Incredible yet utterly predictable news emerged from the US of A yesterday.
Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid.
I am not surprised. This is the most evil, effective, transmittable disease imaginable. It spreads easily, does not cause significant problems to the vast majority of people infected, yet for a few, including the old and those suffering from various conditions, it can prove to be fatal.
And the POTUS has been such a denier. He has trashed the science, ridiculed the wearing of masks even though this one of the best things that you can do, engaged in campaign events where the idea of social distancing is an anathema, and even mocked his opponent for wearing masks in public, even at the same time Covid was probably setting up residence in him.
To beat it, or at least hold it at bay, you have to be ruthless, quick and be prepared to follow the scientific advice. Like in Aotearoa New Zealand, where we have thrown everything at eradicating the virus and despite recent set backs we are, fingers crossed, heading towards a situation where we have no Covid cases in hospital and the only new cases are those travelling from overseas safely held up in quarantine.
As a sign of how potent the virus is we have had recent incidents involving an elevator button, some imported food and a rubbish bin.
We have multiple infections amongst people who happened to catch a plane together.
This is a tough virus. You have to go hard and you have to go early. There is no room for half measures or hesitation. If you are not brave enough or fast enough you lose.
As WHO head Michael Ryan has put it in a slightly different context, speed trumps perfection. I have used this tweet a few times. It still strikes a chord for me about how the only successful response is a quick and determined one.
America’s problem? Thanks to the unimaginable clusterfuck that is the Trump administration the most advanced and richest nation in the world is totally incapable of responding properly to the virus. Trump prevaricated and downplayed and did not understand, or even worse did understand but for political reasons did not properly respond to, this most pressing of health issues.
What are the repercussions for Aotearoa politics? If anything it reinforces how well Jacinda Ardern and the Government have handled the issue.
We are looking pretty good. We have had a few scares and huge political and commentator beat ups about how bad our system is, but it is still holding. The contact tracing is now working pretty well and it seems that we will not have to descend into level 4 lock downs any more, we just trace and organise and quarantine really hard.
What is National doing?
Well recently Collins claimed that New Zealand was too slow to close its border and that Samoa closed its border a month before we did. Dear reader this is not true. It really casts into doubt the commentators judgment on who won the second debate (looking at you Josie Pagani). Sure Judith may have been louder and interrupted more and spoke for longer but for me I prefer a leader that actually gets their facts right.
When asked afterwards for proof that Samoa locked down National, excuse the caps SAID THAT SAMOA HAD ISSUED A HEALTH TRAVEL ADVISORY NOTICE. I for one would be really afraid if I had a Prime Minister and a Government party that confused a border closure with a health travel advisory notice.
I would prefer that they would come out and say that Judith was wrong. Their failure to do so and their decision to feed us crap indicates to me that they should never be trusted with any leadership role.
And get this. National thinks that an incident involving ten people contracting the virus on a flight into New Zealand, being identified as being infected in quarantine and then put into isolation is proof of Labour’s failure at the border. Call me biased but I would think that this was proof that the system was working exactly, precisely as it was intended.
Politics is changing. Instead of this being a contest of ideas between the right and the left it is becoming a contest of ideas between intellectuals and mostly stupid rich people willing to sell their souls to huge corporations for power. Truth does not matter, only headlines and soundbites and perceptions of being powerful.
America is testimony to what happens with this type of leadership. New Zealand shows what happens when you don’t.
Vote wisely. Your life of the lives of your loved ones depend on it.
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