-update
Not very infectious when frozen then?
Defrost in the Microwave maybe?
Irradiate, you say..
6G
No sneeze when freeze and they’re headless anyway.
I wonder…
https://www.americold.co.nz/home/facilities/
Scroll a bit down and they are happy announcing their new relationship with Brazil.
looks like level 3 for north island friday 11:59 and possible level 4 for auckland unless they find the rest of the close contacts tomorrow.
watch the economy tank.
[You might well be right but unless you can provide a reliable link, I assume you’re fearmongering. I’ve put you in Pre-Moderation until you put up something decent to support your ‘prediction’ or admit that it is a fidget of your imagination – Incognito]
I hope you are not politicising a serious health crisis.
Confused cynically spreading Hysteria.
Listening to Bloomfield today it is most likely things will continue as is
This "news" update was brought to you by JudCo Media (A subsidiary of Oravida Entertainment)
What's more important?
People's health or rich people getting richer off of other people's work?
See my Moderation note @ 4:58 PM.
i cant say how I know that, obviously. so i guess im sitting here.
[All your comments need to be manually approved before they appear in the front-end. Alternatively, they are moved to the Trash folder in the back-end.
Are you telling me you made it all up and that you have no way of knowing? Not even an argument as to why you think that way? Just BS? – Incognito]
See my third and last Moderation note to you tonight @ 11:05 PM.
Nope – I heard from someone with direct knowledge. But I'm not department dropping here.
[So, we have no way of verifying your rumour and you have not provided any decent argument either as to why you think your rumour may come true; you need to argue your point(s), not just spray & walkaway , as usual. Moved to the Blacklist until Monday – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 8:48 AM.
Don't know about elsewhere but here in Wellington it feels close to level 4 already. Very very quiet.
same here in Rotorua.
Very very few people on the streets.
Like a morgue here in Whanganui.
Some late night music.
Bill Wurtz – St Helens
Are the number of commenters here getting up on the reactionaries over at Kiwiblog?
Nope, not by a long shot.
Big stomachs bring on heart attacks and reactions to threats to your comfort, no matter how small ( the comfort).
Our modern Left is scared primarily, but if we can deliver fear will dissolve. It's the only way for what's right.
May I just say I don't care about this 'deadly flu', as I described it to my dear but non-talking v.old mother. Compared to climate change … Christ help us.
https://youtu.be/5Yj4j_lZMBo